118 SKETCHES or a vovage 



a most inconvenient degree. We arrived at length however, to within a 

 few hundred yards of the Pari, where we left our horses in charge of 

 several native boys, and proceeded on foot to the precipice. Tlie wind 

 Avas blowing a gale, so that it became necessary to remove our hats and 

 bind handkerchiefs around our heads, and when we stood upon the 

 cliff, some care was required to keep our footing, and to brace ourselves 

 against the furious blast wliich was eddying around the summit. The 

 Pari is an almost perpendicular precipice of about six hundred feet, 

 composed of basaltic rock, with occasional strata of hard white clay. 

 On the north is seen the fertile and beautiful valley of Kolau, with its 

 neat little cottages, taro-patches, and fields of sugar-cane, spread out be- 

 fore you like a picture ; and beyond, is the indented shore with its high 

 and pointed cliffs, margining the ocean as far as the eye can discern. 

 Down this precipice, on the north-side, is a sort of rude path, which 

 the natives have constructed, and up this we saw a number of them toil- 

 ing, clinging with their liands to the jutting crags above, to raise and 

 support their bodies in the ascent. As they approached nearer to us, 

 I was surprised to perceive that every man bore a burthen on his shoul- 

 der 5 some had large calabashes of poe, suspended one on each end of 

 a long pole ; and others carried living pigs similarly suspended, by hav- 

 ing their feet tied together, and the pole passed between them. The 

 porkers, although hanging back downwards, in a position certainly not 

 the most comfortable, did not complain of the treatment, until they were 

 deposited on the summit, when they tuned their pipes to a lusty squeal, 

 and made amends for their former silence. 



Tliis spot is the scene of the last great battle of King Tamchameha, 

 by which he acquired the sole and absolute sovereignty of the whole 

 Sandwich group. The routed army of the petty island King was driv- 

 en to take refuge among the wild crags of the Pari, and hither it was 

 followed by the conquering forces of the invader. No quarter was 

 shown. Tlie fugitives were hunted like savage beasts, and, almost to a 

 man, were hurled from the giddy height, and dashed to pieces on the 

 frightful rocks below. 



On returning to the plain, we found the preparations for dinner go- 

 ing bravely on, and, as the mountain riding and bracing air had given 

 us an appetite, we cared not how soon it was dished up. In our absence, 

 the natives had constructed a beautiful cottage, composed of interlaced 

 branches of trees, covered with the broad green leaves of the *Ti and 



* This is a shrub about five feet in height. It has a broad, lanceolate leaf a- 

 bout three feet in length, and eight inches in breadth at the base, of a rich dark 

 green color, and polished surface. It has a long, thick root, from which the na- 

 tives make a sweet, into.xicating drink, which they call Ava. 



