eighty feet is no light matter. A third native, who joined them in
this exploit, gave one quite a turn as he twisted in his downward
jump; but he also alighted in the water feet foremost, and bobbed up
again directly, like a cork. He was quite a young man, and we
afterwards heard that he had broken several ribs not more than a year
ago, and had been laid up for six months in the hospital.

We now moved our position a little higher up the river, to the Falls,
over which the men, gliding down the shallow rapids above, in a
sitting posture, allowed themselves to be carried. It looked a
pleasant and easy feat, and was afterwards performed by many of the
natives in all sorts of ways. Two or three of them would hold each
other's shoulders, forming a child's train, or some would get on the
backs of their companions, while others descended singly in a variety
of attitudes. At last a young girl was also persuaded to attempt the
feat. She looked very pretty as she started, in her white chemise and
bright garland, and prettier still when she emerged from the white
foam beneath the fall, and swam along far below the surface of the
clear water, with her long black hair streaming out behind her.

No description can give you any idea what an animated and
extraordinary scene it was altogether. While our accounts were being
settled, preparatory to our departure, I occupied myself in looking at
some _kahilis_ and feather _leis._ The yellow ones, either of Oo or
Mamo feathers, only found in this island, are always scarce, as the
use of them is a prerogative of royalty and nobility. Just now it is
almost impossible to obtain one, all the feathers being '_tabu_,' to
make a royal cloak for Ruth, half-sister of Kamehameha V., and
governess of Hawaii. Mamo feathers are generally worth a dollar a
piece, and a good _lei_ or loose necklace costs about five hundred