KAUAI AND OAHU. 83 



the wind, which had sprung up, blowing the water to the lee side. 

 Large quantities of salt were seen, piled in heaps on the hills to allow 

 it to drain : this is the property of the king, and yields him a con- 

 siderable annual income. It is considered as the best for salting pro- 

 visions, and therefore commands a higher price than other salt manu- 

 factured on the island ; it is also used as table-salt at Honolulu. In 

 the lake it is found crystallized, and crystals are readily formed on 

 branches of trees that have been put into the water. 



The deposit in the lake is mud of a blue-black colour, and exceed- 

 ingly tenacious, almost as much so as an unctuous clay. 



Some small particles of salt were found on the hill-side, adjacent to 

 the lake, which might lead to the inference that the soil was impreg- 

 nated with salt ; but the habit of the natives has been, from time imme- 

 morial, to carry the salt to the tops of the hills to drain, which will 

 readily account for its appearance there. The opinion, however, was 

 entertained by some that it proceeded from the soil. The lake is about 

 one-third of a mile in diameter, and has the appearance of having been 

 the basin of a crater. If this should be the case, it must necessarily be 

 admitted that there are two others in juxtaposition with it to the west, 

 with partition walls between ; the latter are not as distinct in their out- 

 line as the salt lake. All of them, however, appeared to me very dif- 

 ferent from the coast craters of the island. Within a short distance 

 inland from the salt lake, is a deep ravine or valley, that shows the for- 

 mation to be the compact limestone before spoken of, with the stratifi- 

 cation of pebbles, &c. All these appearances united, give me the idea 

 of the basin having been caused by an action different from that by 

 which craters are formed. 



The lake, after the discovery relative to its being but knee-deep, was 

 the subject of much discussion at Honolulu. It was visited on several 

 occasions afterwards, to ascertain if it had an ebb and flow, and simul- 

 taneous observations were made at the shore and in the lake ; but all 

 the trials confirmed the first observations. 



On the east end of the island are numerous caves, which Messrs. 

 Drayton and Dana visited : they are situated in a bluff of three 

 hundred feet elevation, and the mouths of them are at about two- 

 thirds the height. Most of these caves are accessible by ascending 

 along the sides of the blu ft' obliquely. The natives formerly used them 

 for the burial of their dead, and at times they are still so appropriated. 

 One was walled up, and a strong pole was lying against the rock, 

 which the natives said had been used to bring the body to the 

 place. In the centre of the wall which closed the mouth of the 

 tomb, was a piece of white tapa, the deposit of which in tombs is 



