MAUI. 243 



wheel is badly constructed: it is a breast-wheel, with great loss of 

 power. 



There appears but little economy about the establishment : as an 

 instance of this, instead of drying and preparing the cane for fuel, they 

 use wood altogether, which is very scarce, and costs much to transport 

 it. The sugar appears to be of good quality, and with proper atten- 

 tion, the manufacture could no doubt be made profitable. I understood 

 from the Chinese who had charge, that the sugar could be sold at four 

 cents per pound, and that with a proper economy as to fuel, might be 

 reduced to half that sum. 



Both the king and chiefs have a desire to encourage the arts and 

 agriculture. Unfortunately, however, after they have incurred expenses, 

 they are obliged to give the sole direction into the hands of those who 

 have nothing but their own interests in view. The consequence is, that 

 in all these undertakings the king and chiefs have found themselves 

 deceived, by listening to foreigners by whom they have been defrauded. 



We now rode down the valley among the taro-patches, and over to 

 the Sand-hills. In passing over them we saw some remarkable con- 

 cretions, resembling large tunnels or broken pipes, which were quite 

 hard, and resembled solid rock interspersed with amorphous sandstone. 

 Mr. Greene, who was with us, could give me no information respecting 

 their formation. Dr. Pickering met with these also, and considers 

 them as mineral concretions, although they appeared to him to resem- 

 ble those formed by annelidas, or like beds of sabellas. 



On the isthmus, the sand was drifting like snow, and afforded a good 

 illustration of the rapidity with which it changes its place by the effects 

 of the winds. , 



In the centre of the Sand-hills, we stopped on a mound of human 

 bones, — a perfect Golgotha. There appears to be no tradition respect- 

 ing this accumulation of mortal relics. By some it is supposed to have 

 been a burying-place after a battle, for the place where they were 

 found was known to be a battle-ground. Bloody contests, indeed, must 

 have taken place here, if we are to judge from the number of skeletons 

 which are exposed. Some of these are in a state of perfect preserva- 

 tion, and I regretted not being able to transport one to the ship. 



Near this place we saw several boys anxiously watching some 

 object, and on getting near them, found they were employed in catch- 

 ing birds. This was done by baiting small slicks, to which a string was 

 tied, and the other end of the string fastened to a small stone: the bird 

 swallows the stick along with the bait, and in attempting to fly off, it 

 pierces his throat, and he is thus secured. 



After riding around these plains we returned to Wailuku, where we 



