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Rain seldom falls here except in showers, and a rainy day once in the year is looked upon as remarkable. This, together with the absence of all dew, prevents the existence of much cultivation. There grows, nevertheless, a coarse vegetation sufficient to pasture a few hundred goats, and a mile back from the shore the surface is covered with herbage which maintains cattle, etc.; 2 miles in the interior there is sufficient moisture to keep up a constant verdure.
The temperature is mild and equable. During the winter the thermometer ranges from 64° to 85°; summer, 68° to 86°.
The prevailing winds are the land and sea breezes, which are very regular; the most severe gales are those from the southwest, which last from a few hours to two or three days, and render anchorage unsafe.
On approaching Kailua Bay, the town may be recognized by the 2 churches and the cocoanut groves on the shore to the westward.
There is a most convenient landing place, as noted above.
Kona.—Settlement near Kealakekua Bay, situated west side Hawaii; best anchorage on that coast. Climate mild, 62° to 76° in winter, 70° to 86° in summer. Strong winds are seldom felt. During day, cool sea breeze; during night, land breeze. It was at Kealakekua Bay that Capt. Cook was killed (1779). On west of Kanwalda Cove is a village of same name, where the monument to Cook now stands. The shore all around the bay is rocky, making landing dangerous when there is a swell setting in, except at Kealakekua village. Here there is a fine sandy beach, with burying place at one extremity and a small well of fresh water at the other. The bay is easy of access; but anchorage is not good, owing to the great depth of water and foul bottom. Kanwalda Cove, though exposed to winds south and southwest, may be considered safe anchorage, except in winter.
Kona is a village a few miles inland, and is considered one of the most healthy spots in the whole group, and especially beneficial to people suffering from weakness or disease of lungs or chest. It is said that many visitors come here from California to pass the winter, and there are one or two commodious boarding houses for their accommodation.
From the landing place, about half a cable southwest of Cook's monument, there is a good road leading to Kona.
Supplies.—Beef, fowls, sweet potatoes, and plantains can be obtained in Kealakekua; also water at Napupu, a village south of Kealakekua; but the tank is falling to decay, and the water is brackish in all wells in the vicinity of Kanwalda Cove.
Island of Maui (Map E.)
The island of Maui lies northwest of Hawaii. The channel which separates them has a width of 28 miles.
The island is 48 miles long in a west-by-north and east-by-south direction; it is divided into two oval-shaped peninsulas, connected by a low isthmus 6 miles across, and only a few feet higher than the beach.
The whole island, which is volcanic, was probably produced by the action of the two adjacent volcanoes.
Coast.—The southwest point of Maui, Cape Hanamanioa, is formed by rugged, craggy rocks. From here along the coast 25 miles to Alau islet the whole shore is rugged and offers no anchorage or shelter. From seaward the land appears to ascend abruptly; it is densely covered with trees and vegetation, while here and there a few
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habitations appear. Alau islet, lying off the east coast of Maui, is very small. Kauiki head, the eastern point of Maui, is an old crater which is connected by a low spit to the mainland, and at a distance appears like an island.
Near this peninsula lies Hana harbor, from which a coast that affords no shelter extends for 31 miles.
The north coast of East Maui is a succession of deep ravines, which gradually diminish in breadth as they ascend, and are finally lost in the flanks of the mountains; traveling along the coast, in consequence, becomes almost impossible. Cascades several hundred feet in height, but having little volume of water, are seen falling into these ravines.
The east coast of West Maui is an abrupt precipice several hundred feet in height, terminating at Kahakuloa Point, the northern extremity of the island. The southern side of West Maui has a forbidding appearance. The shores, however, are not so steep and rocky as elsewhere, and have generally a sandy beach.
Off Makena, near the southwest extremity of the island, lies a small barren islet called Molokini, only visited by fishermen who dry their nets on its barren surface.
Interior.—The eastern peninsula of Maui, the larger of the two, is lofty; but though the mountains are often seen above the clouds, they are never covered with snow.
East Maui rises in an unbroken mountain.
East Maui, although mountainous, has much cultivated land; and the rich volcanic soil of the Kula district, on the southwest side of the island, raises abundant crops of potatoes. Wheat and other grains are also cultivated.
West Maui has many sharp peaks and ridges, which are divided by deep valleys, descending towards the sea, and opening out into sloping plains of considerable extent, in the north and south sides.
The highest peak of West Maui is Mauna Ika, 6,130 feet.
The connecting isthmus consists of sand, which is constantly shifting and is thrown up in dunes; this region is naturally dry, but during nine months of the year affords fine grazing, feeding huge herds of cattle that are mostly owned by foreigners.
The productions of Maui are those of the other islands, with the addition of a few fruits, such as grapes, etc.
The highest point of Maui, named Kolakole, is 10,030 feet above the sea. It is destitute of trees to the height of about 2,000 feet; then succeeds a belt of forest to the height of about 6,500 feet, and again the summit is bare.
The crater of Haleakala is a deep gorge, open at the north and east, forming a kind of elbow. The inside is entirely bare of vegetation. The natives have no tradition of an eruption.
Though arid and sandy in appearance, the soil of the isthmus connecting the two parts of the island is good, deep, and exceedingly fertile where irrigation has been introduced. At Spreckelsville, in the northern part of the peninsula, lie the largest sugar estates of the island.
CITIES, TOWNS, AND PORTS, MAUI.
Hana Harbor.—The anchorage is well protected from the wind and sea, and is very convenient. There is a town here. Details unknown.
Kahului Harbor.—Situated between the coral reefs on the northern side of the low isthmus joining the two peninsulas. Channels about 31/2 cables wide, 4 cables deep, fully exposed to the northward.
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