The Kohala hills,
picturesque, wooded, and abrupt, bound Waimea on the north, with
their exquisite grassy slopes, and bring down an abundance of water
to the plain, but owing to the lightness of the soil and the
evaporation produced by the tremendous winds, the moisture
disappears within two miles of the hills, and an area of rich soil,
ten miles by twelve, which, if irrigated, would be invaluable, is
nothing but a worthless dusty desert, perpetually encroaching on the
grass. As soon as the plains slope towards the east, the vegetation
of the tropics reappears, and the face of the country is densely
covered with a swampy and impenetrable bush hardly at all explored,
which shades the sources of the streams which fall into the Waipio
and Waimanu Valleys, and is supposed to contain water enough to
irrigate the Saharas of leeward Hawaii.
The climate of the plain is most invigorating. If there were waggon
roads and obtainable comforts, Waimea, with its cool equable
temperature, might become the great health resort of invalids from
the Pacific coast. But Hawaii is not a place for the sick or old;
for, if people cannot ride on horseback, they can have neither
society nor change. Mr. Lyons, one of the most famous of the early
missionaries, still clings to this place, where he has worked for
forty years.
Pages:
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274