letter xxi,] A TYPICAL CANON. 



205 



we pulled up at the top of a descent of 2,000 feet with a broad, 

 rapid river at its feet, emerging from between colossal walls of 

 rock to girdle a natural lawn of the bright manienie grass. 

 There had been a " drive " of horses, and numbers of these, 

 with their picturesque saddles, were picketed there, while 

 their yet more picturesque, scarlet-shirted riders lounged in 

 the sun. 



It was a difficult two hours' ride, from thence to the Falls, 

 worthy of Hawaii, and since my adventures in the Hilo gulches 

 I cannot cross running water without feeling an amount of 

 nervousness which I can conceal, but cannot reason myself 

 out of. In going and returning, we forded the broad, rugged 

 river twenty-six times, always in water up to my horse's girths, 

 and the bottom was so rocky and full of holes, and the torrent 

 so impetuous, that the animals floundered badly and evidently 

 disliked the whole affair. Once it had been possible to ride 

 along the edge, but the river had torn away what there was of 

 margin in a freshet, so that we had to cross perpetually, to 

 attain the rough, boulder-strewn strips which lay between the 

 cliffs and itself. Sometimes we rode over roundish boulders 

 like those on the top of Ben Cruachan, or like those of the 

 landing at Iona, and most of those under the rush of the 

 bright, foaming water were covered with a silky, green weed, 

 on which the horses slipped alarmingly. My companions 

 always took the lead, and by the time that each of their horses 

 had struggled, slipped, and floundered in and out of holes, and 

 breasted and leapt up steep banks, I was ready to echo 



Mr. M.'s exclamation regarding Mrs. , "I never saw 



such riding; I never saw ladies with such nerve." I cer- 

 tainly never saw people encounter such difficulties for the 

 sake _ of scenery. Generally, a fall would be regarded as 

 practically inaccessible which could only be approached in 

 such a way. 



I will not inflict another description of similar scenery upon 

 you, but this, though perhaps exceeding all others in beauty, 

 is not only a type, perhaps the finest type, of a species of 

 canon very common on these islands, but is also so inte- 

 resting geologically that you must tolerate a very few words 

 upon it. 



The valley for two or three miles from the sea is nearly 

 level, very fertile, and walled in by pah's 250 feet high, much 

 grooved vertically, and presenting fine layers of conglomerate 

 and grey basalt ; and the Hanape'pe winds quietly through the 



