[ 252 J 



XXXVIII. Notice of the volcanic Character of the Island of 

 Hawaii, in a Letter to Professor Silliman, and of various 

 Facts connected with late Observations of the Christian Mis- 

 sionaries in that Country, abstracted from a Journal of a Tour 

 around Hawaii, the largest of the Sandwich Islands. 



[Concluded from p. 205.] 



/"\N the morning of August 1st, the party ascended from 

 ^^ their subterranean dormitory, and directed their course 

 N.N.E. towards the smoke. " The path, (they remark,) for 

 several miles, lay through a most fertile tract of country, co- 

 vered with bushes or tall grass, and fern from three to five 

 feet high, and so heavily laden with dew, that before we had 

 passed it, we were as completely wet as if we had been drawn 

 through a river. The morning air was cool, and the singing 

 of birds enlivened the woods. After travelling a short distance 

 over the open country, we came to a small wood, into which 

 we had not penetrated far, before all traces of a path entirely 

 disappeared. We kept on some time, but were soon brought 

 to a stand by a deep chasm, over which we saw no means 

 of passing. Here the natives ran about in every direction, 

 searching for marks of footsteps, just as a dog runs to and fro, 

 when he has lost the tracks of his master. After searching 

 about half an hour, they discovered a track, which led con- 

 siderably to the southward, in order to avoid the chasm in the 

 lava. Near the place where we crossed over, was a cave of 

 considerable extent. In several places, drops of water, beau- 

 tifully clear, constantly filtered through the arch, and fell into 

 calabashes placed underneath to receive it. Unfortunately 

 for us, these were all nearly empty: probably some traveller 

 had been there but a little time previous. Leaving the wood, 

 we entered a waste of dry sand, about four miles across. The 

 travelling over it was extremely fatiguing, as we sunk to our 

 ancles at every step. The sand was of a dark olive colour, 

 fine and sparkling, adhered readily to the magnet, and being 

 raised up ivi every direction, presented a surface resembling 

 (colour excepted,) that of drifted snow. It was undoubtedly 

 volcanic, but whether thrown out of any of the adjacent craters, 

 in its present form, or made up of small particles of decom- 

 posed lava, and drifted by the constant trade-winds from the 

 vast tract of lava to the eastward, we could not determine. 

 Having refreshed ourselves, we resumed our journey, taking 

 a northerly direction towards the columns of smoke, which 

 we could now distinctly perceive. Our way lay over a wide 

 waste of ancient lava, of a black colour, compact and heavy, 



with 



