428 



W. T. BRIGHAM ON THE VOLCANIC PHENOMENA 



sweep the rocky slopes of Mauna Loa. At the height of eighteen hundred feet we entered 

 the fern forest. The fruit of the Physalis and Vaccinium was abundant, and sandal-wood was 

 occasionally met with at an elevation of two thousand feet. As we came to the fern region, 

 we turned into a path cut through the jungle, and, as the soil was a soft black mould, it had 

 been paved with the stems of tree ferns, which are about six inches in diameter. This " cor- 

 duroy road " was constructed with great labor by the natives, and we calculated that forty 

 thousand pieces of fern were used to build it. The ferns are cut in lengths of six feet, and 

 many of them sprout and make a green edging to the roadway. This path led through 

 the most tropical region I had seen on Hawaii. Tree ferns whose stems were fifteen feet 

 high to the base of the fronds, and eight to twelve inches in diameter, were mingled 

 with Myrsine, Byronia, Pelca, Ilex, and Metrosideros, while over all, the long leaves of the Ie 

 [Freycinetia arborea), the dark glossy green maile (Alyzia olivaeformis), and mosses in great 

 abundance covered the stems and branches, and hung in long graceful festoons. 



Nearly two miles through this, and we came to a tract of pahoehoe, and here was the 

 pulu station to which the roads had been cut. This is the present residence of a remarkable 

 native who has leased this whole district for the pulu business, — Kaina, the district judge. 

 His house was directly on the line of craters, and only a few rods from steam cracks where 

 his men cooked their food. It was well built, and surrounded with a substantial stone 

 wall. The interior was furnished with bedsteads, rocking-chairs, and other conveniences ; 

 and our supper-table was supplied with fresh wheaten bread, milk, butter, eggs, and 

 delicious berries. 



West of the house was a large open field where the silky golden fibre of the pulu is 

 dried before packing, and beyond, in the woods, I found curious tubes of lava on an ancient 

 flow, one of which was seven feet high, eighteen inches external diameter, and with a bore 



of eight inches. It was brittle, and on breaking it off, I found 

 ~~? the hole was six feet deep, making its whole length thirteen feet. 

 Others of the same height were near by, and their sides were 

 always thicker towards the source of the flow. Externally they 

 are rough, and look spattered, but the top was smooth, and some- 

 times projected like an umbrella. Where several were in close 

 proximity, a slab of lava was supported like a roof on columns. 

 The lining of the tube was smooth, and much more compact and 

 vitreous than the exterior. The trees which sei'ved as cores have 

 entirely decayed, and were mostly tree ferns, although I think 

 that I detected some ohias. I followed the stream down some 

 distance to ascertain the cause of its subsidence, which must have 

 been rapid, and found that a fissure had opened and swallowed 

 most of the lava. Judging from the great size of the trees over 

 its surface the flow must be quite ancient. 



Tuesday I went with my boy Ioane to explore the woods. 

 As I followed a path made by the pulu-pickers through the dense 

 forest, I came upon a large hole on the edge of the path which 

 proved to be the entrance to a cave of great depth. The path had been turned to one side 

 to avoid it, and in the dark it would be exceedingly dangerous. Such holes are common in 

 this part of Puna, and natives occasionally disappear mysteriously. Brushing through the 



Fig. 43. Tree-casts in a lava stream. 



