214 HAWAII. 



it, had put a stop to its further progress. They were now fairly in 

 the forest, which was thought by our gentlemen to be a fine one : it 

 consisted altogether of two kinds of trees, the ohea (Callistemon) 

 and koa (Acacia) ; they also met with several species of the tree- 

 fern, which seem to vie with each other in beauty. Many of these 

 were of genera and species that had not before been met with, one of 

 which afforded the silky down before spoken of, and another, the 

 edible fern, a drawing of which will be seen at the end of this 

 chapter. On reaching the bed of the stream, which is one of the 

 routes through the wood, the guides led them upon it. As they 

 proceeded, they overtook one of the boys who had preceded them, 

 endeavourino; to catch a large bird. He had armed with bird-lime 

 one of the pendent branches of a small ohea tree, that overhung 

 the stream and was in full flower. As they were passing, the bird 

 was seen hovering about, while the boy was slily watching its 

 movements. When they had passed it a short distance, they heard 

 the scream of the captured bird, but by some mishap it afterwards 

 escaped. 



Their encampment was under an ohea tree, where the natives 

 built a hut for them with boughs and the fronds of ferns. From the 

 prevalence of heavy rain they found all the wood wet, and could 

 not succeed in making a fire : they consequently passed a miserable 

 night ; for in almost any climate, when encamped in the open air 

 at night, a fire seems to be necessary for comfort, particularly when 

 the weather is wet. 



Conglomerates were the most frequent rock in the bed of the 

 stream. This rock had not been met with on the trip to Mauna Loa; 

 and on diverging from the stream, the compact rock of that moimtain 

 seemed to prevail. 



Their guide, Dawson, during the morning showed much alarm at 

 their starting some young cattle, lest the old cows should be near, 

 who he thought might be troublesome: the cattle, however, were 

 discovered afterwards to be tame. At the forks of the stream, they 

 took the left branch, and after a walk of two miles came to some huts 

 occupied by natives who had been bullock-hunting. In this illegal 

 practice they seemed to have been extensively engaged, judging from 

 the quantities of jerked meat they had on hand. 



The cattle have been tabooed for five years, from the year 1840, 

 in consequence of the slaughter that had been made among them. 

 Upwards of five thousand hides, I was told, had been procured in a 



