176 
MISSIONARY TOUR 
been, almost without exception, concomitants of each 
other; and the shocks must have been exceedingly vio¬ 
lent, to have torn the lava to pieces, and shook it up in 
such distorted forms as we every where beheld. 
Slabs of lava, from nine to twelve inches thick, and 
from four to twenty or thirty feet in diameter, were fre¬ 
quently piled up edgewise, or stood leaning against 
several others piled up in a similar manner. Some of 
them were six, ten, or twelve feet above the general 
surface, fixed in the lava below, which appeared to 
have flowed round their base, and filled up the inter¬ 
stices occasioned by the separation of the different 
pieces. One side of these rugged slabs generally pre¬ 
sented a compact, smooth, glazed, and gently undulated 
surface, while the other appeared rugged and broken, 
as if torn with violence from the viscid mass to which 
it had tenaciously adhered. Probably these slabs were 
raised by the expansive force of the heated air beneath 
the sheet of lava. 
After about eighteen miles of most difficult travelling 
they reached Keavaiti , a small opening among the rocks, 
where, in case of emergency, a canoe might land in 
safety. Here they found Mr. Harwood and myself 
waiting; for, after leaving Kapua, we had sailed along 
close to the shore, till the wind becoming too strong 
for us to proceed, we availed ourselves of the opening 
which Keavaiti afforded, to run the canoe ashore, and 
wait till the wind should abate, though in so doing we 
were completely wet with the surf, and spoiled the few 
provisions we had on board. 
The wind was still too strong to allow the canoe to 
proceed on her voyage; and those who had travelled 
by land felt too much fatigued to go on without some 
