194 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 76 



100 feet long, of very large stones. A similar row is near the water 

 on the side between the inclosiire and the river. 



WAIMEA 



There were formerly several heiaiis within a few miles of Waimea. 

 Some of them have been destroyed by cultivation, while others are 

 difficult to find and impossible to examine in the cane fields or dense 

 brush. 



At the east foot of a rocky peak 13 miles by road from Waimea, at 

 an elevation of more than 3,600 feet, is a small heiau almost on the 

 brink of the canyon. Within the walls it is 30 feet across each 

 way. On the south line are three large stones in line, one at each 

 corner, the third about midway between them. No doubt their posi- 

 tion determined the location of the structure. It stands on a slight 

 slope. The west wall is 2 feet high inside, the earth having washed 

 down level with its top outside. The north wall is a foot higher than 

 the floor at the west end, and is completely buried at the east, as are 

 the south and west walls along their entire length except for a pro- 

 truding stone here and there. In fact, the whole interior seems to 

 have received a heavy deposit of earth, carried in from the outside 

 by wind and rain. All these features give an appearance of antiquity 

 to the ruin. 



Directly below it, well toward the bottom of the canyon, which is 

 said to be 3,000 feet deep, is a long, narrow, curved ridge with 

 rounded top and almost vertical sides. The upper part, apparently 

 an old lava flow, is darker in color than the surrounding precipices, 

 its surface checkered and seamed by weathering and erosion, so that 

 it has an almost startling resemblance to a huge serpent crawling out 

 of the side of the mountain and, with head laid flat on the extreme 

 point of the cliff, watching something in the stream bed a thousand 

 feet below. If the old Hawaiians had been familiar with ophidians, 

 as were the American Indians, this " Snake God " would no doubt 

 have held high rank among their divinities. 



CONCLUSIONS 



As intimated above, much additional information regarding an- 

 tiquities in the Hawaiian Islands can be found in publications of 

 the Bishop Museum in Honolulu. Descriptions, with illustrations, 

 of a number of heiaus are given by Mr. Thrum in the " Hawaiian 

 Annual " for 1906 to 1910, inclusive ; and his forthcoming volume 

 will completely cover this branch of archeology. The Bishop Mu- 

 seum has undertaken to make a complete survey and report of all 

 the ancient remains, while Dr. Brigham has almost finished for pub- 

 lication an exhaustive treatise which will include all his observations 



