The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1868-08-19

on the mountains brawny breast The pre-
clpice has been scaled, and utilized by the
art of man, and his puuy road triumphs over
the barrier interposed by Nature.
The valley of Kailua-about five miles
broad, and a little more from mountain to
sea, is filled with miniature hills and jutting
ridges, that break its surface into q thousand
inclines, and except near the sea, leave hardly
enough level ground to build farmhouse,
with its adjuncts of yards and pens. Through
a slight cut on the summit of the ridge-the
gap-the road descends into the valley only
TO climb another hill, and so constantly, up
and down, ii winds through favoring rayines,
and across the water streams, until it strikes
the opposite ridge, and from the brow of
Aneanenui the sunny and bright vista of
Waimanalo breaks upon the sight, and the
distant and haze-obscured mountains of Mo-
lokai are seen, reposing on the bosom of the
ocean.
From the gap, the scenery towards Kualoa
is magnificent. The mountains break in
sheer precipices down to the level below,
huted and ridged, and arborescent with cling
ing MOSES and ferns. The lesser interme-
date hills are brown with grasses seorched
by the summer sun; the plain is broken with
patches of cultivated ground, and veined
with tints from brown to deepest green. 1t
rises with gentle slope from the sea, and
the debris at the foot of the pals covered
with puhala forests, gives it an abrupt termi-
nation against the inland precipices The
scattered and high islets along the coast,
with the sea ripping around their rocky
bases, and the surf glistening and murmur-
ing along the shore, for miles of the coast,
now hidden from sight by the intervening
promontories, and anon, appearing again on
the sandy shores of distant bight-thesc
form picture which embraces variety not
often grouped by Nature in so limited
space.
The artist Weed, whose photographs of
Yosemite, and other grand scenery of Cali
fornia, made him connoisseur, looking upon
the scene from the gap, declared that no.
where had he found in one view such COM
DlndllOu VI euUlllIc anu
An abandoned plantation-its fields of su-
gar cane fast returning to pasturage land, and
its mill-wheel yet unmoved from the scene
of its former activity mentor of the I'M
profitable past-occupies a central position
in the Kailua Valley. The area which has
been in cane is not large, but it is fertile |
soil and yields well, and in more favorable |
times, will repay the investment of a small
capital.
The valley is taken up by graziers, whose
cattle may be seen feeding on the hill-sides,
or beside the water courses. From lis diaries,
some hundreds of pounds of butter finds its
way to town every month. Surrounded as
it is with high mountains, the passing clouds
arc caught, and yield abundant rain, so that
the grasses are always green and luxuriant.
The sun looks down Into it, only in the mid
die hours of the day, and most of the time
overhanging clouds, or flying scud, give the
scenery sombre tint, intepsilying the gloom
of its deep recesses and shaded ravines.
The bounding ridge on the east shoots up
INTO two sharp peaks, called 1.-THE Needless"
The true volcanic peak, unmodified by the
smoothing touch of the elements
On the clear, sharp outline of the peak, a
single rock is seated in clear relief against
he sky, in size, and to the eye, in form, re-
embling an eagle with folded wings, keep
ng lofty watch over the valleys which open
beneath his perch. Towards the sea, the
ALLEY ends in extensive flats, divided by the
water course the drain of the mountains
having here united to produce a miniature
liver. On this level, and on the gentler
lopes of the hills that bound it, cattle roam
It will, and, luxuriating in good pastures,
atten for the market, or reward with i'm
'roved stock the care of the herdsmen. As
Inc specimens of Devons, Durhams, Angus,
nd other breeds, may be seen there, and
N the plains Of Waimanalo, as we might
ope to meet anywhere on cattle FARMS
The road winds down the slope of Anea-
EMU, to lose itself on the grassy plains of
Vaimanalo. 1t ends there, for the goal of
ravel or trade is reached. On the eastern
nd of Oahu, from where the pals of Ma
iala (six miles long,) touch the sea, at Ma
apuu, the mountain chain, in a series of
eaks, abuts upon the sea with precipices i
hat leave no space for land travel. At Ma
apuu, is the lesser pail, 800 feet,) up which q
he old road climbed 10 cross the mountain
inge. This road is now nearly destroyed =
y the rains and disuse, and really is more
TO venture over than the road at t
he Nuuanu Valley Pass. The old road by \
ne seashore can still be traced, along which
ne inhabitants of Koolau used, in long,
1und-about way over the Makapuu Pail, :
nd thence over the rough lava plain, inland
Koko Head, and along the seashore of the
.ona side, to find their way to Honolulu.
he resident of Koolau now reaches Homo
Ilu by the NuuaDu Pail road, with twenty
'ur miles less travel than his predecessors
twenty years ago.
The valuable tract of Waimanalo is tri-
lgular plain, six miles long by two and a
ilf broad, along its western side, and is adj
irably adapted for grazing farm. By rea- d
IN of its natural boundaries, no fences are
quired to confine the stock, which choose
eir own pastures, gather in herds after o.
eir own instincts, and know the will of
eir owners only at branding seasons, or Il
ives for sale. Horses and sheep have their
nges also, and a survey of the land, from b
me elevated spot, discloses these animated
'rds, giving life and variety to the beauties y y
the landscape. n
The long extent of precipice, rising to 1900 Of
ct, and broken in outline with numerous :,
'ints and peaks, and scanned on its face =;
I'll m nv q r-ntor oi.nr.,ni L. ...s.Aa.. IL |