Surfing on a Wave

It wasn't until 1779 that the Western world heard of surfing, when the writings of Lieutenant James King, assigned to a British expedition led by Captain James Cook, published his accounts of the Hawaiian islands and the exotic ocean pastime and beach lifestyle enjoyed by the locals.¾¾ The Europeans soon began to use Hawaii as a Pacific crossroads and trading post, so it wasn't too long after in 1821 that Calvinist missionaries arrived from Britain to impose their religion and repressed ideologies on a population which they viewed as frivolous.¾¾ As surfing was often a pre-cursor to couples getting it on, the missionaries decided that it wasn't at all right or proper, so dealt a heavy blow by banning surfing which almost wiped the pastime out completely.