274 



Missionary duties. 

 Kast Maui. 



Crater of Haleakala. 



the construction of that at Hamakualoa, they were 

 obliged to bring the stones, lime, and sand, on 

 their backs, to the place of building. The lime 

 and sand were brought from a distance of two or 

 three miles, and the timber was dragged from four 

 to six miles. In putting on the roof, it fell in 

 twice, after nearly all the timbers were up, and 

 broke them to pieces ; but they persevered until 

 they had completed the edifice, which will contain 

 about one thousand people. The whole r.mount of 

 money laid out was sixteen dollars! At Wailuku 

 the building-stone used was vesicular lava. 



The following may give some idea of the duties 

 of a missionary at these islands. Their labours on 

 the Sabbath are, a sermon at sunrise, Sabbath- 

 school at eight o'clock, sermon again at eleven 

 o'clock, Bible-class at one, and lecture at four. 

 On week-days, going to adjacent villages, lectures, 

 schools, and visiting the poor and needy, besides 

 acting as physician for a whole district, which 

 alone is a work of no trifling labour. 



In Wailuku, the population is thought to be 

 decreasing at the rate of about one hundred and 

 thirty annually, but no adequate causes are as- 

 signed for this diminution. The climate of Maui 

 is healthy, and no diseases prevail. Infanticide 

 may be said not to exist. 



I have before stated, that Messrs. Pickering, 

 Drayton, and Brackenridge were ordered to visit 

 Maui. They had a long and tedious passage, and 

 instead of reaching Maui in a few hours, as they 

 had expected, they were several days, owing to a 

 strong south-west gale blowing. By this they 

 were obliged to take shelter under the lee on the 

 north side of Maui, where Dr. Judd and Mr. 

 Drayton landed, for the purpose of passing over- 

 land to Lahaina. 



The north coast of East Maui is a succession of 

 deep ravines, which gradually diminish in breadth 

 as they ascend, and are finally lost on the flanks 

 of the mountains : travelling along the coast, in 

 consequence, becomes almost impossible. Cascades 

 are seen falling in these ravines several hundred 

 feet in height, having little volume of water how- 

 ever. 



The face of Mauna Haleakala is somewhat like 

 that of Mauna Kea : it is destitute of trees to the 

 height of about two thousand feet ; then succeeds 

 a belt of forest, to the height of six thousand feet, 

 and again, the summit, which is cleft by a deep 

 gorge, is bare. 



During their stay under the lee of the island, 

 the king's schooner sought refuge there also, 

 having been driven from the roads of Lahaina, 

 where it is impossible to lie during the prevalence 

 of south-west gales, as vessels are then exposed 

 both to the sea and wind. 



The party who landed, and the schooner, arrived 

 about the same time at Lahaina, where our gen- 

 tlemen were very kindly received by the king and 

 missionaries. They forthwith made preparations 

 for a tour to East Maui. The Rev. Mr. Andrews, 

 his son, and four students of the seminary, joined 

 the party, together with six Kanakas to carry their 

 food. The Kanakas were engaged at twenty-five 

 cents a day, and twenty-five cents more was 

 allowed for their food. The party first passed to 

 Wailuku, where it was further increased by the 

 accession of Mr. Baily. 



Crops of Irish potatoes are very productive here; 



and corn is abundant a thousand feet higher up the 

 mountain. 



The next day, the party set out at an early hour, 

 in hopes of reaching the summit, but it began to 

 rain violently, in consequence of which they took 

 shelter in a large cave, at an altitude of eight thou- 

 sand and ninety feet. Here many interesting plants 

 were found, among which were two species of pe- 

 largonium, one with dark crimson, the other with 

 lilac flowers; the argyroziphium began to disappear 

 as they ascended, and its place was taken up by the 

 silky species, which is only found at high altitudes. 

 From the cave to the summit they found shrubby 

 plants, consisting of epacris, vaccinium, edwardsia, 

 composite, and various rubiaccous plants. 



On their arrival at the edge of the crater, on the 

 summit, the clouds were driving with great velocity 

 through it, and completely concealed its extent. 

 The height, as ascertained by the barometer, was 

 ten thousand two hundred feet. The driving of the 

 sleet before the strong gale soon affected the mis- 

 sionaries and native students, the latter of whom, for 

 the first time, felt the effects of cold. The limit- 

 line of woods was ascertained to be at six thousand 

 five hundred feet. 



The crater of Haleakala, if so it may be called, 

 is a deep gorge, open at the north and east, form- 

 ing a kind of elbow : the bottom of it, as ascer- 

 tained by the barometer, was two thousand seven 

 hundred and eighty-three feet below the summit 

 peak, and two thousand and ninety-three feet 

 below the wall. Although its sides are steep, yet a 

 descent is practicable at almost any part of it. 

 The inside of the crater was entirely bare of vege- 

 tation, and from its bottom arose some large hills 

 of scoria and sand : some of the latter are of an 

 ochre-red colour at the summit, with small craters 

 in the centre. All bore the appearance of volcanic 

 action, but the natives have no tradition of an 

 eruption. It was said, however, that in former 

 times the dread goddess Pele had her habitation 

 here, but was driven out by the sea, and then took 

 up her abode on Hawaii, where she has ever since 

 remained. Can this legend refer to a time when 

 the volcanoes of Maui were in activity ? 



Of the origin of the name Mauna Haleakala, or 

 the House of the Sun, I could not obtain any in- 

 formation. Some of the residents thought it 

 might be derived from the sun rising from over it 

 to the people of West Maui, which it does at some 

 seasons of the year. 



Our gentlemen made excursions to the crater, 

 and descended into it. The break to the north 

 appears to have been occasioned by the violence of 

 volcanic action within. There does not appear 

 any true lava stream on the north, but there is a 

 cleft or valley which has a steep descent : here the 

 soil was found to be of a spongy nature, and many 

 interesting plants were found, among the most re- 

 markable of which was the aborescent geranium. 



The floor of the crater, in the north branch, is 

 extremely rough, and about two miles wide at the 

 apex, which extends to the sea. In the ravines 

 there is much compact argillaceous rock, similar to 

 what had been observed on Mauna Kea, retaining, 

 like it, pools of water. The rock, in general, was 

 much less absorbent than on the mountains of 

 Hawaii. 



Mr. Drayton made an accurate drawing or plan 

 of the crater, the distances on which are estimated, 



