314 SECOND VISIT TO HAKAHAA. The morning was passed, principally, in a review of the objects of interest, which had occupied our attention yesterday. The only entirely new scene was one exceedingly novel and characteristic, presented by a party of Taipii warriors on the smooth ridge of the eastern precipice, five or six hundred feet directly over our heads. Arrayed in battle dress, their lofty helmets of feathers, and light mantles sporting gaily in the wind, they stood in clearly defined outline, like giants against the sky; brandishing their spears over the valley, tossing their tufted war-clubs, by way of challenge, in the air; and, by every gesture, bidding defiance and showering contempt on their enemies below, while savage taunts and shouts of scorn echoed wildly over the surrounding cliffs. They were not aware, probably, that the prophet and chieftain of their tribe were participating, at the moment, in the kindest hospitalities of the place. This kind of insolent bra vado, from the summit of a conspicuous hill, is very common among hostile neighbors; and here, on the borders of the neutral ground, the same precipice is not unfrequently occupied several times in one day, by alternate parties from the two sides, one ascending as soon as the other goes down to their own territory again, and this, generally, without leading to any direct engagement. Learning from this exhibition, that the precipice was accessible, and afforded a descent on the opposite side into the valley of the neutral ground, I determined to make the trip to Hakahaa by land, and join the boats at the beach in the central bay. Midshipmen Wurts and Maury volunteered for the same route, and accompanied by Te Ipu, the warrior of the deputation from Taiohae, with Morrison as a guide, when the rest of VIEW FROM THE MOUNTAINS. 315 our companions embarked in the boats, we took a kind leave of the chief and the people of the valley, and commenced the undertaking. The hill is one of the steepest I ever ascended : in many places almost entirely perpendicular, and mounted only by clinging from one point of rock to another, and laying hold on the branches of the trees and shrubs with which it is heavily clothed. Cut off by the cliffs above, from the refreshing influence of the trade wind, with the heat of an afternoon sun beating directly upon us, it was necessary to stop every few moments to regain our breath; but the necessity soon became a delight, from the varied and beautiful views afforded at every turn of the little valley, its humble cots, and untutored inmates-strolling slowly along the margin of its streams, or reclining listlessly, after the excitement of our visit, beneath the shade of the palmy groves, whose plume-like tops were already waving gracefully at our feet. The surrounding hills wore a double green, from the strong light falling upon them; and in their brightness, presented a beautiful contrast to the broken lines of milk-white surf playing around their bases, and the deep blue of the bay and peaceful ocean beyond. When about midway up the face of the hill, after gaining the summit of one of the boldest of the projecting ledges of rock, I turned for a moment, and was at once riveted in admiration, at a new, but distant object of wild beauty-a second waterfall at the head of a deep ravine, branching off on the west, from the beautiful valley. It was directly opposite, perhaps a half mile distant, and a hundred and fifty or two hundred feet below the level of the rock on which I stood. Tempe itself can scarce boast any thing of the kind in 316 RICHNESS AND EXTENT equal beauty. A heavy mountain torrent, in a thickly wooded dell, bursts upon the eye from a rich bed of overhanging foliage, and in one broad, bright, and unbroken sheet of seeming silver, pours itself over the cliff a hundred feet below. The pool into which it falls, is a beautiful, circular basin, thickly enclosed by clumps of trees of such rich and varied foliage-from that of the conical and dark shaded ironwood, to the white leaves and flowers of the more spreading and tufted candle-tree-as to seem the planting of a cultivated taste, rather than an irregular growth of nature. We looked down upon its quiet, and deeply shaded surface, over the tops of the trees; and had I been a heathen Greek, I should certainly have pictured, in its cool recesses, the figures of the muses, as alone worthy such a haunt. A considerable number of the inhabitants of the village had attached themselves to our party; and added no little to the romance of the picture, as seen, some still below us, toiling up the zigzag acclivities; others at different distances above, slowly ascending, or like ourselves, occupying the top of an overhanging cliff, in momentary rest; and others again, their task accomplished, standing on the highest ridge, in strong profile against the sky, waving their mantles in kind encouragement to us below, or beginning on their part to brandish war-clubs and battle-axes over the Taipiis in the neutral ground, and making the heavens ring with shouts of daring and contempt. Our boats were, at the same time, scen pulling round the promontory into the central inlet; and all the hills around the little valley we had left, were spotted here and there with the white garments of islanders dwelling inland, who had been attracted to the sea side by OF THE NEUTRAL GROUND. 317 our visit, and were now slowly retiring to their lowly cabins, seen peeping in solitude from various points of the mountains. From the summit which we at length gained, the view of both the valleys, the surrounding mountains, and of the wide spread sea, is exceedingly fine: particularly that of the neutral ground stretching far in the interior, through "Blooming wilds And fruitful deserts, worlds of solitude Where the sun smiles, and seasons teem in vain, This ridge of the promontory is clothed only with grass; and commands an unobstructed sight in every direction. I walked along it, a mile and more up the country, examining minutely, with a glass, the whole extent of the territories both of the Hapas and Taipiis, and satisfying myself fully of their richness and susceptibility of improvement. I should think them capable of sustaining tenfold the population now occupying them : a number probably less than eight thousand. I regretted that the day was not before me, to allow of extending the excursion to the mountain's top; but perceiving the boats to have arrived at the beach at Hakahaa, and fearing that my companions might be impatient for our arrival, I gave one farewell glance over these lovely scenes, and hastened below with a curiosity unsatisfied, and an admiration far from satiated. The descent was almost as precipitous and difficult as the ascent on the other side; but we made it in safety. There was much confusion and turbulence among the Taipiis collected on the banks fronting the bay, and some indications of a mischievous disposition. Several of the gentlemen had been slyly divested of different articles-a dirk from the belt and sheath of one, a pocket handkerchief from another, &c. &c. Heated and weary, I stopt but a moment amidst the noise and throng; but mounting the back of one of our boat's crew, was carried through the surf, to a cutter—not, however, without having felt two or three noble jirks at my handkerchief, which I had learned too well, at the Sandwich Islands, to secure at a buttonhole, to forget to do the same among our good friends here. The whole company soon joined me; and after a delightful row, at the even-tide, we again reached the Vincennes without accident. LETTER XXXIV. DEPARTURE FROM NUKUHIVA. U. S. ship Vincennes, at sea, Ir could scarce be expected, dear H that a voy age of the world should be made without accidents and danger; and on the morning of the 11th inst., our beautiful ship narrowly escaped utter destruction. In endeavoring to get from the bay of Oomi, we were becalmed, while under the influence of a tremendous current setting dead on shore, in water too deep to let go an anchor. The ship was carried irresistibly, by the swell of the sea, against the cliffs at |