SANDWICH ISLANDS. 
169 
a man falls into the water, he will be buoyed up by the 
astonishing shoals of them. They are, however, the private 
property of the chiefs, and even the missionaries had not free 
access to them until we arrived. 
Our walks are circumscribed by the almost impenetrable 
nature of the forest behind us, and the sharpness of the 
lava rocks, over which we must go if we desire to reach 
to any distance from home; but this is no great evil in so 
beautiful a situation, and with fine ground for cricket and 
quoits. 
A few days after our arrival, a party, consisting of one 
of the junior lieutenants, the purser, and the botanist, under 
the guidance of a missionary, resolved to attempt to reach 
the summit of Mouna Keali, which has been computed by 
some to be 18,000 feet high, and by others little more than 
14,000; the truth is, as usual, between the two extremes. 
June 15.—Thermometer 80°. To facilitate their journey, 
Kahumanu lent them a double canoe to carry them as far as 
Lapoihoihoi, in the district of Karuakua, a village thirty 
miles north-west from Waikeea; the shores as they sailed 
by them appeared to be richly wooded, and shaded to the 
water’s-edge with the pandanus and kou-tree; here and 
there the wood receded and displayed rich valleys, deep ra¬ 
vines, and cascades, some of which were believed to fall 
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