The Hawaiian gazette., 1902-09-05
SILVER SWORD OF HALEAKALA.

where | rested the remainder of the
night.
when the first streaks of dawn came
into the skies / was ready to go on.
They had told me to hug the side of
the gap and so | started. The way
was fairly good at first but soon / en-
tered upon the bad lands. The lava
is much broken and the edges are
sharp. There Is no track and one must
simply take his path as he can find
1t. ! had abandoned the idea of taking
the eastern side Of the gap and steer
ed my way for the center Of the OPEN
ing. IT was a terrible climb. The mists
from the ocean rolled in through the
gap chilling me and making me wet to
the skin. My shoes began to feel the
effects OF wearing upon the sharp rocks
and | was slipping and sliding all over
the rough waste. / was compelled to
abandon my silver sword plants. ! lost
one roll Of films and / soon began to
lose patches of epidermis. My ankles
We're skinned and bloody, my elbows
We're raw where / had lost my footing
and / was sore from tramping over the
uneven ground.
II had fixed my attention upon one
great point or LANDMARK, which / said
! should reach by half past ten o'clock
That hour passed and / was still far
away slipping and sliding over the
razor edged rocks desperate, for to
lose courage meant loss of self, and
yet | was almost overcome by the ter
ribe struggles which confronted me
Finally the lava began to be less sharp
and uneven. There We're here and there
patches Of grass, winch gave me a
Htst,, md a1 hot eli, ,y,t,r
with the change Of conditions under
foot. But there was hard work ahead
of me and it was not until 1870 O'clock
after eight hours of hard and continu
Gus tramping, that / was out of the gap
and down on the side of the mountain
at the ranch of the Portuguese resi-
dent owner of the Kaupo range.
There again / refreshed myself with
a cup of cocoa and asked for a horse
and guide so that / might reach Hama
in time to take the boat which was to
pass here at p. IN. The rancher told
me it was an eight hours ride but his
son agreed finally to take me down to
the boat if | would agree to make the
ride with him. | said | was stiff and
lame but l must try and we finally
started.
vi Nndl rae the pea ulltS IluSl grow
upon me. Every day | think of some
thing new and fine that marked the
way. Capt. Dutton tells of the number
Of waterfalls which he encountered on
the way up the mountain. l think he
/ overestimated the number, but there
are at least eight, which mark the
beautiful ravnes which cut up the
sides of the mountain. At some of
these the water falls from 800 to 1000
feet in the most beautiful cascades
imaginable. The vegetation there is
remarkable and the trees and ferns are
grander that any | have ever seen else
where on the islands.
"Well we reached the boat and
made Lahaina, where after two OF
three baths | was ready for n tramp
up lao valley before starting home
Altogether the trip was one which
can never forget and | believe II was
well worth the while, though there Were
times when the outlook was dark and
| myself felt that my condition was
quite far from satisfactory. | should
advise any one who wishes to take my
trip to have good pair OF soles and
TO refrain from carrying much luggage
contenting himself with cocoa or choc'
olate | found that most refreshing
and believe | could have got alonl
perfectly without other food for the
time | was on the tramp"
a