KUNGL. SV. VET. AKADEMIENS HANDLINGAR. BAND 57. NIO 4. 195 



Spanish original; nor can we determine whether La Péronse copied the name from Anson, 

 as there is some reason to suppose that he did. 1 However this may be, it seems to me 

 scarcely possible to entertain any doubt that La Mira in the Los Monges group is the same 

 as the twice-repeated island with the same name in the groups lying further to the west 

 that ha ve just been mentioned, and that it harks back to a La Mira — perverted to 

 Laniem or Laim — discovered by de la Torre in the Volcano or Bonin Archipelago. 



But supposing that the name La Mesa should be authentic, what bearing would 

 that have with its meaning of "Table" that is said to be so characteristic of Hawaii? La 

 Pérouse is, as been said above (ef. p. 10), the first who brought forward the meaning of 

 the word as evidence for the Spanish discovery: he does not find support for this, however, 

 in his own observations, but cites an utterance of Captain King, whose words may here 

 be quoted: — 



On doubling the east point of the island [Hawaii], we came in sight of another snowy mountain, 

 called Mouna Roa (or the extensive mountain), which continued to be a very conspicuous object all the 

 while we were sailing along the south-east side. It is flat at the top, making what is called by mariners 

 table-land: the summit was constantly buried in snow, and we once saw its sides also slightly covered 

 for a considerable way down; but the greatest part of this disappeared again in a few days. 



It may be left unsaid whether a truncated cone could give a spectator occasion for 

 the comparison to a table: the "mesas" we know from other parts of the world are plateaus 

 with steep sides. 2 More peculiar is it that what is, even in King's description, an insigni- 

 ficant detail in the landscape should have given rise to a name for the whole country. 

 La Pérouse' s opinion would scarcely have won so many adherents if they had observed 

 that it refers only to the volcano Mauna Roa, not the whole of Hawaii. Many authors, 

 however, have been guilty of a misunderstanding in this respect: even such an accurate 

 man as Carl Meinicke says that "La Mesa is a name that suits Hawaii very well". 3 But 

 we have ample grounds for maintaining that this is not the case. We may search in vain 

 for any similar utterance on the part of travellers who have caught sight of Hawaii from 

 the sea. For most of them the upper parts of the island have been concealed by clouds; 

 but those who have seen it under more f avourable conditions have described a landscape in 

 whose magnificent configuration the flattened summit has evidently played no important 

 part. I will quote one or two examples. The missionary C. S. Stewart writes: — 



We were within a few miles of the shore; and the whole of the eastern and northern parts of the 

 island were distinctly in view, with an atmosphere perfectly clear, and a sky glowing with the freshness 

 and splendour of sunrise. When I first went on deck, the grey of the morning still lingered on the low- 

 lands, imparting to them a gra ve and somber shade; while the region behind, rising into broader light, 

 presented its precipices and forests in all their boldness and verdure. Över the still loftier heights, 

 one broad mantle of purple was thrown, above which the icy cliffs of Mouna-kea, at an elevation of 



1 Curiously enough La Pérouse cites, as regards La Mesa, only the Anson chart (see p. 10 above): 

 one would have thought it natural that he should have sought support for the hypothesis which he based on 

 that name from the chart that was in his own possession. 



2 For instance the so-called "Enchanted Mesa" of western New Mexico and other mesas in New Mexico 

 and Arizona. 



3 Die Inscln des Stillen Oceans, II, p. 271. 



