THE MAGAZINE 



OP 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



SEPTEMBER, 1828. 



Art. I. Some Account of an Ascent and Barometrical Measure^ 

 ment of Wha-ra-rai, a Mountain in the Island of O^vohyhee ; ex- 

 tractedfrom the MS. Journal of Archibald Menzies, Esq. F.L.S. 

 Communicated by Mr. Menzies. 



AVhilst His Majesty's ship, the Discovery, commanded by 

 Captain Vancouver, lay in Karakakooa Bay, in January, 1 794, 

 I was very desirous of employing my time in examining the 

 mountains and interior parts of the island, to collect plants, 

 seeds, and other natural productions. For this purpose I 

 consulted with Ta-maiha-maiha, king of the island, to obtain 

 his permission ; and he not only complied with my request, 

 but very obligingly promised that I should be attended by a 

 chief, who would have sufficient power to protect me from any 

 ill treatment, and provide for whatever provisions and attend- 

 ance I should require in my excursions. He then wished to 

 know what part of the island I meant to visit, when I told him 

 that I proposed first to ascend, if possible, a considerable 

 mountain, of a conic form, called Wha-ra-rai, situated a little 

 to the southward of Toe-hah Bay. He then fixed on a chief 

 named Harou, who had the charge of his own plantation at the 

 village of Hanua-oora, near the foot of that mountain, to which 

 place he advised me to go by water in one of his canoes, and 

 there I should be supplied with every thing necessary for my 

 journey. Harou being at this time alongside of the ship, he 

 called him in, and gave him a most solemn charge of me, and 

 everything I should carry with me; declaring that if I should 

 have occasion to prefer any complaint against him on my re- 

 turn, he should suffer for it most severely. 



The business being thus settled, Mr. Swaine, one of the 

 lieutenants, and two or three gentlemen of the quarter-deck, 

 volunteered to accompany me ; as did also a Mr. Howel, an 



Vol. I. — No. 3. p 



