46 
MISSIONARY TOUR 
ling over the lava for about a mile, the hollows in the 
rocks began to be filled with a light brown soil; and 
about half a mile further, the surface was entirely 
covered with a rich mould, formed by decayed vegetable 
matter and decomposed lava. Here they enjoyed the 
agreeable shade of bread-fruit and ohia trees ; the latter 
is a deciduous plant, a variety of eugenia, resembling 
the eugenia malaccensis , bearing a beautifully red pulpy 
fruit, of the size and consistence of an apple, juicy, but 
rather insipid to the taste. The trees are elegant in 
form, and grow to the height of twenty or thirty feet; the 
leaf is oblong and pointed, and the flowers are attached 
to the branches by a short stem. The fruit is abundant, 
and is generally ripe, either on different places in the 
same island, or on different islands, during all the sum¬ 
mer months. The path now lay through a beautiful 
part of the country, quite a garden compared with that 
through which they had passed on first leaving the 
town. It was generally divided into small fields, about 
fifteen rods square, fenced with low stone walls, built 
with fragments of lava gathered from the surface of the 
enclosures. These fields were planted with bananas, 
sweet potatoes, mountain taro, paper mulberry plants, 
melons, and sugar-cane, which flourished luxuriantly 
in every direction. Having travelled about three or 
four miles through this delightful region, and passed 
several valuable pools of fresh water, they arrived 
at the thick woods, which extend several miles up 
the sides of the lofty mountain that rises immediately 
behind Kairua. Among the various plants and trees 
that now presented themselves, they were much pleased 
with a species of tree ferns, whose stipes were about five 
feet long, and the stem about fourteen feet high, and 
