HA WAIL 



[letter XXIII. 



amidst lively greenery, it looked as if the curse had never 

 lighted there. 



Its mouth, where it opens on the Pacific, is from two to three ! 

 miles wide, but the boundary mountains gradually approach i 

 each other, so that five miles from the sea a narrow gorge of I 

 wonderful beauty alone remains. The crystal Hanalei flows \ 

 placidly to the sea for the last three or four miles, tired by its 

 impetuous rush from the mountains, and mirrors on its breast 

 hundreds of acres of cane, growing on a plantation formerly 

 belonging to Mr. Wyllie, an enterprising Ayrshire man, and one : 

 of the ablest and most disinterested foreigners who ever admi- 

 nistered Hawaiian affairs. Westward of the valley there is ; 

 a region of mountains, slashed by deep ravines. The upper 

 ridges are densely timbered, and many of the ohias have a cir- 

 cumference of twenty-five feet, three feet from the ground. It 

 was sad to turn away for ever from the loveliness of Hanalei, 

 even though by taking another route, which involved a ride of \ 

 forty miles, I passed through and in view of, most entrancing 

 picturesqueness. Indeed, for mere loveliness, I think that part 

 of Kauai exceeds anything that I have seen. 



The atmosphere and scenery were so glorious that it was 

 possible to think of nothing all day, but just allow oneself pas- 

 sively to drink in sensations of exquisite pleasure. I wish all 

 the hard-worked people at home, who lead joyless lives in sun- 

 less alleys, could just have one such day, and enjoy it as I did, 

 that they might know how fair God's earth is, and how fairer His 

 Paradise must be, if even from this we cannot conceive " of 

 the things which He hath prepared for them that love Him." 

 I never before felt so sad for those whose lives are passed 

 amidst unpropitious surroundings, or so thankful for my own 

 capacity of enjoying nature. 



Just as we were coming up out of a deep river, a native 

 riding about six feet from me was caught in a quicksand. He 

 jumped off, but the horse sank half way up its body. I wanted 

 to stay and see it extricated, for its struggles only sank it 

 deeper, but the natives shrugged their shoulders, and said in 

 Hawaiian, " only a horse," and something they always say when 

 anything happens, equivalent to "What's the odds?" It was 

 a joyously-exciting day, and I was galloping down a grass hill 

 at a pace which I should not have assumed had white people 

 been with me, when a native rode up to me and said twice 

 over, " maikai ! paniola" and laughed heartily. When my 

 native came up, he pointed to me and again said, " paniola j " 



