MAUNA LOA. 121 



pointed with them, and would prefer to go weak-handed rather than 

 again resort to such aid, although I must do them the justice to say 

 they were extremely willing, and when pulling at an oar, serviceable 

 enough. They suit the whale-ships, I am told, admirably, working 

 steadily and well, and are fearless in the chase. They are at all 

 times well disposed to do what they are shown or understand ; but, 

 as I before said, their capacity is very limited. Their Hawaiian 

 names were too difficult for the sailors to adopt, and they very soon 

 had others given them, that arose from personal peculiarities, or from 

 some whim of the sailors with whom they messed ; and they were 

 consequently seldom called by their real names, except at muster. 



During our progress to Waiakea, or Hilo Bay, we had light vari- 

 able winds, with heavy dews at night. On the 8th we made 

 Mauna Kea, then about fifty miles distant, subtending an angle of 

 two degrees : it was capped with snow. As we approached the island, 

 we had, also, a view of Mauna Loa, with the cloud resting over the 

 volcano of Kilauea, the scene of our future adventures. 



The next morning we found ourselves close in with the land, and 

 at eleven o'clock received a pilot on board, John Ely, who proved to 

 be an old shipmate of mine in the Guerriere frigate in 1820; but we 

 had both lost the recollection of each other : I had grown into man- 

 hood, and he had been dwelling, as he said, among the ignorant 

 savages of the Pacific. 



For three or four hours we had baffling winds; but after 3 pm. the 

 sea-breeze came up and wafted us into the bay, which we reached at 

 half-past four, and dropped our anchor in five and a half fathoms, with 

 muddy bottom. 



This bay is little protected from the sea, and is almost an open 

 roadstead. It has, however, an extensive sunken coral reef to sea- 

 ward, which is too shoal to allow of the passage of vessels over, and 

 affords some protection against the rolling sea; a vessel therefore 

 usually lies quiet, unless it is blowing strong outside. There is no 

 danger in entering the bay ; all that is required is to avoid the west 

 point of the reef, and on passing it to haul to the southward. We 

 found the best anchorage on the east side of the bay, where Cocoa-nut 

 Island and the most eastern point are in range. 



In sailing towards Hilo Bay, Hawaii has but few of the characters 

 that indicate a volcanic origin. In this respect it resembles Savaii, 

 in the Samoan Group ; and the resemblance has been the cause of 



VOL. IV. 31 



