HA WAIIAN G TJIDE B OK. 81 



village by Volcano street, adorned with white cottages 

 in flower gardens shaded by fruit and ornamental trees. 

 The road soon becomes densely fenced with the ohi 

 bush, then crosses the end of th» famous Waiakea fish 

 ponds and only fairly starts in the wilderness after pass- 

 ing Gov. Lyman's cattle ranch in Waiakea. It iB no 

 broad macadamized thoroughfare, and will try the pa- 

 tience of most travelers. Ten miles bring the traveler 

 into the magnificent woods with their gorgeous trees, 

 plants, creepers, ferns, and thick undergrowth, conspicu- 

 ous with many colored flora of the woods. 



Fifteen miles from Hilo Olaa is reached, the half-way 

 stopping place. The intermediate territory is covered 

 with ti plant and ferns, while the road consists mostly 

 of pahoehoe lava, scantily covered with bunch grass and 

 occasional bushes and trees. 



" The Half-way House " at Olaa is merely a cluster 

 of grass houses, a passable rest for travelers, who wish 

 to spend the night, and obtain pasturage for horses. 

 Here several orange trees display then- rich fruit in sight 

 of the road. Although this point is 1188 feet above 

 the sea level, and ten miles from Keaau, (the nearest 

 point on the sea shore) the roar of the sea may be dis- 

 tinctly heard during a heavy surf. Leaving Olaa, the 

 route is over pahoehoe in all its varieties, thickly covered 

 with wild grass, straggling ferns, creeping vines, and 

 that vegetation which in tropical lands seeks only water 

 to become impenetrable. Fires have swept over parts of 

 the adjoining land and the blackened rocks with their 

 scant supplies of soil, demonstrate how little alluvial 

 earth nature requires to run wild, when it has plenty of 

 light, warmth and moisture. 



