The herald., 1896-05-31

to youth by magic, by metaphysical aid
and juvenescent fountains, yet mystery
has ever had charm in one way or an
other, for every grade of barbarlsm and
civilization. The world does not disclose
all of its secrets a t once; science unraVelS
mysteries slowly and the pages of ma
ture, like the sybilline books, can only be
interpreted by the magi, and the mys-
teries of far-off lands be learned from
those whose wanderings have brought
them in contact with the occult physical
forces of nature; without truth there can
be no fiction. without foundation there
can be no superstructure. There are
more things in heaven and earth, Hora-
ito, than are dreamed of in your philoS-
ophy." In the remote Hawaiian islands,
in the shadow of Mauna Loa, the great
volcanic igneous phenomenon of the
world, in a secluded vale, shaded by
palm and ohia forests, and tropical para
sites that climb to the tops of the state
ly trees, is Waiololoa, the fountain of
perpetual youth. The native Hawaiians
are imaginative, and superstitious, and
they have many legends of the gods
who fire the volcanoes. bathing in the
boiling sulphurous lakes and pools that
abound in the region adjacent to remove
the begrmed livery of their calling.
The pool of Waiololoa is five hundred
feet long and has a breadth of one
hundred feet and a depth of thirty
five feet. The surface rises and
falls about four feet twice a day.
There is a popular error prevailing in
the surrounding country that this is
caused by the ocean tides, but the error
is apparent, for the pool is six hundred
feet above the sea level. The Vari-
alton in depth is doubtless caused by
natural syphon, in a precipitous rock,
that bounds one side of the pool and it
is thus kept supplied with clear. pure
water by natural but invisible means,
mysterious and inscrutable to the ma
tive HaWaiians They have many fam
ciful legends of supernatural agencies,
and believe the presiding genii abhor
old age and are the patrons of youth and
have the power of retrogressive trans
formation May the illusion, if one it
is, never be dispelled, and may old age,
if only in imagination. wash off its dis
hgurements and assume the bloom of
early life, 'esto perpetual" So realistic
are their stories, that as ! followed the
winding path in approaching the Wal
ololoa, now passing around an abrupt
precipice, now through tangled jun
gle,my mind was in expectancy of start
ing surprises; | almost hoped that the
tutelary deities would favor me- a stran-
ger, from so distant land, with at least
a fuftiVe glance of their forms and
sports before they disappeared. and that
which legend and song described SO no.
tiN"4iS d9 tpl pVledl NanlSned into thin
alf. But my expectancy and excited
imagination availed me nothing, but
buoyant spirits, and lively eniovment
Oh the surroundings. AT last under a
grove of lofty cocoa palms, on a bank
covered by short green grass, | stood
looking into the clearest and most beau
tiful sheet Of water ! had ever seen: a
sugar cane lying at the bottom, thirty-
five feet deep assumed to the eve a.,
eXagge; afod size, every Joint was dis
tinctly visible, and smaller objects. the
tlnlest coin thrown as an Offering to
Goddess Pele, could be seen apparently
enlarged. On the opposite side of the
water an immense rock rises nearly per-
pendicnlar many hundreds of feet. and
here and there it is relieved from aus
terity by festooned vines and shrubs
that grow from the many assures in the
rock cleft by quakes. that the earth
suffers when Pele. the great goddess
wakes in anger to the disobedience and
wautonness of her children of the Ha-
Waiian race.