Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 6.djvu/438

432 432 JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. imagined from the number of these tunnels, is not well supplied with water. The inhabitants convert these caverns to use in various ways; employing 1 them occasionally as permanent dwellings, but more fre- quently as cool retreats where they carry on the process of making- native cloth from the bark of the Mulberry Tree, or where they fabricate and shelter their canoes from the violent rays of the sun. They are also used for goat-folds and pig-styes, and the fallen-in places, where there is a greater depth of decomposed vegetable matter, are frequently planted with Tobacco, Indian Corn, Melons, and other choice plants. At a distance of ten miles north of Kapupala, and near the edge of the path, are some fine caverns, above sixty feet deep. The water, dropping from the top of the vault, collected into small pools below, indicated a temperature of 50, the air of the cave itself 51, while in the shade on the outside the thermometer stood at 82. The interiors of the moist caverns are of a most beautiful appearance ; not only from the singularity of their structure, but because they are delightfully fringed with Ferns, Mosses, and Jungermannice, thus holding out to the Botanist a most inviting retreat from the overpowering rays of a tropical sun. Arrived at Kapupala, at three P. M., I found that the chief or head man had prepared a house for me, a nice and clean dwelling, with abundance of fine mats, etc., but as near it there stood several large canoes filled with water, containing Mulberry Bark in a state of fer- mentation, and highly offensive, as also a large pig-fold, surrounded by a lava-wall, and shaded with large bushes of Ricinus communis, altogether forming an unsuitable station for making observations, to say nothing of the din and bustle constantly going on when strangers are present, besides the annoyance from fleas, I caused my tent to be pitched one hundred yards behind the house. The chief would have been better pleased if I had occupied his dwelling, but through Honori, I had this matter explained to his satisfaction. He sent me a fowl, cooked on heated stones underground, some baked Taro, and Sweet Potatoes, together with a calabash full of delicious goat's-milk, poured through the husk of a Cocoa-nut in lieu of a sieve. As strangers rarely visit this part of the island, a crowd soon assembled for the evening. The vegetation in this district can hardly be compared with that of Hilo,* nor are the natives so industrious ; they have no fish-ponds, and cultivate little else than Taro, which they call Dry Taro, no Bananas, and but little Sugar-cane, or other vegetables. Flocks of goats brouse over the hills, while fowls, tur- keys, and pigs are numerous, and occupy the same dwellings with their owners. '' Hido.', ED. (IUARTEJILY.
 * Wherever the word "Hilo" occurs in the text it has been changed from