* THE MOUNTAIN TARO. 193 
had never been known. The rough and desolate 
tract of lava, with all its distorted forms, was ex¬ 
changed for the verdant plain, diversified with 
gently rising hills, and sloping dales, ornamented 
with shrubs, and gay with blooming flowers. 
We saw, however, no stream of water during the 
whole of the day; but, from the luxuriance of the 
herbage in every direction, the rains must be fre¬ 
quent, or the dews heavy. About noon we reached 
Kalehu, a small village, upwards of four miles 
from Tairitii. The kind cottagers brought us 
some fine water-melons, which afforded us a 
grateful repast while we rested during the heat of 
the noonday sun. 
Between sixty and seventy persons collected 
around the house in which we were sitting, and 
as I was so far recovered as to be able to preach, 
I addressed them from Matt. i. 21. They seemed 
interested, and afterwards said, that they had 
heard good news. We remained abqut an hour, 
conversing on some of the first principles of the 
religion of Jesus Christ, and then resumed our 
journey over the same beautiful country, which 
was partially cultivated, and contained a numer¬ 
ous, though scattered, population. The prospect 
was delightful. On one hand, the Pacific dashed 
its mighty waves against the rocky shore, and on 
the other, the kuahivi (mountain ridges) of Kaii, 
and snow-top’d Mouna Roa, rose in the interior, 
with lofty grandeur. Our path led us through | 
several fields of mountain taro, (a variety of the I 
arum,) extensively cultivated in many parts of 
Hawaii. It was growing in a dry sandy soil, into 
which our feet sunk two or three inches every step 
we took. The roots were of an oblong shape, 
generally from ten inches to a foot in length, and 
iv. o 
