| Show irhe wine tine ai 7 I y jy i i KT byaw P frine FRINK y in tl 11 aa pacific ocean wo so milea miles bouth south southwest eit of ban e d AM situated thai that i group of ianda islands js known as the thi 8 sis sim is d w ach islands the group consists of twelve Is lands islands beur arid arld four email a bit ed and four which are little more t han than barren rocki their nii nie names mes ar arb are 0 as follows ay i riho a barren kocir 20 loal nf and d 5 miles smiles wide kanea kanes a barren leha i kii xii kaall io fio miles ralles fong lone ai 28 in miles ties ites iride wide oahn iz R M 21 il SS M 7 ta nanal nanai La nal nai mauli maul maull 25 12 milen miles long and 6 5 miles wide vide banen barren rocks nawa hawa mile mlle slone alone lon ion g ad 9 miles wide the th croup 10 ecklon extends tends in a north corti north westa west 1 on from froni the last named island tnt are all of vol voi volcanic caille ginand ori orl ina ins nd mountainous iu the interior the mountains increasing lu hight bight from one thousand eight bundred feet above theses the bea sea on the most moat north wes terly island to the lofty and snow capped domes on hawaii which penetrate the clouds fifteen thousand feet above the level of the sea the volcanic origin of the group is manifest by the lava java rock that extends from the tops of the mountains to the sea and the great number of old and extinct craters and crater cones and promiscuously piled ridges of rock that look as though they had been thrown out of those craters and are still standing as they fell thousands of ages agea ago in many places those piles plies of rock appear as though they were placed by the hand of man but by comparison with similar piles les ies recently thrown from the bowels 0 ll 11 of existing exi exl stin craters it is evident that thai those ane are of cf like origin it is believed by geologists that the volcanic forces that formed this group commenced at the northwesterly island and that the islands were successively thrown up or formed by outpourings out of lava from the interior of the earth in the order in which they are named with the exception of perhaps some of the smaller ones which appear as if separated by earthquake force from the larger is believed to have been split from kauai hawaii is the only one of the group in which there is any active volcanic force and is the only one that has been convulsed by earthquake since they have been known to europeans A recent geol geological ogeal writer remarks that from the degradation of its ridges and the absence of any recent volcanic products it is supposed that kauai is the oldest member of the group and it cannot be disputed that volcanic action ceased here before it was wab extinct on oahu bahu or the other islands many years yeara must have elapsed how many it is useless to conjecture to convert the hard basaltic lava into rich soil soll which nourishes trees of immense size and which is BO so abundant as to give kauai the name of the gar garden ded dev the mountains on kauai are eight thousand feet feel above the level of the sea on the summit summits band sand and slopes of which the rain falls almost every day in the year and has ha furrowed the sides into thousands of ravines along which the water finds channel to the sea affording ample supply fol for irrigating the fertile plains where the rain fall is only during the thier raidy rainy A iny IDY season the ridges between these ravines are covered with a most luxurious growth of tropical vegetation varied w with th all the khe shades of green that are peculiar pecullar fo d the tropical trees shrubs plants and ferns i which gives a e scenery of varied beauty for which kauai is justly celebrated this island too Is celebrated for its having the moat most r remarkable em caves eaves on the whole group formed in the abrupt broken end of the ridges of mauna hina the largest is moie than a hundred feet wide hide at the mouth and twenty feet high extending into the mountain several hundred feet gradually becoming narrower and lower until the explorer is obliged to creep on his handstand hand hands sand band and knees toan tonn to an ial lal wall which is said to block up a F ppul ppul p pul pui caral cave this seems to have bee bue e of those gigantic bubbles commo a i all lava streams there are other c i in the vicinity one of which is n 1 1 I with water of remarkable clearnes su so much so that the smallest pebble e c be seen with perfect distinctness a the depth of fit thirty feet others colta couta coulvin iii lri fresh water although on iba iha the ivyel ley el of the sea and only afew a few hundred feet from it but the knost most remarkable phenomenon on the island exists in the di I 1 maua maus lare lsne 1 Is a ve very ry cur car carious I 1 lous ious land bank bark Vorm ed by y tha thi wi nd and nna ana d currents lynlch whick cb strike ike the th e island here with great force foree 4 this S bank Is neary sixty feet 1 higland hig big ight hAnd and aud 1 I is constantly advancing on the land the front wall being se steep an angle aa agas the sand will permit the tame same as angle is preserved from top to bottom without at the tho ame awethe the baad band Is white coarse and composed of coral when two handfuls are scraped together a noise resembling the bark urk of bf ii a dog fie lineard li heard hesro yd tui tut thi the 9 place 1 ace is known as agthe the 11 barking Bark irig band it isa iga common amusement for ois tora to slide siide their horses down the steep incline wiep 3 a noise anoise as of thunder is hda heard rd which greatly terrifies abam animals al not note aused aed to the experiment no has given any explanation of thili thild jbf i remarkable phenomenon t my k knowledge na gla zia ja aoge adge the mirage is often otten seen on this dry biot lot 9 soli soil so perfectly that endeavor to ride round the extensive lake they see before them fifteen miles to the southwest is the island of the barren rocks of kauha kau h abd lehua belong to this island the latter has a crater and a spring of good water A colony of rabbits has for some years held undisputed possession and la is said to have increased rapidly the plain land of comprises two thirds of its surface and although destitute of running streams the soil is fertile and produces the best pineapples pine apples and bananas found on the group aswell accorn beans s squashes melons sweet potatoes and most moat vegetables of temperate climates it