The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1892-08-06

houses going up, old ones removed
from below on the line of the
old volcano trail, and re erected
here. We were greeted by a
mixed assemblage of dogs and chill
dren OF assorted sizes. OF the
latter there are said 20 be already
enough for a school, the denizens
OF Olaa seeming to be rs prolific as
the soil. The cheapest and most
convenient building material at Olaa
seems to be fern stumps, and these
were freely utilized for fences, walls
and thatch. AS many of the ferns
declined to die, some of the fences
were gradually growing into hedges,
while the roofs sent off shoots in
various directions. Taro, vegetables
/ and other groWths of the soil indi-
Gated that the natives did not come
up to Olaa merely to enjoy the view,
though no doubt that alone would
make the journey worth while. Our
eyes nearly started from our heads
when we beheld the singular spec
tacle of native actually employing
Cinnamon. Is there life enough in
Olaa to revive the energies of this
decaying race May the wish be
father to the fact, and the infant
settlement grow into a lusty ma
turity
The road soon plunges into the
forest again, and the traveller reyels
in the cool shade and glorious vege-
tation until the Halfway House is
reached, where he pauses to satisfy
hunger or thirst before proceeding.
In the forest are numerous traces of
a more prosperous past, in the shape
of ava patches, and bananas now
growing wild. Among the latter
one notes with pleasure the beautiful
and rare calico banana From
point near the seventeenth mile, the
old kamainas say the sea used to be
visible, though our generation which
sees only the dense forest finds this
hard to believe. The pandanus is
found in abundance here and there,
circumstance which led one tourist
to remark on the abundance of
breadfruit in the forest Along the
road are deep holes from which
stone has been taken for the road,
and they make a very convenient
place to drop into when a wild bull
is in full chase, as one of the kama
ainas learned not long ago from
actual experience. At point about
fifteen and half miles from Hilo,
the limit Of the Thurston road is
reached, the remaining four miles
being all that has been completed
since he left Office This furnishes
the basis for an easy example in
proportion: 15a :4::Thurston: Spen-
Ger. This ratio is SO fattering,
however, to the present incumbent,
that I will not pursue the calcula-
ton any further. It was about at
this point that the seven prisoners
struck work and started off to enjoy
life and freedom in the bush on
their own account. A wonderfully
graphic account of their fight and
recapture was published in the GA
zETTE some months ago. The road
is also decorated at intervals with
some useless tramcars which are left
to rust by the wayside and which
bear among the denizens of the
woods the descriptive title of Spen-
GERS folly. At the eighteenth mile
the prison camp is reached, and one
comes at once on the active signs of
work. There are a hundred pris-
oners in the gang, and "not an inno-
cent man among them," as the
sheriff proudly remarked. Under
the efficient management of Capt
Staples, everything in the camp is
managed to perfection. The quar-
tiers are neat and clean. A smoking
hot breakfast with a good cup of
coffee put our party in good humor
with all the world, after which we
started out to look at the work on
the road. Something is the mat
ter with the survey at this
point, and the inhabitants say that
the surveyor thought he was playing
the game of pinning on the donkey's
tail. So he blindfolded himself,
turned around three times, and then
started off with a line through the
woods. Afterwards, they say, he
climbed a tree, and found he was not
on his way to the Volcano. I give
this theory for what it is worth, with
out adding any guarantee of my own.
There are now 200 men actually
engaged on the road, so that progress
ought to be rapid. It does not seem
to be, however, and the blame is laid
at the door Of the luna in charge,
who is said to be an incompetent
favorite of the Minister of the In
terror. The latter, by the way, does
not seem to be much of favorite in
the Hilo district, and the people up
this way are more DESTROYS to see
"some new thing" in the Govern
ment than ever the Athenians were.
am not a road-builder and do not
pretend to pass on these questions,
but even I can see the folly of cart
ing stone up hill for macadam in
stead of carting it down, as was
being done by the luna in this case,
in pursuance no doubt of some
unique theory of his own. The
quality of the road making, however,
one rejoices to note, is excellent, and
as soon as it is finished there will be
no better spin for a bicyclist than
the thirty two miles from Hilo to the
Volcano.
Just beyond the nineteenth mile
fern trail has been constructed,
connecting the old Volcano road
with the new, and just below this
r