"HOPPING OFF THE CLIFT."

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17420, 3 April 1922, Page 8

"HOPPING OFF THE CLIFT."

According to stcries told by th» uatives.-af Hawaii of to-day, it ia learned .-from Honolulu, bo writes a contributor to the "Motor" {South Africa), that all the thrnls of flying "were enjoyed oy lia vanuns centuries ego. Their aucesWis secured their aerial excitement by jumping ott cliffs into the sea in Jiouie-iuauc uoropianos. Tney Wad« a regular game ot it, known as |'Jel« pali," or '"j •imping Irom the clitf.'' It was played up xo a hundred years or so ago by natives who lived near grovel of loulu palms, near nigh cliffs overlook.ng the. sea. The game was played with large contrivances built of light but stout sticks and overwaven with loulii piilin leaves. Several of these affairs were made ready, the Hawaiian ''avia-' tors" took their seats and were pushed over towering cliffs. The adventurer who remained longest in the air was th» winner, frequently an aeroplane, ow.ng to the carelessness of over-excite-nient of its "pilot ( " executed a nosedive after the fashion of the twentieth century machines. The only damaga was tiie leas of the game. Old Hawaiu.ns say that their flying men were exceptionally skilful. The only means ihev had of guiding their crude appliances was to shift their weight to maintain balance as they zigzagged down toward the sea A fleet of outrigger canoes was "anchored off shore to pick up. tho sportsmen and retrieve the '"planes" Exceptionally daring Hawaiians, it is said, often hopped off, +housand-foot cliffs on the mainland.