was sold a few years ago by the government to a kind of patriarchal family from new zealand who moved up there thero with their families flocks ana and nun ann herds and are now living as a kind 01 w independent colony owning the whole isia isla d the next island in regard fo to age or formation is oahu bahu which is ninety miles distant from kauai in a southeast direction oahu bahu has two ranges of mountains one on the northeast and one on the southwest they run parallel for many miles the plain between them being the base of the northeast range the mountains of the northwest were the earliest formed from the overlying strata of the eastern range it Is evident that they first ceased to give out lava streams they are not so elevated as on kauai rising to the height of four thousand feet the shores of oahu bahu are mostly fringed with coral reef which is often half a mile or more in breadth the ancient reefs are elevated sometimes thirty forty or a hundred feet in various blaces places and several valleys have by this barrien barrier been changed from lagoons to solid ground vegetation on oahu bahu extends in the rainy reason from the seashore to the tops of the loftiest loft iest mountains the valleys are of exceeding beauty and many travelers have pronounced the scenery unsurpassed by any in the world worl d valley opens on the coast not far from the center of the northeast range of mountains directly behind honolulu and is supposed to have once been a bay or lagoon pro towards the sea by a coral reef of a mile wide through which phe the he fresh waters from the valley have cut a channel the elevation of the ancient reef some twenty five feet haa baa furnished the site bite for the olty city of honolulu near what was formerly the head of the bay the stumps of the jarge tree tern fern have been dug up zip in buch such quantities titled as 60 to serve for fencing material for a small r banana field no such ferns terns are found at present resent north of and manoa valleys are ard the most doted noted on oahu bahu has a geil geel genela tie tle as sib 1 1 cent for about abo ut six miles and terminates in an abrupt pre precipice eldice of twelve hundred feet perpendicular in hught above I 1 which one on either elther t her hand hafid ilses rises the points ol 01 ts of and maiolani Wa lolani iolani friis waters of Jh heaven eaven which tower upwards three thousand feet high those two mountains seem to have been rent asunder to form the valley through this rent and down the pali pall the govern ment has made a road not of difficult descent to the district of koolau koo I 1 ju this precipice or pali pall has a historic celebrity from the occurrence occur ence rif rrt 0 sit the great batt baft fought by kamehameha the firstin first fini li d s conquest of bahu oahu and over this P pull he drove his enemies by the thouman tho 0 whose bones are now to be seen in lar y quantities bleaching in the sun a 1 I 1 rain to visit this pali pall and colliu L relies relics of the great battle constitutes one of the objects of the curious traveller trave ler ier ts s not only remarkable for its gentle ascent and abrupt termination but it is oneff one of the most fertile ad and a beautiful valleys to my mindon the globe itis ibis it is the residence of 6 agrest miny of the foreigners I 1 who are doing business on the islands they have I 1 be tidied t wit h shade e and ornamental frees elabd frilled lied their with hith every ever va t of baabe e ted hero here yow you gan dan bee mee frasl frask the t 8 grand and beautiful cabbag cabbage palm paim i nhom from canama the monkey pod from china chin 1 by b the th 0 aide ride ed e of the magnificent nati native i hala hals or ME kiballa ili trees the dark greenl otibe frair cont contra eme ete tavon favor ably with the lighter hues es of the date add lidd ja palms bif big T the e kli kii abid india rubber trees kli kil iii are e 60 common oli oll among the tid fid fruit if and ana shado shade trees As to el flowery owera there is a great variety and a at the bloom the ohey nils fills the ravines with its peach colored blossoms in contrast with the ald coffee with gith ith its I 1 ts snowy clusters th tha geranium and cactus arb grow spontaneously and some of the varieties when in blossom are truly magnificent the stately century plant the great american aloe grows and blossoms in this salubrious clime in seven yearb yeara among the beautiful gardens of the foreigners there is one in which the pines of norway and sweden the firs from the sierra nevada the un unequaled equaled silver sword from haleakala hale haie H al e a ka la the delicate flowers from india china and japan the palms of the tropic tropics the fruits and vegetables of the islands and nd more temperate climates all arranged with taste skill and care and owned cultivated cultivate ed and arranged by a heathen chinese in the back ground the native kalo ponds fonds with their profusion of dark green leaved leaver lends a charm to the scene that ia Is truly delightful honolulu ia Is the principal city of the islands it is the entrop ot of all al the eom commerce com merce merca of the group it is tho the seat of government and the residence of the king this port is the rendezvous of the great american whaling fleet of the pacific ocean tn in the year 1556 1656 there were three hundred whale ships that made the ports of these islands the place or of re fitting aud and to discharge kneir crews and ship new ones but at the present time there is not so great a fleet in tho the ocean as many of the ships were captured and burned by the she during the late war in 1868 ninety wha lemen visited the islands and almost all re fitted at honolulu the other ports of the islands are now almost abandoned by wha lemen the annual visit of the whalers chalers is looked looked for with considerable interest as much of the business prosperity of the islands depends on the wha lemen ra they hey commence to arrive from the middle of september and continue to drop in to the first of december it takes about six weeks for a shieto ship to discharge and refit and get ready for sea again there fore during their stay money is plenty and bu business sineas of all kinds is brisk the they Y generally get ready for sea soon after the first of january and go south cruls cruising for sperm whales and returning to Hon honolulu olula about the first of april for fresh supplies for the northern cruise which lasts until fall to be continued |
