Miscellanies. 201 
Strawberries, whortleberries, and raspberries, black and yellow, 
grow, in abundance, upon fhe sides of the mountain, until you pass 
the line of vegetation; below this region, is a dense woody belt, 
nearly surrounding the mountain; it is from five to twenty miles 
through, and below this, until reaching the shore, a distance of six 
or eight miles, is the region for cultivation. 
In the box which I have put up for you, to be sent by the ptipanat 
opportunity, is one cocoanut shell, filled with sand from the beach, at 
the bay. When it is melted in an iron vessel, in a blaeksmith’s 
forge, it makes black, porous lava, not very Siecieniiar from other 
specimens in the box. 
About fourteen months since, I was requested by my brethren, to 
leave my station, for a season, and to remove to Oahu, to superintend 
the printing press, and instruct in book-binding some of the natives, 
who were quite disposed to learn. While there, in January last, 
about the 12th, (as near as I can ascertain,) the volcano commenced 
a vigorous system of operations, sending out volumes of smoke, and 
the fire underneath, so powerfully illuminated the smoke, that it had 
the appearance of a city, enveloped in one general conflagration. A 
day or two following, smart shocks of earthquakes commenced, to 
the number of six or eight in the course of the day; they shook the 
house so violently, that those who occupied left it and took up their 
lodgings, for two or three days, in a native house, when the shocks 
ceased and have not been since felt. 
On the 20th of June, volcanic eruptions broke out upon the top 
of Mauna Loa, (which is about the same height as Mauna Kea,*) 
and the mountain continued burning for two or three weeks; the 
Java was also seen running out of the sides of the mountain, in dif- 
ferent places; it discharged the red hot lava from so many vents, 
that it was seen on every side of the mountain; it was visible as far 
as Lahaina, upwards of one hundred miles. . As that mountain, as 
far as I can learn, has never been ascended by any person, I con- 
‘template attempting the ascent, while making a tour of the island in 
January next. Should I succeed, and discover any thing worth no- 
tice, you may expect to hear from me by the next opportunity. 
I returned home to this place in July last, and embraced the first 
favorable opportunity to go up to our volcano of Kirauea and see 
what alterations had taken place since I saw it last. About the first 
: * 18,000 feet. 
Vout. RAV I. 26 
