388 PRIVATE DWELLINGS. [1840. 



scene of the murder of Captain Cook. It is narrow, and does 

 not afford very good anchorage, but the scenery around it is 

 highly picturesque. Napolo, on its southern shore, is a small 

 but pleasant town, where there is a missionary station. 



Waimea, on the southwestern shore of Kauai, is said to 

 have the best anchorage in the group, except when the trades 

 are interrupted by the south-westerly winds, which is for 

 near three months in the year. It contains about four hun- 

 dred houses, and is situated on the right bank of the Waimea 

 river, at the mouth of which is the harbor, or roadstead, in 

 the centre of a beautiful valley opening to the ocean and 

 lavishly sprinkled with groves of bread-fruits, cocoas, bananas, 

 and tuituis, or candle-nut trees. On the left of the entrance 

 to the harbor, there is a rectangular fort, indented with em- 

 brasures and garnished with several pieces of cannon. The 

 river is navigable for boats, only for a distance of three 

 quarters of a mile. It has a course of about fifteen miles, 

 and affords a number of excellent mill sites. At its head 

 there is a fine cascade, the soft murmur of whose falling 

 waters is borne sweetly along the valley, amid the groves 

 that rejoice in their grateful moisture. 



Most of the better class of dwelling houses in the group 

 are built of coral or lava blocks, which are cemented together 

 with a fine white plaster made of lime produced by burning 

 coral. The foreign residents pattern after the styles of build- 

 ing peculiar to their respective countries. Glazed windows, 

 porticos and chimneys, have become quite common. The 

 roofs are made of zinc or shingles, or they are thatched with 

 pandanus leaves. In Honolulu, and other seaports, many of 

 the private dwellings h lve a cupola or look-out on the roof, to 

 which the inmates betake themselves when a strange vessel 

 is announced in the offing. 



But the natives generally, and the kanakas in particular, 

 prefer their old-fashioned grass-houses. The manner of their 

 construction is thus described by Mr. Bingham : — " Round 

 posts, a fow inches in diameter, are set in the ground about 

 a yard apart, rising from three to fivo fee from the surface. 



