DISTRICT OF HIRO. 
351 
powerful, and capable of devouring their land, and 
destroying the people. This we denied; and told 
them that volcanoes, and all their powers, were 
under the control of that God whom we wished 
them to choose for their God and Saviour.—When 
a drawing had been taken of this beautiful valley, 
where kukui trees, plantains, bananas, and ti 
plants were growing spontaneously with unusual, 
richness of foliage and flower, we took leave of 
the people, and, continuing our journey, entered 
Hamakua. 
Hiro, which we had now left, though not so 
extensive and populous as Kona, is the most fertile 
and interesting division on the island. The coast 
from Waiakea to this place is bold and steep, and 
intersected by numerous valleys or ravines ; many 
of these are apparently formed by the streams 
from the mountains, which flow through them into 
the sea. The rocks along the coast are volcanic, 
generally a browm vesicular lava. In the sides 
and bottoms of some of the ravines, they were 
occasionally of very hard compact lava, or a kind 
of basalt. This part of the island, from the dis¬ 
trict of Waiakea to the northern point, appears to 
nave remained many years undisturbed by volcanic 
eruptions. The habitations of the natives gene¬ 
rally appear in clusters at the opening of the val- 
eys, or scattered over the face of the high land. 
The soil is fertile, and herbage abundant. The 
bfty Mouna-Kea, rising about the centre of this 
division, forms a conspicuous object in every view 
that' can be taken of it. The base of the mountain 
on this side is covered with woods, which occa¬ 
sionally extend within five or six miles of the 
shore. While the division of Kona, on the leeward 
side of the island, is often several months without 
