106 
VOYAGE TO THE 
bably caused by the abundance of nutritive food and the 
habits of indolence in which they indulge. The company 
was exceedingly delighted with our epaulettes, and used the 
word to name them by which they designate glorious re¬ 
splendency as applied to the sun. 
The view from the anchorage had led us to form too 
favourable an idea of the town, if it may be so called, of 
Lahaina. The huts of the natives are irregularly scattered, 
and the cultivation is very imperfect; perhaps we were 
wrong to expect more; yet the impression was that of dis¬ 
appointment. The bay of Lahaina is formed by two low 
points projecting into the sea, at a distance of two miles 
from each other. From the beach to the mountain a per¬ 
fectly flat plain extends from three quarters to half a mile 
in breadth; and this plain is richly covered with vegetation 
of all kinds, and studded with trees. It is, however, wild, 
and the irregular patches of native culture destroy the grace 
of nature without giving the dignity of civilization. But 
the breadfruit spreads its useful branches over immense 
artificial fish-ponds, where a great portion of the favourite 
food of the natives is produced; and close to which are the 
taro fields, from twenty to thirty yards square, kept con¬ 
stantly full of water, that the root may swell and become 
more delicate. 
