440 Ascent and Measurement of Wha'^a-rai^ 



evening of our first arrival, when the former stood at 25 in. 

 1 5 pts., and the latter at 56° ; so if we take the mean of these 

 two observations with the barometer, the result will give our 

 height at this station 5085 feet above the level of the sea. 



After making a scanty breakfast out of the last portion of 

 our provisions, we turned our faces homeward by a path which 

 forms a communication, by this valley, from the eastern extre- 

 mity of the island ; and the great cavern which we had just 

 quitted, may be considered as one of the inns upon this road, 

 for the shelter and accommodation of travellers. The only 

 inhabitants we saw in this desert valley were some wild geese, 

 of a size somewhat between our common goose and duck, 

 they were very handsome, and had some distant resemblance, 

 in colour, to the Canadian goose, but a distinct species ; we 

 also saw some crows, which, together with the preceding, we 

 believe, are peculiar to those islands, and commonly inhabit 

 the upper regions. 



After travelling about three or four miles, we entered the 

 woods at the mouth of the valley, and began our descent in a 

 winding direction: but as the girdle of forest is not here so 

 broad as on the sides of the mountains, and the paths being 

 tolerably clear, we soon got through it, as the cravings of both 

 hunger and thirst made us now anxious to get down to the 

 plantations; for the region above the forest is but scantily 

 supplied with water, and many of the springs, where the natives 

 expected to find a supply, were at this time dried up, which 

 often occasioned disappointment. About the middle of the 

 wood, however, we met with our trusty and faithful adherents, 

 who had been sent down the day before to the plantations, 

 and were now making all the haste they could to our relief, 

 with heavy loads of provisions. This supply came very sea- 

 sonably, and we instantly sat down to lighten their burdens by 

 partaking of a hearty refreshment; after which we conti- 

 nued our descent, though now with less hurry ; and, when we 

 came out of the wood, we found the lower skirts of it, as 

 in other places, adorned with rich plantations of plantains 

 and bananas. Thence we pursued our course in a slanting 

 direction to the southward, till we came to a village amongst 

 the upper plantations, where we took up our residence for 

 the night, about nine or ten miles to the north-east of Kara- 

 kakooa bay, and where we were surrounded by most exuberant 

 fields of the esculent vegetables of these islands, which, for 

 industry of cultivation and agricultural arrangements, could 

 scarcely be exceeded in any country, and it was pleasant to 

 observe such labour here rewarded by productive crops. 



