320 
CBUISE OF E.M.S. CEALLENGEB. 
out here and there masses of black volcanic rock. 
Into cracks and caverns the heavy waves surged, 
sending the spray high up amongst the ferns and 
trailers. 
On the summits of these cliffs were dense forests of 
the ohia, koa, ieie, mamane, mamaki, alii, and many 
other trees, crowded together and sheltering an 
almost endless variety of ferns and shrubs, encircling 
M auna Loa and Mauna Kea, two vast volcanic moun- 
tains, whose snow-capped peaks rise to nearly 14,000 
feet. 
We pass on, catching glimpses of native churches, 
villages, and sugar-plantations, their bright green 
vegetation looking most charming. 
Aug. 14 th . — Later in the day, we arrived and 
anchored in Byron’s or Hilo Bay, a pretty crescent- 
shaped sheet of water, fringed all round the shore 
with cocoa-palms and other tropical foliage. 
Hilo looks very pretty from the anchorage; its 
bay, said to be one of the most beautiful in the 
Pacific, is a semicircle of about two miles in extent; 
the native houses are half hidden by tall trees that 
spread their foliage about in all directions ; and near 
the landing-place some white frame-houses and three 
church-spires are prominently seen. 
Soon after our arrival I landed (not for the first 
time, for I was here in 1858) at a small pier run out 
through the surf for the convenience of passengers 
landing from the coasting steamer Kilauea. 
