A MOUNTAIN VALLEY.
Beyond the taro-fields there is good grazing for cattle and sheep, of which there are numerous herds and flocks. Frank called attention to a water-fall some distance away, which made a pretty contrast with the dark sides of the mountain, and was evidently nearly, if not quite, two hundred feet in height. At one of the turns of the road the carriage came in contact with a cart which was descending the slope too swiftly for safety; the damage was trifling, but for a few moments things wore a serious aspect, as there was a good chance of being tossed over the side of the almost precipitous slope.
There were not many travellers along the road, the most picturesque being groups of girls on horseback and the herders who were driving cattle to market or for a change of pasture. The girls were generally in bright-colored robes, which were gathered in at the waist with brighter sashes that streamed behind them as they dashed along the road. Most of them wore straw hats on their heads, and generally the hats were adorned with flowers in wreaths and festoons, which were most liberally bestowed. Now and then Frank's attention was drawn to a pretty face which surmounted a neck adorned with a string of blossoms of gaudy colors; the necklace formed an admirable setting for the complexion, but sometimes the blossoms were not chosen with due regard to the contrast of colors.
HAWAIIAN TEMPLE.
(From a Russian Engraving about 1790.)
The Hawaiian cow-boys, or cattle-drivers, were not unlike their American prototypes, as they wore broad-brimmed hats and bright-colored scarfs; they were mounted on tough little horses, and sat in saddles of the American cow-boy pattern, the pommel rising high, and the stirrups made of wood. Then there were strings of pack-mules and horses coming down from the points in the mountains inaccessible to wheeled vehicles, and now and then our friends met a Chinese gardener taking the produce of his little patch to market on the back of a pack animal, and in some instances on a wheelbarrow. A few groups of men and women on foot were encountered, but the number was so small that Frank and Fred concluded that the Hawaiians were a home-loving people, and did not wander about much.
Near the Pali the road passed through thickets of how-trees, which resembled the growths of manzanita on the slopes of the California foot-hills. These thickets are so dense that it is impossible for man or horse to pass through them; in fact they are impenetrable to any but the smallest animals. Frank thought he would like to cut a cane as a souvenir, but refrained from doing so when reminded by Fred that he could probably buy all the canes he wanted in Honolulu.