THROUGH HAWAII. 
225 
a part to P616, eat them very freely. They did not 
use much ceremony in their acknowledgment; but when 
they had plucked a branch, containing several clusters 
of berries, they turned their faces towards the place 
whence the greatest quantity of smoke and vapour 
issued, and, breaking the branch they held in their 
hand in two, they threw one part down the precipice, 
saying at the same time, “ E Pele, eia ka oiielo 9 au ; e 
taumaha aJcu wau ia oe, e ai hoi au tetahi” “ Pēlē, 
here are your ohelos: Ī offer some to you, some I 
also eat.” Several of them told us, as they turned 
round from the crater, that after such acknowledg¬ 
ments they might eat the fruit with security. We an¬ 
swered we were sorry to see them offering to an ima¬ 
ginary deity the gifts of the true God; but hoped they 
would soon know better, and acknowledge Jehovah 
alone in all the benefits they received. 
We walked on to the north end of the ridge, where, 
the precipice being less steep, a descent to the plain 
below seemed practicable. It required, however, the 
greatest caution, as the stones and fragments of rock 
frequently gave way under our feet, and rolled down 
from above ; but, with all our care, we did not reach 
the bottom without several falls and slight bruises. 
The steep which we had descended was formed of 
volcanic matter, apparently a light red and gray kind of 
lava, vesicular, and lying in horizontal strata, varying 
in thickness from one to forty feet. In a small number 
of places the different strata of lava were also rent in 
perpendicular or oblique directions, from the top to the 
bottom, either by earthquakes, or other violent convul¬ 
sions of the ground connected with the action of the 
adjacent volcano. After walking some distance over 
2 G 
