116 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
away the flies, or the boys, when either became two 
numerous or troublesome. 
Leaving Kairua, we passed through the villages 
thickly scattered along the shore to the southward. 
The country around looked unusually green and 
cheerful, owing to the frequent rains, which for 
some months past have fallen on this side of the 
island. Even the barren lava, over which we tra¬ 
velled, seemed to veil its sterility beneath tufts of 
tall waving grass, or spreading shrubs and flowers. 
The sides of the hills, laid out for a considerable 
extent in gardens and fields, and generally culti¬ 
vated with potatoes and other vegetables, were 
beautiful. The number of heiaus, and depositories 
of the dead, which we passed, convinced us that 
this part of the island must formerly have been 
populous. The latter were built with fragments 
of lava, laid up evenly on the outside, generally 
about eight feet long, from four to six broad, and 
about four feet high. Some appeared very 
ancient, others had evidently been standing but a 
few years. 
At Ruapua we examined an interesting heiau, 
called Kauaikahaora, built of immense blocks of 
lava, and found its dimensions to be one hundred 
and fifty feet by seventy. At the north end was a 
smaller enclosure, sixty feet long and ten wide, 
partitioned off by a high wall, with but one narrow 
entrance. The places where the idols formerly 
stood were apparent, though the idols had been 
removed. The spot where the altar had been 
erected could be distinctly traced; it was a mound 
of earth, paved with smooth stones, and surrounded 
by a firm curb of lava. The adjacent ground was 
strewed with bones of the ancient offerings. The 
natives informed us that four principal idols were 
