What I saw on the west coast of South and North America, and at the Hawaiian Islands.: By H. Willis Baxley, M.D.

VOYAGE TO THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. centic Bay of Waialae, he took the helm and doubled the bold headland of Diamond Point, an extinct volcanic crater abruptly terminating a range of hills running from the interior toward the sea. From this point, five or six miles from Honolulu, the shore line for nearly that distance was seen prettily bordered by the tropical cocoa and tutui trees; the ocean swells breaking over the coral reef, and rolling their white fringe up the yellow sands to kiss the feet of those waving banners of peace that cease not to welcome the weary mariners of all countries. A remarkable entrance through the reef to the harbor of the capital has been left by nature, a tortuous channel a mile long, from one hundred and twenty to two hundred and twenty yards wide, the least depth of water being twenty-two feet, opening into a port of perfect security, with room for two hundred vessels. The fact that an entering vessel would have to sail in the C' wind's eye" coming down the Nuuanu Valley, and incur the risk of going on the reef, has made a steam-tug a necessity of navigation for safety. We threw it a hawser when it puffed its high-pressure salutation across the bow of the "Rapid," which, furling sails, surrendered herself to the blustering little craft, and passing from the deep blue of ocean to the green of soundings, and then through the milky-tinted waters of the submerged reef, bounded on each side by a more superficial coral bank, we anchored in the inner harbor on the thirteenth day of the voyage from San Francisco. 508

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Title
What I saw on the west coast of South and North America, and at the Hawaiian Islands.: By H. Willis Baxley, M.D.
Author
Baxley, Henry Willis, 1803-1876.
Canvas
Page 508
Publication
New York,: D. Appleton & company,
1865.
Subject terms
South America -- Description and travel
California -- Description and travel
Hawaii -- Description and travel

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"What I saw on the west coast of South and North America, and at the Hawaiian Islands.: By H. Willis Baxley, M.D." In the digital collection Making of America Books. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/abf7940.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 23, 2025.
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