FOWKE] AECHEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS 189 



distance of 15 feet has prevented erosion by the winds. No protec- 

 tion was necessary below this point as the action of rain water on the 

 lime from disintegrated coral rock contained in the deposit has 

 caused the sand to " set " or harden. 



The other heiaii, at the north end of the dune, is apparently un- 

 finished. None of it has disappeared, but the plan is difficult to 

 make out. At its northern end is a protecting layer of stones reach- 

 ing 25 to 30 feet down the slope, in three separate terraces. Similar 

 terraces are on the slope below the southern end of the east wall. Here 

 and there within the structure are well-like spaces filled with stones. 

 The purpose of these is unknown. Stones of varying sizes, mostly 

 small, within the walls indicate a pavement or floor, but the dense 

 growth of lantana brush and the accumulated sand preclude any care- 

 ful examination or accurate description of these remains. 



WAIHEE 



Southward from the mouth of the Waihee Valley, 5 miles north 

 of Wailuku, is a range of sand dunes from 200 to 300 feet high, ex- 

 tending for half a mile or more in a wide curve, with the concave 

 side facing the ocean. The level space thus bounded is about a fourth 

 of a mile in its greatest width and contains 50 or 60 acres. Approx- 

 imately parallel with the windings of the shore line, at an average 

 distance of 200 feet from it, is a strong stone wall, built at an un- 

 known date but prior to the advent of the whites. The plain purpose 

 of this wall was to protect from high tides the low land lying behind 

 it and reaching nearly to the foot of the dunes. This area is now 

 cultivated in a variety of crops, mainly rice. Formerly it was a 

 great taro patch of a Hawaiian settlement. A modern flume, which 

 follows closely the line of an ancient ditch, brings down the necessary 

 water from Waihee Creek. 



In front of the wall a space of 5 or 6 acres is covered with a stone 

 paA^ement on which are the walls of old houses and inclosures. They 

 are protected on the seaward side by thousands of cubic yards of 

 water- worn stones, piled up like a revetment or riprap, which termi- 

 nate abruptly at the southern end but extend to the mouth of the 

 creek at the north. The dimes show many angular rocks of the 

 same general material, in their lower portion, so they all probably 

 belong to a spur or projection from the mountain, washed clean 

 at the front by waves, and covered at the rear by the dunes. Some 

 of the stones along the water front were rolled by tides and wave- 

 currents from the debris carried down by the creek from the moun- 

 tains. At high tides waves surmount this natural breakwater, but 

 spread out over the level pavement and sink between the stones, so 

 that dwellers upon the site were not disturbed by their action. 



