Saturday press. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1880-1885, 1884-10-18
MANA.


est tiltIC sllt Is TIE JNt-NdltI NI tile
island and her sea-board is for the
most part drenched with spray. If you
desire to visit Hama, | advise you, as a
friend, to embark in the Lehua, for
though you are plunged in the scudding
wave to no inconsiderable extent there
arc some delightful pauses along the rim
OF Molokai and respite at languishing
Lahana, and all that is required of
you from the moment YOU quit
the harbor of Honolulu until you are
discharged, right side up, at Hama, is
to keep your seat.your serenity and
your supper-ii you can.
Perhaps it will be summer sailing from
port to port and you will laugh to scorn
the tales of old.time fnter.island voya-
gers. There is no pretHer sea in the
world than this, when ii is well disposed
| dare not say none uglier when it isl
not. The steamer is preferable to the
saddle unless you are more OF a cen
taur than sailor and, yet, by patroni
zing the marine route. you will miss all
the pals the pals that are the glory
and the shame of Hama DO you know
what a Hawaiian pail is ? Have you
ever scaled a series of these pals in the
fond hope that each was the very last
and that beyond it lay your goal The
sluggard who considers the ways OF the
ant-in the love of wisdom may not
realize how that inhnitesimal animal,
struggling in the track of the steam
plough, is the living image of the pill
grim among the pals OF Hama
Possibly your beas, is burden unto
himself when you come to the brink of
the first pail; possibly there is raw
spot under the saddle cloth, and he
cringes at every step; but for both your
sakes you must make a virtue of pain
full necessity, you must press forward
or drop in your tracks; SO you bury
your spurs an inch deep and break for
the first pail 1t is narrow and deep
ravinc; the trail, whichs merely groove
traced upon the side of it, descends
precipitously at an abrupt angle and
disappears 1t is now too late to re-
trace your steps and it is impossible to
stop where you are; with your stirups
abreast of the mules ears-horses are
of little use on the Hama trail-and his
tail waving like cue from under
your hat-brim, you recommend your
soul to your Maker and hang on for
dear life.
1t seems that the first step in your
downward career brought you to the
brow OF the pail, a protrudlng brow.like
a cornice upon cliff, Over that you
soon have made your way and under it
you are now dangling between heaven
and earth, in a saddle that has worked
well on to the neck of the animal and
swings there like an oNyoke. 1t may
be that my picture of a pail in the
Hama districts over drawn, but | be
lieve that nothing short of this hag
gard realism will give any conception
of ones first experience on the down
grade. Among these pals the anat-
omy of gigantic mountain is laid bare;
between the gaunt ribs of rock the un
covered veins of the mountains rush in
torrents to the sea. By the time you
have come to the bottom of the ravinc,
your beast is palsied, your saddle on the
bridge of his nose.
There is stream to ford, and you
tord it, climbing upon the launches of
the brute, above high-water mark, while
he takes his fill of the refreshing tide;
a little later you flood your shoes in
attempting to keep him from lying
down among the slippery boulders in
the shadows of the creek
1t is now that you remember how, in
all mountainous countries, streams are
apt to swell suddenly from rivulets 10
torrents; how the hood-gates of heaven
seem to have been suddenly thrown
wide open and wave of destruction
crashes down the gorge, sweeping all
before it; you listen to the thunders of
its approach while your tagged beast,
poor fellow, totters in mid stream, or
stands with his legs broced like saw
horse and refuses to bulge an inch.
There is wall to scale beyond the
stream, a Jacob's-ladder as to height,
and in sealing it the animal sometimes
goes down upon his knees in an at
titude worthy ofa penitent at the Santa
Sfaia; sometimes he makes leap and
falls short Of his aim, or just catches on
a rim OF rock where he hangs like
lizard and pants horribly; at last he
becomes delirious and with succession
of bounds he slips his girth, sends an
avalanche of stones booming down the
trail, and arrives, with the last gasp
upon the table-land, where his nostrils
breath fire and smoke while you and the
saddle slip down to his heels in state
of complete decentralization.
1t is about "a miles from Makawao
to Hama. In those "a miles there are
33 pals, each more dreadful than the
other.
II were to prattle from now till the
end Of time, could say nothing worse
than have said about the overland
route to Hama, 1t is hard road to
travel, but it is travelled every day !;
the grades are not all Of them safe
ones, and some of the streams need
bridging, but it is doubtful il, as a
thoroughtare, it is worth the money it
would take to put it in good condition
and keep in repair
The opposite approach to Hama, that
by the trail from kaupo, is the better
Of the two-perhaps because it is less
travelled but there are those who go
back and forth across these ridges at
frequent intervals, who laugh at the
difficulties over which | have been
agonizing; and no one, until he has
taken the overland route, will ever
know the infinite beauty and variety
thai DISTINGUISH the nails of Hama.