VISIT TO THE GREAT VOLCANO. 211 



in calabashes, and conveyed to the mouth with the fingers, by 

 all ranks and ages. People who live on the sea-coast, eat 

 with it a small fish in a raw state, resembling the sardine. 



The Poi-dog is not one of our common curs, but a dainty 

 animal, fed entirely on vegetable food, generally on taro made 

 into a poi, and hence the name (a Hawaiian would no more 

 eat one of our kind of dogs than we would) the animal is 

 sometimes roasted before the fire just as we roast beef ; but 

 more generally it is " lau-ude," that is, after the skin is 

 taken off, the animal is wrapped up in leaves and put into a 

 hole made in the earth, of several feet in circumference, and 

 about two feet in depth ; when in, some more leaves are spread 

 over the animal, hot stones are then placed on the leaves, and 

 a covering of nine or ten inches thick, formed of leaves and 

 earth, is spread over the whole. In this state the animal 

 remains about three-quarters of an hour, when the hole is 

 opened and the animal taken out. The many eulogies passed 

 on the dish by my kind hostess, and my curiosity in the matter, 

 conquered my prejudices against the name, and really had I 

 not known to the contrary, I should have thought I was par- 

 taking of a piece of roast pig. 



January 31st. At an early hour I took leave of the kind 

 family, with whom I passed the night. The Hawaiians are a 

 hospitable people, and there are many of them who, if they 

 had only one fowl or pig in the world, would cheerfully take 

 it to furnish a repast for a friend or a stranger. 



After a brief walk I reached the sea-shore, which I found 

 thickly sprinkled with cottages. At 10 o'clock I halted at a 

 house which was deserted, to partake of some breakfast. This 

 house, I was told by the guide, had been the residence of a 

 chief, and was deserted during the recent eruption, when it 

 was believed that it, like many others, would be destroyed by 



