236 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES* 
of the ohelo berries, now gather several bunches, 
and, after offering a part to Pele, eat them very 
freely. They did not use much ceremony in their 
acknowledgment; but when they had plucked a 
branch, containing several clusters of berries, they 
turned their faces towards the place whence the 
greatest quantity of smoke and vapour issued, and, 
breaking the branch they held in their hand in 
two, they threw one part down the precipice, say¬ 
ing at the same time, “ E Pele , eia ka ohelo ’an ; 
e taumaha aku wau ia oe , e ai hoi au tetahi .” 
“ Pele, here are your ohelos : I offer some to you, 
some I also eat.” Several of them told us, as 
they turned round from the crater, that after such 
acknowledgments they might eat the fruit with 
security. We answered, we were sorry to see them 
offering to an imaginary deity the gifts of the true 
God; but hoped they would soon know better, 
and acknowledge Jehovah alone, in all the benefits 
they received. 
We walked on to the north end of the ridge, 
where, the precipice being less steep, a descent 
to the plain below seemed practicable. It required, 
however, the greatest caution, as the stones and 
fragments of rock frequently gave way under our 
feet, and rolled down from above; but, with all 
our care, we did not reach the bottom without 
several falls and slight bruises. 
The steep which we had descended was formed 
of volcanic matter, apparently a light red and gray 
kind of lava, vesicular, and lying in horizontal 
strata, varying in thickness from one to forty feet, 
In a small number of places, the different strata 
of lava were also rent in perpendicular or oblique 
directions, from the top to the bottom, either by 
earthquakes, or other violent convulsions of the 
