166 HAWATIAN ISLANDS. 
products of its volcanic fires: of picturesque landscapes no trace 
was seen. ‘There was only the wearying grandeur of desolation, in 
which but few spots were covered, and those thinly, with verdure. 
This same character prevails over the whole of the southern and south- 
eastern portion of the island. We should hardly expect to find a large 
population in such regions, yet the natives are numerous and find 
means of support. Some of the potato fields in Puna look as un- 
favourable for cultivation as a bank of cobble-stones, or a freshly 
macadamised road. Not a particle of earth is to be seen, the whole 
consisting of fragments of lava from the size of a walnut to that of the 
fist or larger. Yet their sweet potatoes (Convolvulus batata) planted 
in a series of deep hollows, among the stones, grow well and yield a 
good crop. Dr. Pickering observed plantations of this kind among 
the rocks of Nanawale that six months before were flowing lavas. 
The lava plain above described brought us to Lua Pele. We pass 
on, leaving a description of its features, and also of the recent eruption, 
for a following page. Before reaching it, for two miles the rocks 
were covered with a little soil, and vegetation was rather less sparse. 
On the slopes beyond, towards Hilo, we appeared to be in another 
land, for there were extensive forests, dense shrubbery, and a good 
erowth of grass; some parts of the country were even marshy. 
The relative influence of the leeward and windward climate in 
the Pacific, was thus strongly exhibited. The rains promote the 
decomposition of the lavas, and a rank vegetation succeeds; the 
growth of vegetation aids farther in the work of decomposition, and 
hastens thus the accumulation of soil. Kilauea is usually covered 
with mists from the condensed vapours of the volcano, and it forms a 
limit between the wet and dry regions on this part of Hawaii. Its 
height above the sea, according to the measurements of the Expedition, 
is 3970 feet.* 
From Kilauea we descended to Nanawale through Kapueuhi and 
Waipahoihoi. About Kapueuhi, ten miles from Kilauea, the country 
is rather wet, and is covered with grass, shrubbery, and some forests. 
East from Kapueuhi there is less soil, the rock showing itself over 
about one-sixth of the surface, and exhibiting the usual surface twist- 
ings—ripplemark-like—of the smoother lava tracks. Wherever soil 
appeared there was a rich growth of ferns, grasses, and some few groves. 
* The barometrical measurements of Douglass gave for the height of the north- 
northeast bluffs, 3845-9—3873-7 feet, (Journ. Roy. Geog. Soc. iv.,) and Strzelecki 
obtained for the height of the same 4101 feet. 
