MAUNALOA. 113 



the justice to say they were extremely willing, and when pulling at an 

 oar, serviceable enough. They suit the whale-ships, I am told, admira- 

 bly, working steadily and well, and are fearless in the chase. They 

 are at all times well disposed to do what they are shown or under- 

 stand ; 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 peculiari- 

 ties, 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 variable 

 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 manhood, 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 p. m. 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 road- 

 stead. It has, however, an extensive sunken coral reef to seaward, 

 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 enter- 

 ing 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 anchor- 

 age 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 what 

 is in fact the same name having been given to both. The two words 

 differ no more in spelling and sound, than has arisen from the long 

 separation of two families of the same race and language. Many of 

 the points and headlands present a like similarity in name, and strengthen 



VOL. IV. K2 15 



