Ascent of Mauna Loa. 

 Description of the party. 



SANDAVICH ISLANDS. 



Ascent of Mauna Loa. 

 Volcano of Kilauea. 



261 



Yankee house, with white sills and casements, and 

 double rows of small windows. No one could mis- 

 take the birthplace of the architect, and although 

 thirty degrees nearer the equator than the climate 

 whence its model was drawn, I could not but think 

 it as well adapted to its new as to its original 

 station. 



On our way to Mauna Loa we passed the hill 

 described by Lord Byron's party, which it would 

 have been difficult to recognise had it not been 

 pointed out, on account of its gradual rise. This 

 hill afforded a magnificent view of Hilo Bay, and 

 of the surrounding country below us. 



Six miles from Hilo we entered the first wood, 

 and at 6 P.M. we passed, at eight miles distance, 

 the chasm that divides the Hilo from the Puna 

 district. As the darkness set in, we began to 

 experience the difficulties we had anticipated : the 

 bustle and noise became every moment more audi- 

 ble along the whole line as the night advanced: 

 what added not a little to our discomfort, was the 

 bad road we now had to encounter, rendered 

 worse as each native passed on in the tracks of 

 those preceding him, until at last it became in 

 places quite miry. 



We continued on, however, until we found most 

 of the natives had come to a stand, and were lying 

 about among the grass by the roadside near a few 

 grass-houses. One of these was hired for our ac- 

 commodation and to protect us from the heavy 

 dew, to which the natives seemed accustomed: 

 here we proposed to stay until the moon arose, 

 and in the interim to get what little rest we 

 could. 



After it became sufficiently light we again set 

 out with a part of our host. The cloud of the vol- 

 cano of Kilauea lay before us like a pillar of fire, 

 to guide us on our way. 



It will scarcely be possible to form a full idea of 

 our company: that of my Lord Byron is described 

 as a sort of triumphal procession; ours was very 

 different from this, and was more allied to a May- 

 day morning in New York, or a vast caravan, 

 consisting, as it did, of two hundred bearers of 

 burdens, forty hogs, a bullock and bullock-hunter, 

 fifty bearers of poe (native food), twenty-five with 

 calabashes, of different sizes and shapes, from two 

 feet to six inches in diameter. Some of the bearers 

 had large and small panels of the portable house 

 on their backs; others, frying-pans or kettles; and 

 others, tents or knapsacks. Then there were lame 

 horses, which, instead of carrying their riders, 

 were led by them; besides a large number of 

 hangers-on, in the shape of mothers, wives, and 

 children, equalling in number the bearers, all 

 grumbling and complaining of their loads; so that 

 wherever and whenever we stopped, confusion and 

 noise ensued. I felt happy in not understanding 

 the language, and of course was deaf to their com- 

 plaints. It was very evident that the loads were 

 unequally divided; and I must do the natives the 

 justice to say, they had reason to complain, not of 

 us, but of each other. It ""was impossible for the 

 thing to be remedied at once, although it was not 

 a little provoking to see several natives staggering 

 under their loads, while one or two would be skip- 

 ping along with a few pounds' weight only. 



Leaving Olaa, at a height of eleven hundred and 

 thirty-eight feet above the level of the sea, we had 

 no distinct path to* follow; for the whole surface 



became a mass of lava, which retained all its 

 metallic lustre, and appeared as if it had but just 

 run over the ground so small was the action of 

 decomposition. There were only a few stunted 

 bushes on our track; but some dense patches of 

 wood were observed on the right. The day was 

 warm, with a bright sun; and when we passed 

 pools of water standing in. the lava rock, as we 

 frequently did, the natives would rush into them 

 like overheated dogs, and seemed to enjoy the 

 temporary coolness brought about by the evapora- 

 tion. 



At 3 P.M. we reached Kapuauhi, which consists 

 of a few houses, and is about fifteen miles from 

 Olaa. The temperature, on our arrival, was found 

 to be 80 in the shade, while in the sun it stood at 

 84; the whole extent around was black lava; 

 indeed there was no place where we could pitch a 

 tent of six feet by eight, and as it looked like rain 

 we concluded to occupy one of the houses that was 

 offered to us ; but it taught us a lesson we remem- 

 bered for some time, for all our blankets and clothes 

 became infested with fleas, and those of the most 

 voracious kind. 



The height we had now attained was two thou- 

 sand one hundred and eighty-four feet; the ther- 

 mometer, 72 ; the lowest temperature in the 

 night, 58. 



At 8 A.M. we left Kapuauhi, or what our com- 

 pany called " Flea Hall," after having passed a 

 most comfortless night. Nothing could be more 

 annoying than the swarms of fleas that attacked 

 us, and I believe all the native houses are thus 

 unpleasantly infested. In about three hours we 

 reached the Okea tree, known as the boundary of 

 the territory of Pele, or the goddess of the volcano. 

 In bygone days no native dared venture beyond it 

 without an offering to Pele, under penalty of her 

 vengeance. 



Soon after we left Kapuauhi, we met with soil 

 formed upon the lava by volcanic ashea ; the 

 bushes became thicker and more thrifty, rising 

 into small trees ; quantities of strawberry-vines 

 were perceived, but the natives searched in vain 

 for some straggling fruit. The time for its bear- 

 ing had passed, but they are said to be found in 

 great abundance, and of very fine flavour, at the 

 proper season. Okea was the principal wood, and 

 there was some koa (acacia). A curious plant was 

 pointed out, the sap of which blisters the skin, and 

 with which the inhabitants produce a sort of tat- 

 tooing in large and small round lumps. I did not 

 learn how durable they were. This plant is called 

 mau-a-laili. 



Just as we reached the great plain of the vol- 

 cano, we approached the southern limit of the 

 wood, and, on turning its corner, Mauna Loa burst 

 upon us in all its grandeur. The day was ex- 

 tremely fine, the atmosphere pure and clear, ex- 

 cept a few flying clouds, and this immense dome 

 rose before us from a plain some twenty miles in 

 breadth. I had not, until then, formed any ade- 

 quate idea of its magnitude and height. The 

 whole dome appeared of a bronze colour, and its 

 uninterrupted smooth outline was relieved against 

 the deep blue of a tropical sky. Masses of clouds 

 were floating around it, throwing their shadows 

 distinctly on its sides, to which they gave occa- 

 sional relief and variety. There was a bluish haze 

 resting on the plain, that apparently gave it great 



