THE ORIGIN OF THE HUMAN BODY 347 



certain holes in the soil were shown to us, which Doctor 

 Jaggar, evidently under the influence of military imagery sug- 

 gested by the then recent European War, described as ''shell- 

 craters" dug by the aforesaid volcanic bombs. 



Doctor Jaggar accounted for the bombs and craters by a very 

 ingenious theory. In 1790, he said, the year in which Kameha- 

 meha I was contending with Keoua for the mastery of the 

 large island of Hawaii, the only explosive eruption of Ki- 

 lauea known to history occurred, and it was during this 

 eruption (which destroyed part of Keoua 's army) that the 

 bombs found at Kenakakoe were ejected from the above- 

 mentioned volcano. It was then, we were informed, that 

 these bombs hurtling through the air in giant trajec- 

 tories from Kilauea struck the ground and scooped out 

 the ''shell-craters" at Kenakakoe. Some of them, it ap- 

 peared, did not remain in the craters, but rebounded to strike 

 again on the rocks beyond. Of the latter, part were shattered, 

 while others withstood the force of the second impact. The 

 whole party was much impressed by the grandeur of this vivid 

 description, and some of the scientists were at great pains to 

 photograph the craters as awe-inspiring vestiges of the mighty 

 bombardment wrought in times past by Nature's volcanic 

 artillery. 



When I returned to Hilo, I happened to mention to Brother 

 Matthias Newell some misgivings which I had felt concerning 

 the size and appearance of the so-called "shell-craters." Brother 

 Newell, a member of the Marist Congregation and quite a sci- 

 entist in his way, is famous in the Islands as the dis- 

 coverer of a fungus, by which the Japanese Beetle, a local 

 pest, has been largely exterminated. For several years, prior 

 to the advent of Doctor Jaggar and the United States Observa- 

 tory, he had studied extensively the famous volcano on the 

 slopes of Mauna Loa. On hearing my narrative of the fore- 

 going incident, Brother Newell was curious to know the exact 

 locality, and burst into a hearty laugh as soon as I mentioned 

 Kenakakoe. He himself, he told me, in company with Brother 



