pice is a
forest, so near to the foot of the rock that one might easily pitch a
stone into it. Over the forest stretches a lovely country, green and
fresh, dotted with hills and woods. The sea, about seven miles off,
bounds the view, with its silver line of breakers on the outer reef.
The long line of white looks beautiful on the calm blue sea, with the
sun shining on it. The country before us did not seem to be much
cultivated. Here and there, below us, a native hut might be discerned
amidst the trees, but no large dwelling or village was in sight.

The rent in the mountain, through which we have passed, is torn and
rugged. Immense masses of black rock, several hundred feet in height,
and nearly perpendicular, form the two sides of the rift. On one side,
the mountain seems to rise straight up into the air, until it is lost
in a white cloud; on the other, the rock is equally precipitous, but
not quite so high. From this last the range stretches away in a
semicircle, ending along the coast some twenty miles distant.

A few more words about the natives, whom I have as yet only
incidentally alluded to. Of course, I saw a good deal of them, in one
way or another, during my brief stay at Honolulu. We had scarcely got
alongside the wharf, ere the Kanakas--as they are called--came
aboard, popping their heads in and out of the cabins, some selling
bananas and oranges, others offering coral and curiosities, but most
of them to examine the ship out of mere curiosity. From what I
observed, I should say that the Kanakas are of the same stock as the
Maoris, not so much tattoo-marked, much more peacefully inclined, and
probably more industrious. Some of the men are tall and handsome,
which is more than I can say of the women. The men do not work very
heartily on day wages, but well enough when paid by the piece. Here,
on the wharf, they get a dollar for a day's work, and a
dollar-and-a-half for night-work. They are employed in filling the
coal-bunkers and unloading the ship.

The Kanakas are capital divers, and work almost as well in the water
as out of it. I saw one of them engaged in repairing the bottom of the
'Moses Taylor,' by which I am to sail for San Francisco. He is paid
three dollars for a general inspection, or five dollars for a day's
work. I saw him go down to nail a piece of copper-sheathing on the
bottom, where it had been damaged in grounding upon a rock, when last
coming out of San Francisco harbour. He took down