The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1861-08-01
Commercial Advertiser.
Rural Sketches
of the tlauaiian ,4slmds.
A Trip to the Summit of Mauna Kea
K.xA. Hawaii. July u. 1851


-hip of THE Captain and consisting Of the re-
douHtabie % Mountain " vino knows all the Iaunts Of
geese, hogs and wild bulls, and all the trails over
oiiuPerg and priosioe and visitors from Homo
lulu. whom I shall designate e Sedge-hammer''
and g Chips The second squad started from Kai-
lua, and up the sO-cllIed - Judd Road led by
The Sheriff" VINO vas followed by Type from
Honolulu, and last though by means least i'll his
own opinion. the iuIer Of this veritabe chronicle.
known, for the uouce, by the sou6riq'ef Of Steel
pen
Going mp the Judd Road, the early morning air
vas reviviiyng, especially 90 "Types,'' who hal
long been slave TO gGieiai Iabor- in your dusty,
odorirrous metropolis. The road from the te,ch IS
straight up the mountain side as =. bee-line''
the engineer who planned ia having apparently IN
-uperable ot tjectou 10 curved lines matter what
hiIl- or hoovs nrrveue between him and IIilo, the
point aimed 1T We also noticed that he had his own
peculiar Wy or measuring distances, for starting
from the beach. he called the starting point the first
mile, aud mile from thence put down uiile-p post
which he marked '' = mile 30 that ON our jour
ney, Whenever came % a mile post, IL was always
necessary To- -ubstract mile from the record in
order - get the distance from the beach. The
road, however. was in excellent condition. and long
before had got well out Of the thick woods
which here Lelt the district Of Mona and luuched at
Of the woods, upon wide plains dotted with .
koa and uamani trees, and disHountei for hour
feast the rich ripe strawberries that abOunded
Type declared them To be o: a superior flavor
20 those sold IN Honolulu, though not generally 20
large
Thus lesurely journeying along. we came in the
afternoon HaleInau, where -'' The Captain and
his party had pitched their tent, within half mile
Of the late lava how OF February, 1859. AMI the
same spot where the numerous parties eneamped who
visited that grand spectacle. though two years had
elapsed since these so!itudes peOpled with you
metropoIns the evidences of your fIsfe were still
APPARENT ia the broken bottles and discarded oyster
aud slrine tins about, while the ashes Of
pleasant csImp-frer-uOw cold and desOlate-
seen in every direction. One permanent good.
however, h4s resulted from your incursion-a fine
crop Of OatsJ sprung from the used in pack
ing your lu-uries, animals ascertained.
Finding water end distant from the camp,
the next day packed lp aud started across the
new yahOeLOs stream towards Mauna kea- This
presents the appearance that it did in
July, 80, with the important exception that but
little signs Of hre 10 be found. Still Occa-
sionaiy ju passing some spots, the gasses Obtrude
upon ones oIflctorie-, and little thin Is seen
escaping from here and there assure. But Pele
appears have quite rested from her labors for the
tuOuEu tLefG SOON Sllc
recommeuce ner task Of land-sPoilinC.
\ little after noon-tde the fourth, got over
the -clinkers'' (yile Webster, vitreous matter
which collects in furnaces where stone coal is used'
and arrived upon the broad allgvial plains which
stretch around tire base Of Nauna Kea. These were
covered Tor miles with tall waving pill grass and pua
Iers species Of milk weed excellent feed for horses)
This Iuxuriant growth would argue a rich
soil. About ( O'Clock, =. NJ, arrived "A clump
Of Hrdlaaui frees, the foot Acknowledgement Of the
wnhu CuIch, and pitched tent. Good feed for
or animals and water IN several gulches near by
The stii glorious-aud ever gIorous-Fourth here
duly celebrated and may mc.tiou that in party
of -even there natives Of half dozen different
States of tine United States-iucuding Louisiana
bat We we're all staunch Union
On the Jth - The Mountain after an arduous
ehuse Of i've SIX miles, and many shots Of his
rifle (the stock which he broke besides tearing his
trowsers.) killed = ane hefer (mind you, had
uermi-siou) ; aud e. Steel PEN here recvrds-with
the proper degree Of moiesty-that, aspiring to
he distinction Of hunting horned critters, he incon
tineutIy sIlyei a 5O)-pouud barrow, which had the
temerity 20 come roofing about - larder
vel supplied with excellent beef and pork.
Ou Saturday, the 9Th, under the riIotage Of =. The
Cartaiu' - w. made the ascent OF Mauua Kea- Start
ing from camp about seven o'clock, it was a hard
q
-ian of snow which We reached half-Plst eleven.
About q mile from camp. entered a growth or
laaaaui and ariJ trees bastard saudal-wood), and
emerging from thee a mile further on. came upon
the barren sand and rocky hills that make up the
more elevated portion Of the mountain. Above the
line Of woods. Wild cattle in groups, but
on catching sight of cur party, quickly scud away.
ON an elevated bench, about mile from the sum
nit We got tine views OF the plains Of Waimea. be-
tween two coucll volcanic hills. We above the
clouds thIt Oger>hldowei the plain, and looking
down upon the white houses in the dim
distance through the eecy gaps, seemed like gazing
in upon another world distinct from that which
we rode. Soon fresh bIllOw Of cloud rolled IN and
hut from the beautiful view, leaving only the
tops of the EOhIla mountains, Ike Islands peepiug
above the ocean Of surgiug mist, tar below u
Single se. rode along upwards, every step feel
ing the AIR keeuer. animals iestifyng its rl-
rity by their short breathing, when. after ascending
an unusually steep ACTIVITY, - The Sheriff. who
advance, sang out SNOw-O-H - There
IL vaS sure enough the simon pure, the unblemish-
ed, glItteriug Ia the sun Of the tropics little
bank three OF four feet square, rapidly melting
away, but FOR the tme real snow. nevertneless-
-Jr ike the snowflake on the river
\ Au7uel- there. tb-u gone forever"
But we were yet some distance from the top. and
ascending another step. came TO level plain, a
mile or two in extent, Of which three or
four sandy peaks from to three hundred feet
high and alI-piain and peaEs,-wiih the the ex-
ceptIJn Of here and there patch where the snow
had melted. covered with the giittering robe Of
winter. Uue Of those peaks the highest land on
the Hawaiian Islauds-II.7OO (some say 1jOOO)
feet above the level Of the We eagerly dis
mounted the luxury Of - homemade -
snow and ice, and while - Sledge- hammer - and
Chips - depositing carefully sundry mystic
rious looking bottles labelled - Barclay Perkins "
and . Jockey Club for the purpose Of reducing
the temuerature thereof, a most sudden and un-
provoked cannonading posisTi0ri, caused them