JOURNEY TO KEARAKOMO. 271 
The ground over which we walked was com¬ 
posed of ancient lava, of a light, brown colour, 
broken into small pieces, resembling coarse dry 
gravel, to the depth of two or three inches, below 
which it appeared one solid mass of lava. The 
surface was covered with ohelo bushes, and a few 
straggling ferns and low shrubs, which made tra¬ 
velling more agreeable than when we approached 
the volcano. Within a few miles of Kirauea, we 
passed three or four high and extinct craters. One 
of them, Keanakakoi, the natives told us, sent 
forth, in the days of Riroa, king of Hawaii, about 
fourteen generations back, most of the lava over 
which w T e were travelling. The sides of these 
craters were generally covered with verdure, while 
the brown irregular-shaped rocks, on their indented 
summits, frowned like the battlements of a castle 
in ruins. We occasionally passed through rather 
extensive shrubberies of bushes and small trees, 
growing in the decomposed lava and sand, and 
striking their roots among the cracks which were 
filled up with the same material. As we ap¬ 
proached the sea, the soil became more generally 
spread over the surface, and vegetation more 
luxuriant. 
We stopped at a solitary cottage, where we pro¬ 
cured a draught of fresh water, to us exceedingly 
grateful, as we had travelled since the morning 
without any refreshment, except a few berries and 
a piece of sugar-cane. We descended 300 or 
400 feet, by a narrow winding path, covered with 
overhanging trees, and bordered by shrubs and 
grass. We then walked over a tract of lava, 
broken and decomposed, and about four or five 
miles wide, at the end of which another steep ap¬ 
peared. These steep precipices form concentric 
