Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-12-14
on which soil gathered slowly, and forests
did not readily grow.
An inferior Desert.


An Interior Desert.
Next in Importance to these tracts OF
Olaa and Puma is the long Kona upland,
on the western slope of the great island.
Here is a belt of forest thirty miles in
length and six in breadth. Its lower edge
averages four miles from the sea, and
1000 feet above it's level. A belt OF moist
fertile land two miles WIDE lies below the
forest, down to an altitude of 1000 feet
Below that it is too dry for agriculture
until at the sea nearly absolute arldlty Is
found.
the lofty domes of Mauna kea and Mauna
Loa from the prevailing trade winds, which
unload such cargoes OF moisture upon the
Hlo and Puma side of those mountains
Hence, this western shore Is absolutely
without rain during all except the winter
months, when southwest storms occasion
ally deluge them. But inland there are
daily showers unloaded by the faithful sea
breeze. In the interior of the island is a
vast desert tract upon which beats the
fervent heat of the tropical sun like
furnace This creates mighty draft of
air from the ocean. Every day from an
early hour, a fresh breeze from the ocean
pours up the western slope to fill the vacu-
UNI produced by the ascent of the heated
columns of air from the desert interior.
This breeze is moderately loaded with
vapor from the evaporation of the ocean
water. By the time it has reached an alti-
tude of from LOCO feet and upward the
rarefaction of the air makes it more or
less incapable of carrying it's load of vapor,
which it begins to precipitate. At 1000
feet the precipitation is copious, and the
clouds hang dense and dark every after
noon at the edge of the forest belt. This
belt of forest, nourished by the rain of the
sea breeze, reaches up to the edge of the
interior plateau, which is 1000 feet I'D.
Beyond the brow OF the plateau the rain
diminishes, and the forest dwindles, until
the hot open interior plain Is reached.
ri lie bel Of
sixty square miles below the forest would
long since have been taken up for sugar
plantations. 1t is too rocky. There is
hardly square yard where a plough could
be used, although the soil is extremely fer
tile. 1t is nearly all composed of clinker
lava flows and quite as uneven as the sur
face of the sea In a stiff breeze These
clinker heaps are indescribably ragged.
Yet even when newly piled, they are 1ull
of fertile material. They rapidly decom-
pose in wet climate, and soon become
the home of the most luxuriant vegetation
In the old times when Cook landed here
this was one of the most productive and
popuious districts of Hawaii, and held
from 10000 to $4,000 of population. The
whole country side is interlaced with the
lines of walls piled up to give space for
their little plots of potatoes, taro, etc. Now
nine-tenths is unused. except for cattle.
An Irrigation Scheme.
Most Of that ancient population had their
homes on the arid seashore, where they
loved the fishing and the warmth, and
drank the brackish water in the lava
caves. There are still few thousand ma
tives along the coast. Many foreigners, in
GLIDING Portuguese and japanese, raise
coffee on the inland belt. The "Kona cof-
Fee is celebrated for its superior fra
GRANGE. Since sugar became king, the
Kona coffee trees have largely been al
lowed to die out. Most of the small crop
has been carelessly gathered from groves
run wild. OF late, new start has been
taken. Some tea has also begun to be pro-
duced with success.
tolerable cart road has long existed
through the length of this upland. Occa-
sional cross roads come up to 1t from the
various steamer landings. None of these
roads are such as to meet the growing
needs of the district. Here also are some
tracts of crown lands, which President
Dole has inspected. with a view to home
stead provisions while he has studied the
necessities for roads There is every pros
pect of a considerable development of this
Kona district in the culture of coffee at
an early period
grand new plantation scheme with
rather a startling feature is now being
promoted in our neighboring district of
Eva. About fourteen miles from Honolulu
on the line of the Oahu railway, is a noble
tract of gently sloping, smooth, and very
fertile land, which gets an average of
twenty Inches of rain year, not half
enough for sugar cane culture. There Is
an average of 1000 acres in this tract for
every 100 feet of rise from the sea, but
less in the first 300 feet, 1t rises at first
more rapidly. At the sea, along the shores