The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1868-10-31
THE PACIFIC
Commercial Advertiser.
OUR ISLAND CORRESPONDENCE.
KmoLo, IIawArI, September,

KmoLo, Hawai-, September, 1868.
A ride ever the lava 6sIds from KaWaihae TO ksua.
Ny steed was not one of TIarrys best, but he
was Mona bfed and had good hOofs, an important
Siesideratum where there no blacksmiths and
n shod horse il booked upon with something like
wonder Ills rider j. certainly regarded a
travelled gentleman and treated with due and eour
teou. respect was offered Kilauen. the finest
horse in Waimea. large, strong with fiery eye,
diIated nostril and who seemed though the
speed of thought WIS in his limbs but could
not get him shod and I audiIIy wished that the
whole fraternity Of blaeksmiths the island,
should never know bodily rest and peace Of con
science taste the joys of prosperity, until they
sent one Of their number, good workman and a
god horsc-shoer To Waimea,
A Kerosene can filed with water and envelOpcd
in n cloth to keep it cool, loaf Of bread, two
boxes of sardincs, two strips Of smoked salmon, 4
round Of boiled eOrned beef, part of smoked
tongue, n paper Of ten and u Pound Of crushed
sugar constituted our outfit. ID Is true that ish
and poi can b. procured ut two places ON the
road, but the poi comes from Waipio and not
always fresh, and the iish sometimes squids
and at others sesr-urchins.
With these Preparations aud B,ki "a relation
OF the former Governor of OIhu) for guide,
struck out from Lihus n stony and laya-cOv-
cred desert for n ride OF -eventy-five miles.
The morning WIS beautiful, the mountains
clear Of clouds and their bold outlines bathed In
golden light. Our route lty down the Waikoloa
stream aud its many artificial channels, cut By
the ancient Hawuiians for the purposes of irIiga-
ton. Marks Of former cultivation were every 1
where abundant, and emerald line Of vegeta- /
ton marked the course Of each stream through /
the brown arid plain IN occasional grove of
stunted koa trees, rapidly disappearing, E'arked
the line of the deepest valley. Our road was n .
mere path ever volcanic debris, angular and Wit
reous, except where the grass ON tue margin of
the water bitches relieved our horses hOOis. But
passing n school house rocky point in the
midst Of this stony desoation, struck OF down
the sIoping hills in the direction OF the sea, leav
ing the waters Of the Waikoloa to wind their way
to the through n deep rocky ehasm to the
right The soil among the rOcks dry aud
thirsty and composed Of loose reddish brown
powder which the breeze whirlcd IN clouds around
US y few withered shrubs and plants were seen,
and some evidences Of n former vegetation aI-
peared. The whole scene presented the desolate
appearance of the peninsula Of Sinai but 1t lacked
the thrilling legends connected with that pilgrim
land. However, these brown rolling bills are
not always n desert. When the rains commence
to fall in February. and the spring months, what
was before n bleak and barren waste, rs IT by the
hand of magic, il clothed with verdure, and the
desert is transformed into blooming Eden.
Then the scorching heat Of summer withcTs
its beauty and converts it into arid desert once
more. The gun poured down with intense heat
advanced, and a radiant glare glimmered
and quivered up from the rocky surface, We
rapidly descended toward a grove Of cocoa palms,
that stood on the margin OF beautiful little cove
of the sea below plain made down from
the mountains, beyond the ravine of Awaikeakua,
and the point OF keahualonO, and it appeared
green and inviting and covered with lnxuriant
grasses What was my astonishnent on descend
ing into the plain to find it vast level flow of
old vesicular Lava, partially decomposed, with
thin dusty soil, and salt sea-weed growing upon
1t with scarcely blade Of grass, We rode over
this, which had n metallic, ringing sound under
cur horses bOOfs, passed a neat stone church. and
reined up at a native house the margin Of the
sea, dismounted ami rested at
Puakn-
called for cOcoanuts, and some half dozen
prepared by ridding them Of their outer
bark By delicate process with the blade Of
pen-knife, in Of the monkeys eyes Of the nut.
1 soon had the cool delicious Hquid-the cocoa
nectar flowing and sparkling in large goblet
fit drink for the gods, in this thirsty land How
delightfully."- refreshing, Those only can fully
appreciate it, who travel weary and parchcd with
thirst and meet with these portable fountains in
the desert The native dwelling was thatcbed
with eoeoanut leaves and was cool and clean.
The leaves and branches Of the cocoanut also fur
nished the material for enclosures. \ pretty girl
had calabash Of sea-urchin-, that she was crack
ms between her pearly teeth and handing to
erone Of eighty summers to empty IL looked flial,
Il not picturesque. The coc,a palm grove, and
the ocean view alone were beautiful, all else was
arid desoation.
We mounted and rode rapidly along the sandy
and eoItl piled beach. We passed two more cocoa
groves. and several scattered IauhaIa trees grew
IN hssures or little hooks that the old lava flow
had spared Several deep hosss used as fish ponds
appeared in places Of this description.
We came at last in front Of a low, black pro-
montory OF recent lava that jutted out into the
sea, and leaving the beach struck over the vol
eanie plain to the left. In few hundred yards
We arrived in front Of the abrupt wall Of the lava
low OF 1850 It appeared like fresh embank-
mens OF giant einders about 2j feet high with
the glow Of a red heat still upon them. Through
' Foa1 had been cut with Infinite toll, by
toFraing an embankment on each side with the
larger cinders and fragments. and breaking those
IN the track intended for the road, generally from
tne size Of a eocoanut through all the gradations
down 10 that Of n lime, though some of the frag-
ments were much larger. They were loose,
'narp, angular, vitreus and rolled and crushed
under our horses hoofs, with a harsh grating and
''n'e'ines metallic sound Mounting up to the
general level Of the great fow, we found our path
extending in an air line across il. marked by its