0)i the High Land of Haivaii. 



13 



the most common, and many compositae with brilliant 3'ellow blossoms {Rai/lardia^ 

 Dubautia^ etc.) were seen all through the plain. 



I made me a bed of bracken {Pteris aqiiilina ) as I might in New England on a 

 similar occasion, and with my feet towards a fire of great mamane logs, went to sleep. 

 The night was clear and cold, — so cold that I awoke and moved nearer the fire. It was 

 strangely silent; the stars were shining brighth-, and directly in front of me was the 

 grand Manna Loa. At half-past three the moon rose over the slopes of Maun a Kea 

 and I fell asleep again. In the morning at sunrise the thermometer marked 46° Fahr. 

 As the sun rose, the lava-flow of 1859 was visible through its whole length from near 



FIG. II. M.\UNA LOA FROM TOP OF HU.\LALAI. 



the summit of Mauna Loa to the .sea near Kawaihae, shining like a river of silver, 

 owing to its glossy black surface. Could it have been more beautiful when a river of fire? 

 All the plain between the mountains, which covers manv square miles, is intersected by 

 lava-flows from all three mountains, and is wholly rocky and uneven, with caves and 

 beds of a-a. The vegetation is scanty, but enough to support large flocks of goats. 

 A road was attempted by Government some years ago under the direction of Dr. Judd, 

 from Kailua on the western coast of Hawaii to Hilo, but onlv fifteen miles of this road 

 (which was not intended for wheeled vehicles) were built. Caves are the onlj' sources 

 of water here, the surface being too porous to retain pools or streams; but in the caves 

 the water from the frequent rains drips from the roof and is collected in calabashes. 



Since this ascent I have been again to the summit of this mountain (in 1889) 



and found little change to note. The wild goats had disappeared and packs of wild 



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