a Mountain in the Island of Owhyhee. 437 



situation, every one allowed that two days more pleasantly 

 spent they seldom experienced. 



In my rambles I collected every plant I met with, either in 

 flower, fruit, or seed, which, I was sorry to find, did not 

 amount to a very numerous catalogue, on account of the dor- 

 mant state of vegetation in these upper regions, at this season 

 of the year; but, from the variety I saw of small plants and 

 low shrubs, in appearance quite new to me, I consider this 

 peak as a very interesting tract for a botanist to explore in the 

 summer months, when, I have no doubt, every cleft and rug- 

 ged steep will be adorned with flowers innumerable. 



Amongst the plants in flower at this time was the Sajphora 

 tetraptera, which did not exceed the size of a small shrub, 

 though, lower down the mountain, and particularly on some of 

 the other islands, it grows to a pretty large tree, from the 

 wood of which, the natives informed me, they make their 

 spears ; and, when finely polished, it almost equals in hard- 

 ness and density of grain the most beautiful mahogany. The 

 Dodon<^^« visc6sa grew here very plentifully, and seemed to 

 thrive equally as well as down at the sea-side, where it is not 

 uncommon. I also found here a small shrubby geranium, a 

 new species, and, I believe, the only one of that genus which 

 has hitherto been found in any of the islands of the Pacific 

 Ocean. 



At both noons I observed the barometer on the top of the 

 mountain ; the first day it stood at 22 in. 40 pts., and the 

 second day at 22 in. 44 pts. So, if we take the mean of these 

 two observations, 22 in. 42 pts., from SO in. 16 pts., the mean 

 of two corresponding observations on board the ship in Kara- 

 kakooa Bay, the remainder, 7 in, 74 pts., will show the amount 

 of fall of the mercury in our ascent up the mountain, which 

 gives its height 8457 ft. above the level of the sea. 



The thermometer, observed at the same time, was ^B^ on 

 the first, and 64° on the second, day ; and, at seven, on both 

 mornings, it was at 45° : but the first evening, at sunset, it was 

 as low as 38°; and the second evening it stood at 41°; which 

 showed, in these instances, that the evenings were colder than 

 the mornings, just the very reverse of what we experienced in 

 the woody region of the mountain. 



We set out from the top of the mountain on the morning of 

 the 21st, accompanied by upwards of sixty of the natives, and 

 descended by a very indifferent route, on the south-east side, 

 into the valley between it and Mowna-roa, as it was our inten- 

 tion to return to Karakakooa by a different direction, in order 

 to explore the country, and vary our scene of observations. 

 This inland side of the mountain was but thinly wooded, with 



