120 VOYAGE TO THE 



rience a pretty sharp sprinkling of rain without per- 

 ceiving any cloud from whence it proceeds. 



Water-spouts not unfrequently visit these islands, 

 one of which I was told burst over the harbour 

 of Honoruru, discharging such a quantity of water 

 that the sea rose three feet. I have repeatedly 

 seen this phenomenon on a small scale carrying a 

 column of dust along the plains near Honoruru, and 

 whirling hats into the air; and I once saw a native 

 boy greatly puzzled to escape from its influence. 



I shall conclude these remarks with some observa- 

 tions on the use and effects of the ava, a root which was 

 formerly in much use in the Pacific, taken from the 

 Journal of the surgeon of the Blossom. The intoxi- 

 cating property of the ava root, the cutaneous eruption 

 which succeeds its use, and the renovating effect it has 

 upon the constitution, have been noticed ever since 

 the discovery of the Society Islands. Mr. Collie ob- 

 serves, that — " a course of it is most beneficial in 

 renovating constitutions which have been worn out 

 by hard living, long residence in warm climates, with- 

 out, however, affections of the liver, and by protracted 

 chronic diseases; more especially if the disorder be 

 such as by the humoral pathologists would be attri- 

 buted to an attenuated or acrid state of the blood." 

 He had an opportunity of seeing " a gentleman, a 

 foreigner, who had undergone a course of it to remove 

 a cutaneous affection said to have been similar to St. 

 Anthony's fire. It had affected at different times al- 

 most every part of the body, going from one place to 

 another, but had been particularly obstinate in one 

 leg. He took two doses a day of half a pint each, one 

 before breakfast and one before dinner, by which his 

 appetite was sharpened ; and by the tune he had 



