382 



W. T. HRIGHAM ON THE VOLCANIC PHENOMENA 



continually ascended. No bottom could be seen, and on throwing stones into it they were 

 heard to strike against its sides for eight seconds, but not to reach its bottom. There were 

 two other apertures very near this, nine feet in diameter, and apparently two hundred feet 

 deep. 1 



This description corresponds so nearly with the blow-hole we saw on the summit that it 

 cannot be doubted that vapors formed, or at least enlarged, both. 



From the vegetation of the summit I should not consider Hualalai more than 8500 feet 

 high, although some have placed it as high as 10,000. 2 It is covered with lateral cones, and 

 its summit is flat, with many large pit craters. More than one hundred and fifty lateral 

 cones have been counted, and it will be seen from the outline of the mountain (Fig. 32) 

 that they vary much in shape and size. 



Fig. 33. The Summit of Hualalai seen from Mauna L6a (9000 feet). 



In the afternoon we camped about a mile from our last night's resting-place, between two 

 cones. Our guide shot two of the native geese (Berniela Sandvicencis), which were fine 

 eating. The number of these geese has been much underrated. Although they are found 

 only on the highlands of Hawaii and Maaii, their number admits of the annual slaughter of 

 several hundred without sensible diminution. They build their nests in the grass, and lay 

 two or three eggs, white, and about the size of a common goose's egg. They are web-footed, 

 but are never seen in the water, indeed there is no water on the uplands, and their food 

 is principally berries and a common species of Hieracium. The strawberries {Fragraria 

 ChiUensis) were nearly out of season. Trees were comparatively small. The mamane, a 

 Dodoncea, sandal-wood, and an arborescent geranium, were the most common. Of the herbs 

 a Lythnnn, much resembling our native species, and many composite with brilliant yellow 

 blossoms (Raillardia, Artemisia, etc.), were seen all through the plain. 



I made me a bed of bracken (Pteris aquilina) as I might at home on a similar occasion, 

 and with my feet towards a fire of great mamane logs, went to sleep. The night was clear 

 and cold, — so cold that I awoke and moved nearer the fire. It was strangely silent; the 

 stars were shining brightly, and directly in front of me was the grand Mauna Loa. At half- 

 past three the moon rose over the slopes of Mauna Kea, and I fell asleep again. In the 

 morning at sunrise the thermometer marked 46° Fahr. As the sun rose, the lava-flow of 

 1859 was visible through its whole length from the summit of Mauna Loa to the sea at 

 Kawaihae, shining like a river of silver, owing to its glossy black surface. How beautiful a 

 sight it must have presented when it was a river of fire ! 



All the plain between the mountains, which covers many square miles, is intersected by 

 lava-streams from all three summits, and is wholly rocky and uneven, with caves and beds of 



» Ellis, Tour of Hawaii, p. 55. 2 Prof. Dana estimates it at 10,000 feet. 



