304 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
in saving his own family, while his adroitness in 
escaping the dreadful calamity of which he had 
been the sole cause, is applauded in terms too in¬ 
delicate to be recorded. The natives pointed out 
a number of rocks in the sea, which, they said, 
were thrown by Pele, to sink the canoe in which 
Kahavari escaped. 
After travelling a short distance, we saw the 
Bu o Kahavari , (Hill of Kahavari,) the place 
where he stopped, after sliding down-hill, and 
perceiving the goddess pursuing him. It was a black 
frowning crater, about one hundred feet high, with 
a deep gap in its rim on the eastern side, from 
which the course of the current of lava could be 
distinctly traced. Our way now lay over a very 
rugged tract of country. Sometimes for a mile or 
two we were obliged to walk along on the top of 
a wall four feet high, and about three feet wide, 
formed of fragments of lava that had been col¬ 
lected from the surface of the enclosures which 
these walls surrounded. We were, however, cheer¬ 
ed with a beautiful prospect; for the land, which 
rose gradually towards the mountains a few miles 
to the westward of us, presented an almost en¬ 
chanting appearance. The plain was covered with 
verdure; and as we advance, a woody eminence, 
probably some ancient crater, frequently arose from 
the gently undulated surface, while groups of hills, 
clothed with trees of various foliage, agreeably 
diversified the scene. The shore, which was about 
a mile to the eastward of us, was occasionally 
lined with the spiral pandanus, the waving cocoa- 
nut, or the clustering huts of the natives. At 
half-past four we reached Kahuwai, where we sat 
down and took some refreshment, while Makoa 
was engaged in bringing the people of the place 
