VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL PRODUCTIONS. 339 
desolate, arid land of that great plain. Stunted indigo, 
verbena, and malvaceous weeds thinly covered the 
parched soil, which was cracked in every direction. 
Ten thousand feet above me rose the vast dome of 
Haleakala, bare on this landward side, but which had 
sent down for centuries volcanic ash to make this plain, 
and which now was covering these earlier deposits with 
the decomposition of its rich lavas. I examined this soil 
and found it full of the elements best suited for the growth 
of cane. As is the case with many of our own Western 
plains comprised in what was known as the Great 
American Desert, which have often impressed me as the 
most inhospitable land, not even excepting the Sahara, I 
have ever seen, this Hawaiian plain needed only water to 
turn the desert into a fertile field. I laid before the then 
Government of Hawaii my plan for reclaiming this land, 
which in great part belonged to the School Fund. The 
Minister of Foreign Relations, the Hon. Robert C. Wyllie, 
a most remarkable man, saw the physical possibilities, but 
also the financial impossibilities, so far as the Government 
was concerned. Years went by, 'when on a second visit 
to Maui I had the pleasure of seeing that my plan had 
in part been carried out by private parties, and prosper¬ 
ing sugar plantations, valued at many millions, occupied 
the once waste land. 
In travelling through Guatemala I was convinced of 
the physical advantages the country possessed, though 
I was not blind to the indisputable fact that of all 
countries I have seen, Guatemala, in common with the 
other States of Central America, makes least use of 
her natural advantages, and does least to overcome those 
obstacles Nature has thrown in her way. My readers 
