i88 



the picture and adding another hue to the bright colors of 

 certain of the outcropping strata. 



These features, with the depth of the canyons and the bold 

 sculpturing of the sharply cut dividing ridges into pinnacles 

 and castleated outposts, make the section one of great scenic 

 interest. Indeed in a reckoning of the natural beauties of the 

 Hawaiian Islands the canyons of Kauai, and particularly those 

 of the Waimea and Makaweli Rivers, are to be listed near 

 the top. 



The Hanapepe Valley is perhaps not less wonderful than 

 its neighbors to the westward but its beauty is of a different 

 order from that of the great cleft in the island that has 

 been cut by the waters of the Waimea. 



In each of the larger valleys at an elevation of about 3000 

 feet there outcrops a hard stratum that marks the top of all 

 the principal waterfalls. This impervious layer seems to be 

 continuous over a considerable area as it appears in both the 

 Na Pali and the Waimea Districts. It is of more than pass- 

 ing interest because of the part that the waterfalls it controls 

 may some time play in a program of power development. 



All the larger tributary canyons carry streams that during 

 the rainy season contain considerable bodies of water. So 

 far as I could learn no systematic measurements had ever 

 been made of the water in these upper streams. 



At present water is diverted for irrigation at waterheads 

 in the Hanapepe, Olokele and Waimea Rivers, the last named 

 stream now being tapped in two places, while a third ditch 

 is in process of construction. The water goes to irrigate the 

 cane fields on the neighboring sugar plantations. So far 

 no power has been developed on any of the streams in this 

 section. It is understood, however, that with the completion 

 of the Ivekaha Plantation ditch, the ditch that taps the Wai- 

 mea stream highest up, power is to be developed by dropping 

 the water at two points. 



On the plateau is much swampy land, especially in the de- 

 pressions at the heads of the larger gulches. Here the bot- 

 tom is at times so soft as to make thorough exploration diffi- 

 cult, if not hazardous; a condition that is, however, admirably 

 adapted for water conservation. 



THE FOREST. 



With the exception of the steep walls of the canyons prac- 

 tically all of the area within the proposed reserve is covered 

 with forest, which protects the swampy ground-cover and 

 makes the section particularly well adapted to absorb and 

 retain the rain water. 



A notable feature of the forest on the Waimea, upland is the 

 large number of fine specimens of a considerable variety of 

 forest trees not commonly found in the Hawaiian forests. 



