ACKOSS THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, ETC. 201 



the king, John Young, and several other distinguished natives 

 being of the party. 



As the collation was not yet ready to be served up, Mr. Jones, 

 Captain Hinckley, Mr. N. and myself remounted our horses for a 

 visit to the great pari, or precipice, two miles above. We found 

 the road somewhat rough, and very hilly, in some places ex- 

 tremely narrow, and the path wound constantly through bushes 

 and tall ferns to the elevated land which we were approaching. 

 When within a few hundred yards of the precipice, we left our 

 horses in charge of several native boys, who had followed us for 

 the purpose, and ascended to the edge of the pari. The wind 

 was blowing a gale, so that it was necessary to remove our hats 

 and bind up our heads with handkerchiefs, and when we stood 

 upon the cliff', some care was required to keep our footing, and 

 to brace ourselves against the furious blast which was eddying 

 around the summit. 



The pari is an almost perpendicular precipice, of about six 

 hundred feet, composed of basaltic rock, with occasional strata of 

 hard white clay. 



On the north is seen the fertile and beautiful valley of Kolau, 

 with its neat little cottages, taro-patches and fields of sugar cane, 

 spread out before you like a picture ; and beyond, is the indented 

 shore, with its high and pointed cliffs, margining the ocean as 

 far as the eye can discern. Down this precipice, on the north 

 side, is a sort of rude path, which the natives have constructed, 

 and up this we saw a number of them toiling, clinging with their 

 hands to the jutting crags above, to raise and support their bo- 

 dies in the ascent. As they approached nearer to us, I was sur- 

 prised to perceive that every man bore a burthen on his shoulder ; 

 some had large calabashes of poe, suspended one on each end of 

 a long pole, and others carried living pigs, similarly suspended, 

 by having their feet tied together, and the pole passed between 



them. The porkers, although hanging back downwards, in a 



26 



