AFRO-INDIAN REGIONS. 



391 



or more high ; a Nama, remarkable in the Hawaiian Group for being 

 one of the three or four phxnts that might pass for annuals, though 

 I had doubts as to their duration being limited to a twelvemonth ; 

 and gen. Durantoid, a decumbent shrub with upright branches two to 

 three feet high, and ornamental clusters of deep-blue labiate flowers. — 

 The only other spot in the Hawaiian Group where I met with drifting 

 sand, was near Waimea on the' Leeward side of Tauai ; and the locality 

 was equally signalized by the presence of this gen. Durantoid. 



West Maui is traversed by a mountain-defile ; leading back from 

 Wailuku, and subsequently examined by Mr. Brackenridge and myself. 

 The rock proved to be chiefly conglomerate : as though West Maui 

 stood in the same relation to East Maui, as Mauna Kea does to Mauna 

 Roa. Most of the way, the acclivity on either hand was inaccessible ; 

 rising above us one to two thousand feet, more or less precipitous, and 

 in every practicable situation richly clad with luxuriant forest-growth. 

 Towards the Leeward outlet, the climate rather suddenly became arid; 

 and on looking upwards, I was surprised by a display of cliff-plants ; 

 species expressly adapted to cling to the face of precipitous rocks : as 

 a remarkable Lohelia, having its stem swollen at base and covered 

 with leaf-cicatrices so as to resemble certain fossil coal plants, after- 

 wards tapering, and at the end of four to «eight feet crowned with 

 deltoid Curcas-like leaves ; a yellow-flowered Vitis-leaved Hibiscus, 

 abundantly intermingled; and a peculiar species of Wedelia; three 

 plants we met with only in this locality. In all the various countries 

 visited by myself, I have seen cliff-plants only on Madeira, to some 

 limited extent on continental Europe, and in this recess in the Ha- 

 waiian Group. It should however be observed, that the Gunnera, 

 which in various parts of the Hawaiian Islands clings to the edge of 

 lofty precipices, is perhaps also to be regarded as a cliff-plant. 



Our party left Wailuku in the morning, and after passing the alluvial 

 isthmus, commenced the ascent of Mauna Haleakala; another name 

 for the enormous mountain-lump of East Maui. The ground every- 

 where rose gradually ; and our route being on the dividing line between 

 Windward and Leeward, the country we traversed was neither barren 

 nor fairly wooded ; but there were woods at no great distance in the 

 Northeast. An hour before sunset, we arrived at some plantations 

 and a sugar-mill, and stopped for the night at Mr. Maclane's house : 

 the temperature at 7 J p.m., being G7° Fahr., and the barometer mark- 

 ing 28-424 inches. The OsteomeJes was observed to be rather frequent 



