th, and have come into contact with the lava, the trees
wither up and perish, like the seed that fell on stony ground.

The _ohia_ trees form a handsome feature in the landscape, with their
thick tall stems, glossy foliage, and light crimson flowers. The fruit
is a small pink waxy-looking apple, slightly acid, pleasant to the
taste when you are thirsty. The candle-nut trees attain to a large
size, and their light green foliage and white flowers have a very
graceful appearance. Most of the foliage, however, is spoiled by a
deposit of black dust, not unlike what one sees on the leaves in a
London garden. I do not know whether this is caused by the fumes of
the not far-distant volcano, or whether it is some kind of mould or
fungus.

After riding about ten miles in the blazing sun we reached a forest,
where the vegetation was quite tropical, though not so varied in its
beauties as that of Brazil, or of the still more lovely South Sea
Islands. There were ferns of various descriptions in the forest, and
many fine trees, entwined, supported, or suffocated by numerous
climbing plants, amongst which were blue and lilac convolvulus, and
magnificent passion-flowers. The protection from the sun afforded by
this dense mass of foliage was extremely grateful; but the air of the
forest was close and stifling, and at the end of five miles we were
glad to emerge once more into the open. The rest of the way lay over
the hard lava, through a sort of desert of scrubby vegetation,
occasionally relieved by clumps of trees in hollows. More than once we
had a fine view of the sea, stretching away into the far distance,
though it was sometimes mistaken for the bright blue sky, until the
surf could be seen breaking upon the black rocks, amid the encircling
groves of cocoa-nut trees.

The sun shone fiercely at intervals, and the rain came down several
times in torrents. The pace was slow, the road was dull and dreary,
and many were the inquiries made for the 'Half-way House,' long before
we reached it. We had still two miles farther to go, in the course of
which we were drenched by a heavy shower. At last we came to a native
house, crowded with people, where they were making _tappa_ or
_kapa_--the cloth made from the bark of the paper-mulberry. Here we
stopped for a few minutes until our guide hurried us on, pointing out
the church and the 'Half-way House' just ahead.

We were indeed glad to dismount after our weary ride, and rest in the
comf