• - 
and family; also, Messrs. Jaeger, 
► \\ illiams, Hall and Dole, the latter 
of whom made special observations of 
the birds, which are the sole inhabit¬ 
ants of Nihoa. 
At Kauai our company was in- 
increased by the addition of Gov. P. 
Kanoa, Mr. Devereli, with a superior 
photograph ic apparatus, ancl Mr. 
Ifowell, who aided in the survey. At 
5 o’clock p. m., on the 22d, passing 
the ‘‘barking sands” of Mana, our 
course was laid W.N.W. half W., 
steaming about nine knots, with a 
fair but moderate wind. Slowed at 
3 o’clock a. m. to five knots, but 
pushed on at 4:30, shortly after 
which Kihoa was seen bearing W.S. 
,, twenty miles distant. Pore down 
directly for its N.W. point, and by 
7 o’clock a. m. were close under its 
immense northern precipice and pin¬ 
nacles. Many myriads of birds were 
swarming around the island and the 
ship. Mr. Williams obtained an ex¬ 
cellent photograph, showing es¬ 
pecially the IN’. and E. precipices, 
and the white streaking thereon of 
guano. A cave or tunnel, through 
which boats can pass, of 500 feet 
length underlies a S.E. promontory. 
We saw through this tunnel from 
both sides. Every cranny and ledge 
of the northern precipice appeared to 
be packed with the nests of birds, 
conspicuously the large downy young 
of the frigate-bird. The greater part 
of this precipice—4,000 feet long, 300 
feet high in the middle, and rising to 
900 feet at each end, is either abso¬ 
lutely perpendicular, or sensibly 
overhangs, so that at several points 
a pebble may be dropped plumb into 
the waves. This very exceptional 
form of precipice appears to be due to 
a quite uniform structure of compact 
^coriaceous layers thoroughly ce¬ 
mented, its erosion being almost 
wholly from the waves at its base. 
Although much lighter and softer 
than the basaltic forms of Java, this 
scoriaceous or clinker lava holds its 
place as long as anything "is at all 
underneath it, whereas the usual 
strata of columnar basalt with under- 
lying loose soil and cavities, are in¬ 
capable of perpendicular erosion. Its 
piecipices are usually at a consider¬ 
able angle, while the £ coriaceous 
centers of our older and much eroded 
volcanic mountains abound in sharp 
ridges and pinnacles. 
As we approached the N.W. angle, 
there became conspicuous a very 
large number of perpendicular 
basaltic dikes, more than I have ever 
before seen in an equal space. These 
traversed the whole island from end 
to end, in many places erecting their 
haul sharp crests above the general 
surface. I hey were from two feet to 
perhaps ten in thickness. They were 
substantially parallel with each other. 
Their general direction was east and 
west. 
lhe noi th and west precipices form 
a sharp and very perfect acute angle. 
The sudden opening of the view of 
the w este* n wall was very impressive. 
The upper edge of that wall is 
strangely jagged, a succession of 
ragged pinnacles for 3,200 feet declin¬ 
ing to a low, long promontory, bend- 
ing aiound to enclose a deep cove with 
a fine sand beach, which unfortunate¬ 
ly opens to. the S.E. and the force of 
i 
the trades, which produce a heavy 
surf. Swiftly rounding the point, we 1 
anchored in front of this and two 
other coves somewhat protected by a 
projecting cliff to the S-E. These 
coves are formed by a series of small 
valleys and ridges sloping down from 
the high northern side and entering 
the sea. These gullies and ridges all 
point inward, precisely as do those at 
the head of the upper S. W. valley of 
Konahuanui, which is the chief 
■ source of Nuuauu stream. 
The middle valley is low, nearly 
bisecting the island in its narrowest 
part, which is about S00 feet wide. 
Its head is the innermost and lowest 
part of the concavity of the north 
precipice, about 300 feet high, and its 
foot at the deepest of the three coves. 
The island is thus divided somewhat 
unequally into two lofty bulks, whose 
slopes incline somewhat toward each 
other, each presided over by a 900 foot 
summit. At the head of the deep 
middle cove Messrs. Dole and Hall 
found a tolerable landing place upon 
the ledge. This had eluded observa¬ 
tion until too late for use. 
The workers landed about 8:30 
o’clock in the first boat, with some 
difficulty, on the ledges which are 
nearly continuous under the low cliffs 
which line'the whole bay. Ascend¬ 
ing the cliff* some forty feet with 
difficulty, we came out upon the steep 
slopes. These were well covered with 
the sweet' bunch grass known as 
makuikui. Its straight leaves con¬ 
tain a hemp-like fibre, which does 
not decay, but accumulates under tlie 
! bunch for many years. Portions 
i were thicfdy covered with ilirna or 
m 
sidcl , and other small bushes. Two 
small groves of palm trees were con¬ 
spicuous, the chief one in the 
large eastern valley, the other 
in the central one. Tire en¬ 
tire surface was densely crowded 
with nests of sea birds, about 
2,500 to the acre. As we emerged 
upon the slope the older birds rose in 
enormous clouds, while their helpless 
young remained in their nests, each 
with its single companion egg, which 
probably it aided in hatching. The 
smaller birds lies Jed in burrows 
under the dry bunch grass, and in 
the numerous caves and crannies of 
the rocks, while many of the larger 
nests were flat surfaces of twigs on 
^mall bushes beaten down and matted 
together, notably those of the great 
frigate bird. 
The surface was covered with thin 
soil and loose brittle scoriae. The 
soil was gray and ashy. The stone 
seemed saturated with guano. The 
strong odor of this was very pervading 
everywhere. Whether a soil that 
%/ 
will permit so much vegetation can 
be rich enough to pay for removal as 
a fertilizer I do not know, but it 
seems worthy of examination. There 
must be between 50,000 and 100,000 
cubic yards of such soil and soft stone 
upon the slopes of Kihoa, most of 
which could be easily delivered, by 
shutes into lighters moored off the 
low cliffs. I estimate the whole 
number of birds whose nests occu¬ 
pied the southern slopes at not less 
than one million, large and small, 
and immense numbers besides on the 
outer precipice. 
Two stations were chosen for a base 
