- beautiful, and worthy to range with the 
. gigantic species collected by Dr. Wallich. 
= -Of Ferns alone I have fully two hundred 
. species, and half as many Mosses ; of other 
- plants comparatively few, as the season is 
‘not yet good for them, nor will be so, until 
after the rains. On my return, I must con- 
sult with you on the best mode of publish- - 
ing the plants of these islands. 
I also visited the summit of Mouna 
Roa, the Big or Long Mountain, which 
afforded me inexpressible delight. This 
mountain, with an elevation of thirteen 
thousand five hundred and seventeen feet, 
is one of the most interesting in the world. 
A am ignorant whether the learned and 
venerable Menzies ascended it or no, but 
i think he must have done so, and the 
natives assert that this was the case. The 
Red-faced Man, who cut off the limbs of 
men, and gathered Grass, is still known 
` here; and the people say that he climbed 
Mouna Roa. No one, however, has since 
done so, until I went up a short while ago. 
The journey took me seventeen days. On 
. he summit of this extraordinary mountain 
-18 a volcano, nearly twenty-four miles in 
circumference, and at present in terrific 
activity. You must not confound this with 
the one situated on the flanks of Mouna 
^a, and spoken of by the Missionaries 
and Lord Byron, and which I visited also. 
It is difficult to attempt describing such an 
immense place, The spectator is lost in 
terror and admiration at beholding an enor- 
mous sunken pit (for it differs from all our 
notions of volcanos, as possessing cone- 
m summits, with terminal openings), 
we miles square of which is a lake of 
liquid fre, in a state of ebullition, some- 
ames tranquil, at other times rolling its blaz- 
a) tat and casting 
them upwards in columns from thirty to one 
and seventy feet high. In places, 
the hardened lava assumes the form of 
v arches in a colossal building, piled 
one above another in terrific magnificence, 
I 9 among which the fiery fluid 
forces Ms way in a current that proceeds 
a sp and a quarter per hour, or loses 
fathomless chasms at the bottom of 
VOL, II. 
MR. DOUGLAS’ SECOND VISIT TO THE COLUMBIA. 
161 
the cauldron. This volcano is one thou- 
sand two hundred and seventy-two feet 
deep; I mean down to the surface of the 
fire; its chasms and caverns can never be 
measured. Mouna Roa appears, indeed, 
more like an elevated Table-land than a 
mountain. It is a high broad dome, formed 
by an infinitude of layers of volcanic matter, 
thrown out from the many mouths of its 
craters. Vegetation does not exist higher 
than eleven thousand feet ; there is no soil 
whatever, and no water. The lava is so 
porous, that, when the snow melts, it dis- 
appears a few feet from the verge, the 
ground drinking it up like a sponge. On 
the higher parts grow some species of Ru- 
bus, Fraseria, Vaccinium, and some Junci. 
I visited also the volcano of Kirauea, 
the lateral volcano of Mouna Roa; it is 
nearly nine miles round, one thousand one 
hundred and fifty-seven feet deep, and is 
likewise in a terrific state of activity. 
I go immediately to Hawaii to work 
on these mountains. May God grant me 
a safe return to England. I cannot but 
indulge the pleasing hope of being soon 
able, in person, to thank you for the signal 
kindness you have ever shown me. And 
really were it only for the letters you have 
bestowed on me during my voyage, you 
should have a thousand thanks from me. 
I send this, under cover, to Captain 
Beaufort, to whom I have written respect- 
ing some of my astronomical observations ; 
as also to Captain Sabine. 
As already mentioned, the only Journal 
of Mr. Douglas' Second Expedition, which 
has reached this country, is that commenc- 
ing with his departure from the Columbia, 
including the voyage to the Sandwich 
Islands, and the ascent of Mouna Roa. 
From this, with the loan of which we have 
been favoured by its possessor, Mr. John 
Douglas, we make the following extracts:— 
MR. DOUGLAS’ VOYAGE FROM THE CO- 
LUMBIA TO THE SANDWICH ISLANDS, 
AND THE ASCENT OF MOUNA ROA. 
On Friday, the 18th of October, 1833, 
we quitted Cape Disappointment, in the 
L^ 
