1840. J MAUI — MOLOKAI — OAHU. 359 



ocean, forever belching fofth its volcanic fires, and casting its 

 unearthly, waving shadow, far and wide over the broad ocean. 



Maui is thirty miles north-west of Hawaii. It is forty- 

 eieht miles in length, and twenty-nine in breadth, and con- 

 sists of two parts, each containing its separate ridge of moun- 

 tains, which are united together by a belt or isthmus of low 

 ground. Originally, there were, in all probability, two distinct 

 islands, the space between which has been filled up by the 

 scoria and lava thrown from their respective volcanoes when 

 in a state of active operation. West Maui is considerably 

 lower than the eastern part of the island, but both are high 

 and volcanic, and, like Hawaii, rise gradually from the shore 

 to the mountainous ridges in the interior. The loftiest peak 

 on the island is Mauna Haleakala, or the " House of the Sun," 

 whose cleft summit overlooks the eastern and southern shores 

 of East Maui, and is 10,200 feet above the level of the 

 ocean. — West of Maui, and separated from it by a strait 

 averaging about twelve miles in width, are Lanai and Ka- 

 hoolawe. The former is seventeen miles long, and nine miles 

 wide ; it is shaped like a dome, and in the centre, or highest 

 part of the island, attains an elevation of sixteen hundred 

 feet. Kahoolawe lies opposite to the southern coast of Maui, 

 and has Lanai on its north ; it is eleven miles long, and eight 

 miles wide. It is a low, uninviting spot, covered with barren 

 peaks and ridges, none of which attain a greater elevation 

 than two hundred feet, and is tenanted only by a few miser- 

 able fishermen, and now and then an exiJe sent hither by 

 order of the government. 



Eighteen miles north of Maui and Lanai, and separated 

 from them by the Pailolo channel, is Molokai. This island 

 is forty miles long, from east to west, and nine miles wide : 

 the western portion, embracing about one third of the whole 

 extent, is a barren waste ; and the remaining two thirds is 

 mountainous, in some places rising to the height of twenty- 

 eight hundred feet, with the exception of a narrow strip of 

 land on the south side, which has a most favorable exposure, 

 and is highly productive. — Oahu lies about thirty miles north- 



