336 NOTES ON THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. 
as little springs, more frequently forming cascades, which, after irri- 
gating the lower lands, and diffusing freshness and verdure, discharge 
their waters into the Pacific Ocean. 
The valley of Nuuanu, in the vicinity of Honolulu, which was formerly 
a mere wilderness, is now intersected by substantial roads, and con- 
verted into plantations and gardens, between which the still primitive 
huts of the natives, and the country houses of the foreign inhabitants - 
of Honolulu, shaded by Koa, Hau, and Kukui-trees, display them- 
selves; while at a distance the mountain-chain arises, presenting, 
from the constant moving of the clouds overhanging it, the luxuriance 
of its vegetation, and its deep nooks and grooves, a variety of tints 
and a change of light and shade truly enchanting. 
In advancing towards the north of the island the road gradually 
ascends until it reaches a broad chasm, where the mountain seems to 
have been torn asunder. A strong breeze rushes into your face, you 
stand on the edge of a yawning precipice—the celebrated Pali, Your 
heart shudders at the thought that here the victorious Kamehameha 
drove over his. vanquished enemies, and that here the unfortunate 
wretches, instead of finding refuge in the fastnesses of the mountains, 
were doomed to perish. Your cheeks flush, your pulse beats quicker 
as imagination paints with vivid colours that historical scene, and you 
fancy you see the fugitives one after the other pushed over the edge, 
their bodies falling, touching the bottom, and dashed to atoms. 
Having recovered from the surprise, a view opens which quickly 
dispels the gloomy thoughts of by-gone days, and the fear which 
the unexpected appearance of the precipice and the violence of the 
wind were calculated to produce. Beneath stretches the smiling 
district of Koolau, a grassy, undulating country, dotted with groves of 
Screw-pines and Breadfruit-trees, the true physiognomy of a Polyne- 
sian landscape. Here and there are rivulets winding their courses 
through verdant plains, farms surrounded by plantations, and, at a dis- 
tance, on a fine-looking bay, arises the village of Kaneohe, with its 
church, its court-house, and its extensive fish-ponds, the whole beauti- 
fully contrasting with the broad ocean, which, like a silvery belt, en- 
circles all, and bounds the view on the distant horizon. 
= Oahu, although situated within the limits of the tropics, and de- 
_ prived of the cooling influence of snow-capped mountains, has by no 
means a hot climate. During nine months of the year, from the be 
