LETTER XIII.] 



ROYAL PROCESSION. 



120 



and handkerchiefs, and then a procession was formed, or rather 

 formed itself, to escort him to the governor's house. A rabble 

 of children ran in front, then came the king, over whom the 

 natives had thrown some beautiful garlands of ohm and mail'e 

 (Alyxia olivceformis), with the governor on one side and the 

 sheriff on the other, the chamberlain and adjutant-general 

 walking behind. Then a native staggering under the weight 

 of an enormous Hawaiian flag, the Hilo band, with my friend 

 Upa beating the big drum, and an irregular rabble {i. e. un- 

 organised crowd) of men, women, and children, going at a trot 

 to keep up with the king's rapid strides. The crowd was 

 unwilling to disperse even when he entered the house, and he 

 came out and made a short speech, the gist of which was that 

 he was delighted to see his native subjects, and would hold a 

 reception for them on the ensuing Monday, when we shall see 

 a most interesting sight, a native crowd gathered from all 

 Southern Hawaii for a hookitpu, an old custom, signifying the 

 bringing of gift-offerings to a king or chief. 



In the afternoon Dr. Wetmore and I rode to the beautiful 

 Puna woods on a botanising excursion. We were galloping 

 down to the beach round a sharp corner, when we had to pull 

 our horses almost on their haunches to avoid knocking over 

 the king, the American admiral, the captain of the " Benicia," 

 nine of their officers, and the two generals. When I saw the 

 politely veiled stare of the white men it occurred to me that 

 probably it was the first time that they had seen a white woman 

 riding cavalier fashion ! We had a delicious gallop over the 

 sands to the Waiakea river, which we crossed, and came upon 

 one of the vast lava-flows of ages since, over which we had to 

 ride carefully, as the pahoehoe lies in rivers, coils, tortuosities, 

 and holes partially concealed by a luxuriant growth of ferns 

 and convolvuli. The country is thickly sprinkled with cocoa- 

 nut and breadfruit trees, which merge into the dense, dark, 

 glorious forest, which tenderly hides out of sight hideous, 

 broken lava, on which one cannot venture six feet from the 

 track Avithout the risk of breaking one's limbs. All these 

 tropical forests are absolutely impenetrable, except to axe and 

 billhook, and after a trail has been laboriously opened, it needs 

 to be cut once or twice a year, so rapid is the growth of 

 vegetation. This one, through the Puna woods, only admits 

 of one person at a time. It was really rapturously lovely. 

 Through the trees we saw the soft steel-blue of the summer 

 sky : not a leaf stirred, not a bird sang, a hush had fallen on 



