THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. 345 



silent pleasure. The scenery is here uncommonly 

 picturesque ; fields and villages intermingled with 

 woods of cocoa and banana trees : now an exten- 

 sive and romantic prospect opened upon us from 

 some eminence, and then we descended again into 

 a peaceful valley. We now walked through an 

 avenue of aloes, as I thought ; it was twice as high 

 as a man, and bore a round red fruit ; my com- 

 panion, who observed my attention, immediately 

 plucked some, and begged me to eat them, without 

 guessing how foreign they were to me. I attempted 

 to bite one, but was punished for my lickerishness, 

 for, though I found the taste agreeable, I had my 

 mouth full of little thorns, which gave me pain till 

 the next morning. He regretted, now it was too 

 late, that he had not informed me that the skin 

 must be taken off before they can be eaten. Dr. 

 Eschscholtz, who had remained behind, and did 

 not return till after my accident, was perfectly 

 acquainted with the fruit, and told me that it was 

 no aloe, but a cactus, or Indian %. We passed 

 the possessions of Young and Holmes, which the 

 king had given them ; and which were very consider- 

 able, and well cultivated. Though the sun was 

 still high above the horizon, the air was filled with 

 a small species of bats, differing from ours. I shot 

 one flying ; the animal fell, and my skill excited 

 general astonishment among the villagers. At 

 five o'clock, we reached our night's quarters, 

 having walked about ten miles, but only six in a 



