In addition to the
usual tropical productions, there were some very fine fig trees and
thickets of the castor-oil plant, a very handsome shrub, when, as
here, it grows to a height of from ten to twenty-two feet. The
natives, having been joined by some Waipio women, rode at full
gallop over all sorts of ground, and I enjoyed the speed of my mare
without any apprehension of being thrown off. We rode among most
extensive kalo plantations, and large artificial fish-ponds, in
which hundreds of gold-fish were gleaming, and came back by the sea
shore, green with the maritime convolvulus, and the smooth-bottomed
river, which the Waipio folk use as a road. Canoes glide along it,
brown-skinned men wade down it floating bundles of kalo after them,
and strings of laden horses and mules follow each other along its
still waters. I hear that in another and nearly unapproachable
valley, a river serves the same purpose. While we were riding up
it, a great gust lifted off its surface in fine spray, and almost
blew us from our horses. Hawaii has no hurricanes, but at some
hours of the day Waipio is subject to terrific gusts, which really
justify the people in their objection to visiting the cascade.
Pages:
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187