BiacksurN—The Hawatian Arch ipelago. 203 
satisfied me that a casual visitor might very easily spend a few days in energetic 
Hawaiian collecting, and have very little to show as the result. 
During the period of nearly six years which I spent in the Hawaiian Islands, 
and in which I made the explorations that have resulted in this publication, I was 
able to devote but little time to the study of natural history. My duties, as 
chaplain to the bishop and as senior priest (and during the latter part of my 
residence as acting dean) of the cathedral, allowed me very little leisure for 
scientific pursuits; and, therefore, I think it well to complete these prefatory 
remarks by a sketch of the amount of exploration that I was able to make on each of 
the islands, in order that it may be seen how much probably remains to be discovered 
when an entomologist with more leisure than I enjoyed is able to take up the work 
of investigation. It must not be forgotten that I included in my scanty entomo- 
logical labours some work on all the orders of insects, so that the coleoptera only 
received a share of my attention. 
This account of what I did on the islands seriatim will give me the opportunity 
of a few remarks on the specialities of each, and I will take them in order of 
position from north to south, which is generally believed to be the order in which 
they enter upon their existence as separate portions of land. 
Kauar anp NITHAU. 
This, the northernmost island of the group, lies about 60 miles N.W. of Oahu, and 
has an area of 590 square miles. Its mountains are all grouped in the centre, the 
highest peak (Waialeale) having an altitude of about 5000 feet above sea level. As 
. the island on which volcanic upheavals and disturbances have been longest unknown, 
and also as possessing the largest and most constantly flowing rivers, Kauai might, 
perhaps, be expected to have the richest coleopterous fauna. Whether such is the 
case, I can hardly express an opinion, as I have spent only four days there, and 
those in August, which I consider among the less favourable months for collecting 
coleoptera. I landed on the east coast, and spent two days in working southwards 
round the south coast, and northwards half way along the west coast, not strictly 
following the shore, but keeping on the plains. These plains are more thickly 
studded with trees than those of the other islands, but, as usual, yielded only the 
common and generally distributed species. From the west coast I attempted the 
ascent of Waialeale, an extremely steep mountain, but was stopped at about 3000 
feet elevation by bad weather. Nearly all my Kauai specimens were obtained 
during this attempt at elevations varying from 2000 to 3000 feet above the sea. 
After a rapid return by the previous route to Nawiliwili (the spot where I landed 
on the island), I made a hurried trip northwards to some fine waterfalls on the 
Wailua river, but without much success in procuring coleoptera, after which I 
embarked for Oahu. 
