LETTER X.] 



LUXURY IN A GULCH. 



95 



us was very charming, a fertile region perfectly level, protected 

 from the sea by sandhills, watered by a winding stream, and 

 bright with fishponds, meadow lands, kalo patches, orange and 

 coffee groves, figs, breadfruit, and palms. There were a number 

 of grass-houses, and a native church with a spire, and another 

 up the valley testified to the energy and aggressiveness of 

 Rome. We saw all this from the moment we reached the fall; 

 and it enlarged, and the detail grew upon us with every yard 

 of the laborious descent of broken, craggy track, which is the 

 only mode of access to the valley from the outer world. I got 

 down on foot with difficulty ; a difficulty much increased by 

 the long rowels of my spurs, which caught on the rocks and 

 entangled my dress, the simple expedient of taking them off 

 not having occurred to me ! 



A neat frame-house, with large stones between it and the 

 river, was our destination. It belongs to a native named Hale- 

 manu, a great man in the district, for, besides being a member 

 of the legislature, he is deputy sheriff. He is a man of property, 

 also ; and though he cannot speak a word of English, he is 

 well educated in Hawaiian, and writes an excellent hand. I 

 brought a letter of introduction to him from Mr. Severance, 

 and we were at once received with every hospitality, our horses 

 cared for, and ourselves luxuriously lodged. We walked up 

 the valley before dark to get a view of a cascade, and found 

 supper ready on our return. This is such luxury after last 

 night. There is a very light, bright sitting-room, with papered 

 walls, and manilla matting on the floor, a round centre table 

 with books and a photograph album upon it, two rocking-chairs, 

 an office-desk, another table and chairs, and a Canadian lounge. 

 I can't imagine in what way this furniture was brought here. 

 Our bedroom opens from this, and it actually has a four-post 

 bedstead with mosquito bars, a lounge and two chairs, and the 

 floor is covered with native matting. The washing apparatus 

 is rather an anomaly, for it consists of a basin and crash towel 

 placed in the verandah, in full view of fifteen people. The 

 natives all bathe in the river. 



Halemanu has a cook house and native cook, and an eating- 

 room, where I was surprised to find everything in foreign style 

 — chairs, a table with a snow white cover, and table napkins, 

 knives, forks, and even saltcellars. I asked him to eat with 

 us, and he used a knife and fork quite correctly, never, for 

 instance, putting the knife into his mouth. I was amused to 

 see him afterwards, sitting on a mat among his family and 



