THROUGH HAWAII. 
353 
and capable of devouring their land, and destroying the 
people. This we denied ; and told them that volcanoes, 
and all their powers, were under the control of that 
God, whom we wished them to choose for their God 
and Saviour. When a drawing had been taken of this 
beautiful valley, where kukui trees, plantains, bananas, 
and ti plants were growing spontaneously with unusual 
richness of foliage and flower, we took leave of the peo¬ 
ple, and, continuing our journey, entered Hamakua. 
Hiro , which we had now left, though not so extensive 
and populous as Kona, is the most fertile and interest¬ 
ing division on the island. The coast from Waiakea 
to this place is bold and steep, and intersected by 
numerous valleys or ravines; many of these are appa¬ 
rently formed by the streams from the mountains, which 
flow through them into the sea. The rocks along the 
coast are volcanic, generally a brown vesicular lava. 
In the sides and bottoms of some of the ravines, they 
were occasionally of very hard compact lava, or a kind 
of basalt. This part of the island, from the district of 
Waiakea to the northern point, appears to have re¬ 
mained many years undisturbed by volcanic eruptions. 
The habitations of the natives generally appear in 
clusters at the opening of the valleys, or scattered 
over the face of the high land. The soil is fertile, and 
herbage abundant. The lofty Mouna-Kea, rising about 
the centre of this division, forms a conspicuous object 
in every view that can be taken of it. The base of the 
mountain on this side is covered with woods, which 
occasionally extend within five or six miles of the 
shore. While the division of Kona, on the leeward side 
of the island, is often several monhts without a shower, 
rain is frequent in this and the adjoining division of 
2 z 
