Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 6.djvu/432

426 JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. men, which left eleven for the conveyance of their own Tapas and food. Nor was this unreasonable, for the quantity, of Poe which a native, will consume, in a week, nearly equals his own weight ! A dreadful drawback on an expedition. Still, though the sixteen per- sons ate two bullocks in a week, besides, what they carried, a threatened scarcity of food compelled me to return rather sooner than I should have done, in order that the Calabashes might be replenished. No people in the world can cram themselves to such a degree as the Sandwich Islanders; their food is, however, of a very light kind, and easy digested. On the 22nd of January, the air being pleasant, and the sun occasionally visible, I had all my packages assorted by nine A. M., and engaged my old guide, Honori, and nine men to accompany me to the volcano and to Mouna Roa. As usual, there was a formidable display of luggage, consisting of Tapas, Calabashes, Poe, Taro, etc., while each individual provided himself with the solace of a staff of sugar cane, which shortens the distance, for the pedestrian, when tired and thirsty, sits down and bites off an inch or two from the end of his staff. A friend accompanied me as far as his house on the road, where there is a large church, his kind intention being to give me some provision for the excursion, but as he was a stout person, I soon outstripped him. On leaving the bay, we passed through a fertile spot consisting- of Taro patches in ponds, where the ground is pur- posely overflowed, and afterwards covered with a deep layer of Fern- leaves to keep it damp. Here were fine groves of Bread-fruit, and ponds of Mullet and Ava-fish; the scenery is beautiful, being studded with dwellings and little plantations of vegetables and of Morus papyrifera of which there are two kinds, one much whiter than the other. The most striking feature in the vegetation consists in the Tree-Ferns, some smaller species of the same tribe, and a curious kind of Compositce, like an Eupatorium. At about four miles and a half from the bay, we entered the wood, through which there is a tolerably clear path, the muddy spots being rendered passable by the stems or trunks of Tree-Ferns, laid close together cross-wise. They seemed to be the same species as I had observed on the ascent to Mouna Kuah. About an hour's walk brought us through the wood, and we then crossed another open plain of three miles and a half, at the upper end of which, in a most beautiful situation, stand the church, and close to it the chief's house. Some heavy showers had drenched us through; still, as soon as our friend arrived, and the needful ar- rangements were made, I started and continued the ascent over a very gentle rising ground in a southerly direction, passing through some delightful country, interspersed with low timber. At night we halted at a house, of which the owner was a very civil person, though re- markably talkative. Four old women were inmates of the same dwell-