The Hawaiian gazette., 1875-07-21

| tire and birthstone tho everlasting burn
/ ings tho heyy SEA whose waves aro never
weary, There wcre groanings, rnmhlings,
and dctonations, rushings, hissings and splash
/ ings, and the crashing sound Of hrcakeTs on
tho coast. but it was the snrginE Of fiery waves
/ apon fiery shoyc, Hut what can | write
Such wOy,is as Jets, fountains, waves. spray,
convey some idea Of orier and regularity. but
hcEo there was none. Tho inner lakc, while
w stood thore. formed soy, Of crater within
itself, the whole lava SEA rosc about thrce fcet,
A. blowing como about eight feet high was
formed, It was never the same two minutes
together, And what We saw had no existence
= month aso, and probably will bc changed in
every essential foasurc a month hence,
But we cannot follow this interesting travol-
CT through all her excursions on Hawaii Suf-
ice it 70 say that sho saw Mokuawoowco in its
glory, visited the wonderful valley Of waipic,
and the still more secluded one Of waimanu.
whose perpendicular walls tower $500 gcct
high, into whose ravincs white woman has
rarely if ever been before; assembled Mauna
Kea. and IualaIai. one or both Of them twice.
and nearly lost her life in crossing a swollen
s,ream on Hawaii, Her adventures rad like
q romance. and are SO thrillinsly captivating
that few who take up the book can Let it ~ till
they have rad it through
The story Of tho authors trip around Kauai
is no less entertaining than that on Hawaii and
Maui. Several chapters are devoted to its
glowing description. but We can find space but
for page describing her visit to Hanapcpo
Falls.-a scene which few have witnessed;
''Afte7 ascending it for four miles all further
progress was barred by a phi which curves
round from the right, and closes the chasm
with a perpendicular wall, over which the
Hauapepo precipitates itself from height Of
S26 feet, forming the Houla Falls. At the
summit Is very fuo cntablaturo of curved
oolumnar bSsalt, resembling the clam shell
cave at Statia, and two high, sharp and inn
pending peaks on the other side form stately
gateway for . strcan which enters into another
and broader valley: but il is but one among
many small cascades, which round the arc Of
the falls, flash CUT in foam among the dark foli-
asc and contribute their tiny MARBLE 70 the
diapason OF the waterfall. Ii rewards ono
wen for penetrating the deep cash which has
been made into the earth. II seemed SO very
far from all buEzing frivolous, or vexing
things, in the cool, dark abyss into which only
the no0n-day sun pCnetratcS, All beautiful
things which love damp; all exquisite, tender
ferns and mosSes; all shadc-loving parasites
flourish there in perennial beauty. And high
above in the sunshine. the pea-greeu candle
nut struggles with the dark otid for prccarious
footholi on rocky lodges, and dense masses
of Eugenia, afame with crimson flowers, and
bananas, and all the leafy wealth born Of heat
and damp fill up the cleits which assure the
pIli Every now and then some scarlet tropic
bird flashed across the shadow, but it was
very lfeless and very silent scene. The
arches, buttreSseS, and columns suggest tenn
pie. and the deep tone Of the fall is Us organ
music. Ii IS all beauty, solemnity, and wor-
ship"
The chapter on Hawsiians affairs, page AZ,
the islands, available at the time Of her visit,
population, education, public reve-
nue., sc. Of our political system she truth
fully says on page ass:
"An exotic civilization is having fair trial
on the Hawaiian Islands. With the exception
Of the serious Inaladies introduced by foreign
ers in the early days, and the disastrous moral
influence exercised by worthless whites, they
have suffered none Of the wrongs inflicted on
the feebler by the stronger race. The rights
Of the natives were in the first instance care
fully secured TO them, and have since been
protected by equal laws, ughteoUsly admiuis-
tered. The Hawaiians have been aided to-
wards independence in political matters, and
the foreigners who framed the laws and con-
constitution, and have directed Hawaiian Of
fairs, such as Richards, Lee, Judd, Allen and
Wyllie, were men above reproach: and mis-
5iOnlry influence, of all others the most friend
" TO the natives, has predominated for fifty
years"
The volume closes with a chapter giving a
concise and very fair outline Of Hawaiian his
.ory, compressed within the compass of thir-
.een pages, and yet giving sufficiently full
statement of the principal events from the
lime Of the conquest by Kamehameha I. to the
recession OF KaIakaua in 1874.
Some may consider the description of the
Stands, its scenery and people, given by this
charming author, as overdrawn. But if this
,e its only fault, it can readily be overlooked,
when contrasted with authors who ignorantly
write Of what they never saw, or who seek to
asst ridicuIe on everything Hawaiian, simply
,ecause we are small and almost unknown
,eopIe We understand that this work of Miss
Bird viii shortly be for sale here, and we
Ioubt not that every person who possesses a
library VIII be glad to preserve a copy of it.