KAUAI AND OAHU. 79 



cultivation by irrigation from the several streams that traverse it. 

 The largest of the streams is the Ewa. Scraggy bushes of sandal- 

 wood and other shrubs are now scattered over a soil fit for the culti- 

 vation of sugar-cane and indigo. 



At Ewa they were kindly received by the Reverend Mr. Bishop 

 and lady, who have charge of the station. The district of Ewa com- 

 mences about seven miles to the west of Honolulu, and extends twenty 

 miles along the south shore, or from the hill in the vicinity of the salt 

 lake to beyond Laeloa or Barber's Point. There are no chiefs or 

 any persons of distinction residing in the district ; the people are 

 labourers or Kanakas, and the landholders reside near the king at 

 Lahaina, or at Honolulu. The taxes and occasional levies without any 

 outlay have hitherto kept them poor. 



In this district is a large inlet of the sea, into which the river Ewa 

 empties ; at the entrance of this inlet is the village of Laeloa : the 

 whole is known by the name of Pearl River or harbour, from the cir- 

 cumstance that the pearl oyster is found here; and it is the only place 

 in these islands where it occurs. 



The inlet has somewhat the appearance of a lagoon that has been 

 partly filled up by alluvial deposits. At the request of the king, we 

 made a survey of it : the depth of water at its mouth was found to 

 be only fifteen feet; but after passing this coral bar, which is four 

 hundred feet wide, the depth of water becomes ample for large ships, 

 and the basin is sufficiently extensive to accommodate any number of 

 vessels. If the water upon the bar should be deepened, which I doubt 

 not can be effected, it would afford the best and most capacious har- 

 bour in the Pacific. As yet there is no necessity for such an operation, 

 for the port of Honolulu is sufficient for all the present wants of the 

 islands, and the trade that frequents them. 



Pearl-River Harbour affords an abundant supply of fine fish. Two 

 species of clams are procured here, called by the natives okupe and 

 olepe. Mr. Drayton, who went to Pearl River for the purpose of 

 examining its shores, and obtaining shells, reported that he found a 

 large bed of fossil oyster-shells, extending into the bank in a bed from 

 one to four feet wide, and half a mile in length : they were found 

 cemented together with soft limestone and a reddish sand, and were so 

 numerous that there was scarcely enough of the cement between to 

 hold them together. The dredging was unsuccessful, a small spotted 

 venus being the only shell that was obtained, although it was the 

 general belief, among both the foreign and native inhabitants, that it 

 would have produced an abundant reward for the trouble. 



In Mrs. Bishop's garden was seen the Agati grandiflora, (which is a 



