OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 351 



Kaula (The Red) is further from the opposite end of Niihau, and except in very smooth 

 seas is difficult of access. It has no water, and is wholly barren. On the shore of Niihau, 

 opposite these islands, are shore craters, especially near Kaula. They are composed of red 

 tufa, and although much broken down, exhibit clearly the anticlinal axis of true tufa cones. 

 In the tufa, chrysolite and small clusters of calcareous crystals occur, and also fragments of 

 coral reef. 



The plain land of Niihau comprises two thirds of its surface, and all the habitable part. It 

 is composed of coral reef, sand, and the wash from the mountain in successive layers. 

 Although destitute of running streams, the soil is fertile, producing under cultivation the 

 best pine-apples and bananas found on the group, as well as indian-corn, beans, cabbages, 

 onions, squashes, and most of the vegetables of temperate climates. 



The coral reef has been elevated from fifty to one hundred feet, and at the south-east end 

 of the island is quite level, indicating that the rise was not gradual. This level portion is 

 bare and very hard ; the coral structure is not evident, its fracture is conchoidal, and it has 

 a metallic ring. The surface is very uneven ; the large caves and channels, always found 

 in such formations, are here filled with breadfruit-trees and sugar-cane, which grow well in 

 these pits, which are sometimes twelve feet deep and a hundred in diameter. They seem 

 to be rooted on a base of lava or scoriae, and only the topmost branches of the breadfruit- 

 trees appear above the coral bed, the cane being usually wholly below. The rich deposit 

 of vegetable mould in these pits would indicate great age, and it is worthy of note that 

 the cane which grows here on little else than silica is harder, and leaves more ash than that 

 on the richer plains of the other islands. 1 



Opposite Kaula the reef is covered with sand in round hills which have a thin crust of 

 earth in which grass grows well. Wherever the wash from the mountains has accumulated, 

 sweet potatoes and yams grow abundantly. In a well sunk in this region, the earth was 

 three feet deep, the sand five, and the coral reef beneath this contains water which is 

 slightly brackish. In all places where exposed, the stratification of the sand indicates a 

 wind rather than a sea deposit, probably filled up subsequently to the elevation of the 

 reef. On the leeward side of the island, near the centre, are fresh-water ponds covering 

 several acres very little above the sea-level. Salt-ponds occur at the southern end of the 

 plain, where formerly the natives gathered much salt. 



In some places the hard lava crops out, although no flow has been traced to the 

 mountain, and is sufficiently hard to hold water. The natives in ancient times, further back 

 than tradition extends, built reservoirs to hold water, some of which have been recently 

 discovered, and are in good repair. 



The absence of craters on the mountains of Niihau seems to have been settled by several 

 natives who frequently make the ascent, and assure us that there are no valleys nor breaks 

 of any size. None can be seen from below, and as there are no forests to conceal the irreg- 

 ularities of the slope, it would not be difficult to discover from the shore any true craters or 

 large rents. On the other hand the dip is quite regular so far as examined, from the high 

 wall fronting Kauai to the opposite shore. As the cliff is on the windward side of the 

 island comparatively little rain falls on the lee slopes, and in consequence there is but little 

 soil and a scanty vegetation. 



1 The crushed cane called trash or bagasse, is used as supplementary fuel under the train of sugar-pans, and the silica is 

 melted into spongy masses of glass. 



