292 



HYDROGRAPHY. 



of the island. Navigators should also be on the lookout for these 

 squalls in passing the island a little before and after sunset'; they are 

 felt some distance from the island, and extend into the southern part 

 of the channel between Hawaii and Maui. The best anchorage off 

 Kawaihae is with the gorge well open, in 12 fathoms water. Some 

 supplies may be had here, but they are not as plentiful as at Maui or 

 Oahu ; wood can be procured of a good quality. As a place of resort 

 it is by no means agreeable, the air being hot and stifling. The morn- 

 ing hours are the best to transact business in, and the shipment of 

 cargo at that time does not meet with interruption from the weather. 



From the Bay of Kawaihae the coast takes a trend due north to 

 Cape Upolu, the northwestern angle of Hawaii, a distance of 16 miles. 

 This is a moderately high cape, of a reddish appearance ; it lies in lati- 

 tude 20° 19' 30" north, and longitude 155° 58' west. Near the cape 

 is a sandy beach, but the surf seldom admits of a safe landing. From 

 Cape Upolu the coast trends eastward to Waipio, 32 miles. It is a 

 high and steep bluff coast, being much abraded and worn into deep 

 ravines (called at the islands gulches), by the rains. At Point Niulu, 

 10 miles from Cape Upolu, is a coral sandbank ; it extends some dis- 

 tance from the shore, but affords no shelter or anchorage. From 

 Waipio the coast takes a southeastern direction to Hilo Bay, 37 miles 

 distant, and continues to present the same perpendicular and iron- 

 bound character, with many gulches, and black volcanic rocks 

 lying within them and along the shore, on which the sea conti- 

 nually breaks. Some of these ravines present the appearance of 

 being accessible, but they afford no shelter or landing, and are for the 

 most part quite dry, the remains of mountain torrents that have 

 for ages passed through them during the rainy season. 



The tide in Hilo Bay rises 3 feet ; high water, on full and change, 

 at 1 p. m. 



MAUI AND KAHOOLAWE ISLANDS. 



The Island of Maui lies to the northwest of Hawaii, divided from 

 it by a channel 19 h miles wide. Maui is a high volcanic island, 

 formed by two oval-shaped mountains ; the easternmost is the largest 

 and highest : in one point it reaches the altitude of 10,000 feet above 



