CULTIVATION NEGLECTED. 225 
families, consisting of men, women, and children, 
were residing. Its interior was rather dark, as the 
entrance was the only aperture that admitted 
light; yet the inhabitants of this dreary abode 
seemed cheerful and contented, .and perhaps felt 
themselves favoured by Pele, in having a perma¬ 
nent abode furnished free of labour or expense. 
The women were employed in making mats, and 
beating tapa; the children were playing among 
the fragments of lava on the outside, and the men 
were preparing an oven in which to bake some 
taro. We wished to purchase a few fowls of them, 
but they had none to dispose of. They gave us, 
however, two or three roots of taro, and a draught 
of excellent spring water. Bidding them farewell, 
we pursued our way over a beautiful country, 
gradually sloping towards the right, and meeting 
the ocean, at a distance of from ten to fifteen 
miles, rising more abruptly on the left, where it 
was crowned with the woods, which extended like 
a vast belt round the base of the greater part of 
Mouna Roa. Large slabs of indurated vesicular 
lava occasionally appeared amidst the shallow but 
fertile soil spread over the face of the country. 
Although apparently well adapted to the growth 
of the sweet potato and the mountain taro, it was 
entirely neglected, and every appearance of cul¬ 
tivation ceased, on our leaving the immediate 
vicinity of Kapapala. We saw no streams or 
pools of water; yet from the excellent quality of 
that furnished by the natives at Tapuahi, we 
should suppose it is to be found in the neighbour¬ 
hood. In some parts of the islands where water 
is scarce, the natives have recourse to an ingenious 
method for procuring a more abundant supply. 
They faslen together the leaves of the pandanus, 
IV, Q 
