Saturday press. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1880-1885, 1884-10-11
SATURDAY. OCTOBER
4 Inn Clerical RnmJle.

=
sndwe are about to enter upon our newbiennial
period Of emptiness and stagnation, the pub.
lie mind seems TO be suffering from lack Of
excitement. The amusing discussion upon The
dement's NJ Honolulu clerks aroused a feeble
sentiment Of interest for short time, but that
has tagged, and have no wish to summon
the discussion from the oblivion into which Il
has already descrvedly sunk. But whatever
else may be said against the Honolulu clerks,
or in their behalf it certainly is not to be lie.
MED that they are guilty Of a deplorable lack Of
enterprise with regard to the magnificent
range of mountains, at whose base our city is
nestled and whose peaks, cloudy or clear,
crown with beauty every northward running
street within that city dare say that many
Of these young men have never even climbed
Punchbowl, certainly never walked around it,
They know nothing Of the charming reaches Of
lawn and grove at the mouth Of Pauoa, they |
have no idea of the glory and lovcliness" hid
in the depths Of valleys which they have never
even.entered /; while Of the remoteT heights, |
and the more inaccessible distances, they are as
ignorant as il they. had never seen The Pacific, |
and the crystal peaks Of Diamond Head, had
never risen above their horizon
a short time since party Of three gentle.
men, waking temporarily from the lethargy
which las clerks controlled us, determined to
climb Lanihuli, the peak, supposeitis necessary
TO explain to the left Of the Pail. In the old,
old days when the rehnements Of civilization
l.J -. Al
a comparative freedom from political cares and
the tolls Of constitutional government left the
native leisure to cultivate nature, it may be
tina, Lanihuli was often scaled. But ''aas
It's not so now and | imagine that for years
no profane foot step had broken the sacred ST.
lencc Of It's summit, until ours introduced
once more the infrequent sound. OF course
this very fact stimulated our ambition, Immense
ly. We slept the night before the exeur.
sion at Luakaha intending Of course to start at
the first flush Of dawn OF course we did nothing
Of the kind, and, also Of course, when we were
ready to start al last, the mountain was Gov
cred with clouds and it was pouring in torrents
all over the valley. The guide who, we were given
to understand, was perfect villain, but who pos.
sesscd gift derived nodoubt from some unholy
source) Of supernatural insight into the weather.
finally told us that it was not going to rain
any more and we sailed forth We had been
rash enough to arm the guide with huge cane
knife, and he really looked perfectly capable
OF whiting the whole party to pieces at
moments notice. There an evil look in
his cJe, which, so fat from dssipa,ing this
impression, led us to think that he was really
meditating something Of the kind The other
members Of the party heroically stationed me
next to him, and cverytime he gave a vicious
slash at fern, felt sure that he was going
to strike " for higher wages, fact which /
shsud have awaited with more philosophie
eoAposure. il had not been morally certain,
that when he Struck he would certainly
stri.e me- Besides his cane knife, he was
armed with flask, which We all eyed with
anxiety to learn what sort Of spirit would pro.
coed thereirom. Like the goaus in the
Arabian tale the spirit Gained our fears by
arising in dense cloud of smoke. We were
reassured OF course to lean that the mystic
flask contained nothing but tobacco.
From Luakaha, we struck directly across
the valley, and began the ascent OF the huge
aud precipi,ous spur by which I.anihuli or
this side is bu,,rcssed. After an hours hard
climbing we reached the edge of the ridge
commanding a most magnificent view Of the
deep and silent gorge which penetrates IA,
,u,o the upper part Of the main valley. w,
were rcadng every moment the verge of an
sbyss. for so perpendicular was the western
flank Of The ridge that a single bound would
have taken one TO the valley bed, and so into
forgetidlness ; bu, the thick covering Of yer
dure which clothed the ridge like robe. nd
scnred all thought of danger, and substituted
its stead an over mastering sense Of tn
perennial beauty Of the scene, Two NOR
hours Of weary climbing and We reached IN
summit of the spur, and even then we wer
rewarded, and richly SO, for all our toll Be
fore Us stood Lanihuli, upon whose majesti
slopes We had not yet set foot. Not cloud
Ho' the la'hiest breath oil vapor obseured II
regal summit which rose before us III the sun
hgh' IKE crown NO one VINO has not seer
can appreciate 'he 'fniy ureek purity o
form ana majesty OF outline which are tn
peculiar p'eiosauve oil inns mountain, above al
other mountains 'ha' have seem Every lint
saeeeNed Tue seulp'ors hand. But the ey
could not dwel upon 1t long, ior across tn
valley rose The massive wall formed by kona
haanu's western slopes, its terminal peaks
wrea'hed IN dense mass of cloud. and
stretching the outline OF its ridge in an un.
broken sweep from ran,alus to the Pail
Along that magni6cen, sky line, lifted hiel
into ait, overhung by sombcr batallons o
rain cloud. and swept by the fierce tradewin,