THROUGH HAWAII. 
343 
of persons whose only business it is to keep them 
properly trimmed. Their paddles, which are large 
and strong, are generally four or five feet long, have an 
oval-shaped blade and round handle, and are made of 
the same hard and heavy wood employed in building 
their canoes. They are not handsome, and their weight 
must make paddling very laborious. Neither the 
canoes nor paddles of the Sandwich Islanders are 
carved like those of many islands in the Pacific. 
Their canoes are, nevertheless, remarkably neat, and 
sometimes handsome. 
The country, by which we sailed, was fertile, beauti¬ 
ful, and apparently populous. The numerous planta¬ 
tions on the eminences and sides of the deep ravines 
or valleys, by which it was intersected, with the 
streams meandering through them into the sea, pre¬ 
sented altogether a most agreeable prospect. The 
coast was bold, and the rocks evidently volcanic. We 
frequently saw the water gushing out of hollows in the 
face of the rocks, or flowing in cascades from the top 
to the bottom. 
After sailing pleasantly for several hours, we ap¬ 
proached Laupahoehoe: we had proceeded upwards 
of twenty miles, and had passed not less than fifty 
ravines or valleys, but we had not seen a spot where 
we thought it would be possible to land without being 
swamped; and although we knew we had arrived at 
the end of our voyage, we could discover no place by 
which it seemed safe to approach the shore, as the surf 
was beating violently, and the wind blowing directly 
towards the land. However, when we came within a 
few yards of the surf, we perceived an opening in the 
rocks, just wide enough to admit our canoe. Into this 
