one of tlie Sandwich group. 



the sea. This is the cliaracter of the low land extending from the 

 mountains of Kualua round the north point of the island, as far 

 as the bay of Waialua. 



The plain of Eva rises by a gradual acclivity from the low 

 land of Waialua on the north, and of Eva on the south, to the 

 estimated height pf 200 to 400 feet above the sea. It is of incon- 

 siderable extent; upon a rough estimate, about forty square miles. 

 It is barren, destitute of wood, but thinly inhabited, and the 

 uniformity of its surface is hardly relieved by the ravines of 

 water courses with which it is frequently intersected, and which 

 render travelling across it tedious and fatiguing. 



Not an unimportant feature in the low land of Eva are the 

 lagunes at the mouth of the Pearl River. These are formed 

 by breaks in the coral reefs, which form nearly a continuous line 

 all round the island, or rather several parallel lines, one behind 

 the other. 



There yet remains to be noticed a very remarkable feature in 

 the physiognomy of Oahu, and one of the first to strike the eye 

 of a stranger, from their accumulation at the eastern extremity 

 of the island. These are the isolated hills observed rising either 

 from the maritime low land, or from the midst of the hilly coun- 

 try. In general form they exactly resemble some of the extinct 

 craters of central France, and are doubtless of the same character. 

 They are all open at top, and their outer walls are furrowed by 

 lava streams. They ai-e generally of a brownish colour exter- 

 nally. I counted no less than five in sailing along the east end 

 of the island, including that of Diamond Point ; Punchbowl 

 Hill, just behind the Honoruru, is a well marked one. The 

 salt lake of Aliapaakai, about four miles to the west of Hono- 

 ruru, is of the same character, and is elevated only a few feet 

 above the level of the sea, from which it is not more than one- 

 fourth of a mile distant. According to report it is 40-50 fa- 

 thoms deep, in form nearly oval, and about one-fourth of a mile 

 in its shortest diameter from east to west. Formerly it yielded 

 large quantities of salt, which was dug out in solid masses from 

 the bottom ; but this source of wealth has been stopped by its 

 inundation preventing all access to the salt by such means as the 

 islanders possess. The north-east margin of the crateriform 

 hollow is the highest, and is connected with a small tract of hilly 

 country, extending here up lo the mountains. n\. 



