natives broil their food on heated stones, or roast it before their fire; but these ovens are most generally used for cooking their several kinds of victuals. Potatoes and yams are dressed in the same manner as the taro; but pigs, dogs, fish, and birds, are wrapped in green leaves before they are put into the oven. We saw some Muscovy ducks feeding in the garden, and offered to purchase one; but they said they were rearing them for their landlord, and could not part with any; they furnished us, however, with a fowl, with which, and some biscuit we had with us, we made a tolerable meal. We stopped about two hours, during which we did not omit to speak to the inhabitants respecting the Saviour. We also offered to remunerate them for what we had received, but they refused to take any thing. We therefore made the children a present of a looking-glass, and a few strings of beads, and then resumed our journey over the same verdant country, frequently crossing small valleys and water-courses, which, however, were all dry. The surface of the country was covered with a light yellow soil, and clothed with tall grass, but the sides and bed of every water course we passed were composed of volcanic rock, a kind of basalt, or dark grey compact lava, with fine grains of olivin, the different strata lying in a direction gently inclined towards the sea. The land, though very good, was but partially cultivated, till we came to Kaaraara, where we passed through large fields of taro and potatoes, with sugar-cane and plantains growing very luxuriantly. Maruae, the chief of the place, came down to the road side as we passed by, and asked us to stay for the night at his house; but as N Kapapala was only four miles distant, we thought we could reach it before dark, and therefore thanked him, and proposed to walk on. As our boys were tired with their bundles, we asked him to allow a man to carry them to Kapapala. He immediately ordered one to go with us, and we passed on through a continued succession of plantations, in a high state of cultivation. During the whole of the time we had been travelling on the high land, we had perceived a number of columns of smoke and vapour, rising at a considerable distance, and also one large steady column, that seemed little affected by the wind; and this, we were informed, arose from the great crater at Kirauea. The smaller columns were emitted at irregular intervals of several seconds between each. On inquiry we learned, that they arose from deep chasms in the earth, and were accompanied by a hot and sulphureous vapour. About seven o'clock in the evening we reached Kapapala, and directed our weary steps to the house of Tapuahi, the head man. He kindly bade us welcome, spread a mat in the front of his house for us to sit down upon, and brought us a most agreeable beverage, a calabash full of good cool fresh water. The thermometer at sun-set stood at 70°, and we sat for some time talking with the people around us. The air from the mountains, however, soon began to be keen. We then went into the house, and, although we were in a tropical climate, in the month of July, we found a fire very comfortable. It was kindled in a hollow place in the centre of the earthen floor, surrounded by large square stones, and gave both light and heat. But as there was no chimney, the smoke was sometimes rather troublesome. Few of the Hawaiian females are without some favourite animal. It is usually a dog. Here, however, we observed a species of pet that we had not seen before. It was a curly-tailed pig, about a year and a half old, three or four feet long, and apparently well fed. He belonged to two sisters of our host, who formed part of his family, and joined the social circle around the evening hearth. In the neighbourhood of Kapapala we noticed a variety of the paper-mulberry, somewhat different from that generally cultivated, which grew spontaneously, and appeared indigenous. Large quantities of the dried bark of this plant, tied up in bundles, like hemp or flax, were piled up in the house where we lodged. It is used in manufacturing a kind of tapa, called mamake, prized throughout the islands on account of its strength and durability. About eight o'clock a fine pig was baked, and some taro prepared by our host for supper. At our particular request he was induced to partake of it, though contrary to the etiquette of his country. When we had finished, we conducted family worship with him and his household, and then retired to rest. We had travelled more than twenty miles, and two of our number had since the morning spoken four times to the people. Soon after sunrise on the 31st, the people of the place were collected around our house. I requested them to sit down in front, and, after singing a hymn, preached to them a short and plain discourse. Mr. Thurston concluded the service with prayer. The people remained in the place for nearly an hour, and made many inquiries. After breakfast three of our number went to visit the places where we had seen the columns of smoke rising yesterday. After travelling about five miles, over a country fertile and generally cultivated, we came to Ponahohoa. It was a bed of ancient lava, the surface of which was decomposed; and in many places shrubs and trees had grown to a considerable height. As we approached the places whence the smoke issued, we passed over a number of fissures and deep chasms, from two inches to six feet in width. The whole mass of rocks had evidently been rent by some violent convulsion of the earth, at no very distant period; and when we came in sight of the ascending columns of smoke and vapour, we beheld immediately before us a valley, or hollow, about half a mile across, formed by the sinking of the whole surface of ancient lava, to a depth of fifty feet below its original level. Its superficies was intersected by fissures in every direction; and along the centre of the hollow, two large chasms, of irregular form and breadth, were seen stretching from the mountain towards the sea in a south-and-by-west direction, and extending either way as far as the eye could reach. The principal chasm was in some places so narrow that we could step over it, but in others it was ten or twelve feet across. It was from these wider portions that the smoke and vapours arose. As we descended into this valley, the ground sounded hollow, and in several places the lava cracked under our feet. Towards the centre it was so hot that we could not stand more than a minute in the same place. As we drew near one of the apertures that emitted smoke and vapour, our guide stopped, and tried to dissuade us from proceeding any further, assuring us he durst not venture nearer for fear of Pele, the deity of the volcanos. |