5 them in fruit. Here a Mr. Miles, part 
- owner of the saw-mill that I had passed 
the day before, came up to me; he was on 
his way to join his partner, a Mr. Castles, 
who was engaged in curing the flesh of the 
wild cattle near the verge of the wood, and 
his conversation helped to beguile the fa- 
tigues of the road, for though the distance 
Thad accomplished this morning was little 
_ more than seven miles, still the laborious 
. mature of the path, and the weight of more 
than 601bs. on my back, where I carried 
my barometer, thermometer, book, and pa- 
pers, proved so very fatiguing, that I felt 
myself almost worn out. I reached the 
- lodge at four, wet to the skin, and benumb- 
ed with cold, and humble as the shelter 
was, I hailed it with delight. Here a large 
fire dried my clothes, and I got something 
to eat, though, unluckily, my guides all 
lingered behind, and those who carried my 
blanket and tea-kettle were the last to make 
their appearance. These people have no 
thought or consideration for the morrow ; 
but sit down to their food, smoke and tell 
Stories, and make themselves perfectly 
happy. The next day my two new ac- 
AAnünces went out with their guns and 
shot a young bull, a few rods from the hut, 
which they kindly gave me for the use of 
_ My party. According to report, the grassy 
Manks of the mountain abound with wild 
‘Cattle, the offspring of the stock left here 
2y Vapt. Vancouver, and which now prove 
3 Wery great benefit to this island. A slight 
Anterva] of Beto: weather this afternoon 
4 «ed à glimpse of the summit between 
| the clouds, it was covered with snow. At 
‘Might the sky became quite clear, and the 
TUN. 00g which I observed Orion, Ca- 
5 minor, and Canopus, shone with intense 
, The next day the atmosphere was per- 
- 1-3 cloudless, and I visited some of the 
> ^ir Which were thinly patched with 
2 cdd S» two of them, which were ex- 
m canos, not a blade of grass could 
d ke any thing save lava, mostly 
| a. ut in some places of a black co- 
* “ough on the summit of the most 
Peak, the thermometer under a 
SANDWICH ISLANDS, AND THE ASCENT OF MOUNA ROA. 
163 
bright sun, stood at 40°, yet when the in- 
strument was laid at an angle of about fif- 
teen degrees, the quicksilver rose to 63°, 
and the blocks of lava felt sensibly warm 
to the touch. The wind was from all di- 
rections, East and West, for the great alti- 
tude and the extensive mass of heating 
matter completely destroy the Trade Wind. 
The last plant that I saw upon the moun- 
tain was a gigantic species of the Compo- 
site (Argyrophyton Douglasit, Hook. Ic. 
Plant. t. 75), with a column of imbricated, 
sharp-pointed leaves, densely covered with 
a silky clothing. I gathered a few seeds 
of the plants which I met with, among them 
a remarkable Ranunculus, which grows as 
high up as there is any soil. One of my 
companions killed a young cow just on the 
edge of the wood, which he presented me 
with, for the next day's consumption. 
Night arrived only too soon, and we had 
to walk four miles back to the lodge across 
the lava, where we arrived at eight o'clock, 
hungry, tired, and lame, but highly grati- 
fied with the result of the day's expedition. 
The following morning proved again 
clear and pleasant, and every thing being 
arranged, some of the men were despatch- 
ed early, but such are the delays which 
these people make, that I overtook them 
all before eight o'clock. They have no 
idea of time, but stand still awhile, then 
walk a little, stop and eat, smoke and talk, 
and thus loiter away a whole day. At 
noon we came up to the place where we 
had left the cow, and having dressed the 
meat, we took a part and left the rest hang- 
ing on the bushes. We passed to the left 
of the lowest extinct volcano, and again 
encamped on the same peak as the preced- 
ing night. It was long after dark before 
the men arrived, and as this place afforded 
no wood, we had to make a fire of the 
leaves and dead stems of the species of 
Composite mentioned before, and which, 
together with a small Juncus, grows higher 
up the mountain than any other plant. 
The gréat difference produced on vegeta- 
tion by the agitated and volcanic state of 
this mountain is very distinctly marked. 
Here there is no line between the Pheno- 
