But were she one of our own race I
should not suppose her to be more than eleven years old, and she
does not seem able to understand my ideas on any subject, though I
can be very much interested and amused with hearing hers.
We had a perfect day until the middle of the afternoon. The
dimpling Pacific was never more than a mile from us as we kept the
narrow track in the long green grass; and on our left the blunt
snow-patched peaks of Mauna Kea rose from the girdle of forest,
looking so delusively near that I fancied a two-hours' climb would
take us to his lofty summit. The track for twenty-six miles is just
in and out of gulches, from 100 to 800 feet in depth, all opening on
the sea, which sweeps into them in three booming rollers. The
candle-nut or kukui (aleurites triloba) tree, which on the whole
predominates, has leaves of a rich deep green when mature, which
contrast beautifully with the flaky silvery look of the younger
foliage. Some of the shallower gulches are filled exclusively with
this tree, which in growing up to the light to within 100 feet of
the top, presents a mass and density of leafage quite unique, giving
the gulch the appearance as if billows of green had rolled in and
solidified there.
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