The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-07-01
MALUHIA.

From the house there can be seen
/ Diamond Head, the ocean, Waikiki and
! Tantalus, but when going little
south of the house, over beautiful
ridge with deep valleys on either side,
all covered with a luxuriant growth Of
Hawaiian trees and ferns, to q little
i hin called Panorama Hill, because
/ there is a regular panoramic view OF
! Diamond Head and Waikiki with its
fine park. the race course and the
beach, every steamer and sailing YES
sci coming and going around Diamond
/ Head, to and from the harbor of Ho-
nolulu, can be watched from the hill.
Then there is also a grand view of
the southeast part of Honolulu, includ-
ing Panchbowl Looking towards the
west there are the Honolulu, Oahu and
Eva plantations, and the beautiful bay
and harbor of Pearl river. and the
I grand Waianae Mountains on the
background. Then north there are the
! famous Pail mountains and east the
beautiful Manoa and Palolo Valleys.
I All together this is an unsurpassed
panorama of the finest scenery in the
world.
i Maluhia is surrounded by a virgin
forest of native Hawaiian trees and
plants The koa is a peculiar tree, be-
cause it looks as if it is all covered
by leaves, but it is not. 1t is only COW
cred with the stems of the leaves.
When the young leaves grow to GER
tain length they fall off and leave the
stems, which enlarge and look like
leaves.
The kalia is quite a scarce tree on
the mountains, but fortunately, there
are quite a number at Maluhia. When
it gets old it's branches bend over and
! lay on the ground, and then young
straight shoots grow up from them so
that eventually one tree forms a for
] est for itself It's fruit looks like OIL
ives, and its leaves like coffee. The
kalia is also remarkable for certain
| kind of parasite which grows on its
branches as if it belongs to the tree.
The kukui grows in abundance, but
is of no value, with exception of the
. nuts, which were in former years used
by the Hawaiians as candles. The
tree is not fit for firewood on account
of a spongy sap. This tree is decreaS-
ing, being killed by the wind; mean
while the koa is a superior and strong
! fer tree, and can withstand any storm.
There are two kinds of lehua, one is
! called ahihi, and has small leaves.
I Both have the beautiful flower so Of
ten mentioned in Hawaiian songs.
The other native trees are the aha
4 kea yellow wood, bao (white wood),
and the kapiko tred wood. A num-
I Der of foreign trees have also been
4 planted of which the alligator pears
4 and lines are growing finely. Mean
! while, oranges, peaches, apples and
& pears are of doubtful growth.
HI Bananas native and strawberry
) guavas. bear plentiful fruit, and co9fee
I in well protected places, grows luxli-
Z riantly IT is pity that it does not
: pay to pick the coffee. In consequence
: the whole ground is covered with
young coffee trees. The Mahulia cof-
T fee is pronounced by experts to be of {
! superior and stronger flavor. wei
adapted for mixing with weaker quail
ties At present coffee is only pick.
: ed for family consumption
4 Vegetables have been tried, but re
quire more special care and attention
Vines have not proved a success, bu
!, the wild poha (also called Cape goose
berry,, is growing abundantly, an'
yields delicious fruit for poha pie AM
jam.
Z A large variety of ferns grow al
over the hills and valleys. There ar
two kinds of pull; the puluamau ha
single leaves. and the puluhapu ha
leaves with side branches or smalle
leaves, like any other fern. Aroun
u the stem of the leaves on the trunk
is a gathering of a soft, brown. silk
- stuff called pull. 1t was formerly a
= article exported to the United State
and Australia for making pillows an
mattresses, but lately it has not bee
used, for when dried, it attract
! moisture.
The palapalai fern is the bast fer
to make leis Of
The birdsnest fern grows on any tire
( where it can get roots. All kinds {
I ferns grow on old trunks, especially o
the old kalia stumps.
! There is also the scentful MALE vim
/ which is much sought after for mas
I ing wreaths and perfumery. Whe
4 | Ii, 1ais ha
! stem is pulled out so that only TT
bark and leaves are left, this increase
and secures the special aromat
! scent.
| There are very few animals in II
! mountains except insects Anyone ca
/ enjoy a rest in the high grass witt
: out fear Of snakes or other reptiles.
l The n1inah bird is better than i
/ reputation, and lives principally {
] worms, because there is scarcely al
\ fruit growing wild in the native H
waiian forests.
! One of the valleys, of which Il
! largest portion belongs to Maluh1a
called Turteltaubenthal on account
the large number of turtle doves co
I ing in the valley.
Several pretty little birds are Sc
! and heard up at Mahulia, but they a
/ scarce, and it may be better not
4 say too much about them, as some
i might sent up " NIL thcili a
] stuff them for the museum.
The said Turteltaubenthal was fc
/ merIy the bed of a stream, some fiji
| years ago, as is proved by a precipi
/ which evidently was formerly waite
fall. but is now a natural fernery
a grand scale.
] In former years all of the vale
! around Maluhia had running stream
! but now the lava stone, the bedrock
the former rivers. has decayed so til
instead of the water running on top
it. it sinksSsiown. The river beds 6
! still to be seen, but there is no water
them. The same is the case with t
I mountain lakes in the neighborhood
/ Maluhia.
Tt is interesting for biologists WI
| going up to Maluhia, to observe
different layers of soil; one layer Is
~ black sand. and another of clay, liz
r-~-- gravel etc, all Of them decayed la
Land shells, which are of special
terest to boys and collectors, can
found on almost any of the trees
Err and around Maluhia. They are gre
-R4 I,.o,.,, or white all having StriI