370 W. T. BRIGHAM ON THE VOLCANIC PHENOMENA 



products which they exhibit in such variety, but the geologist must look to Hawaii for the 

 explanation of much that he sees on Kauai, 03.hu, or Maui ; and here better than at any other 

 known place on the globe may the phenomena of an active volcano be studied. On Hawaii 

 is the largest active crater in the world, and the whole island presents, in an accessible form, 

 models and specimens of the work which has constructed the whole group. At all times 

 the explorer may see the melted lava boiling and surging in its ragged caldron ; he may 

 approach it with an impunity which is marvellous in view of the mighty forces at work ; 

 and during the occasional eruption, may stand by the side, nay, even on the surface of a 

 resistless torrent of melted rock often several miles in breadth, and flowing on for months in 

 undiminished volume. Probably in no other place can the volcanic work be better examined 

 than here, where for thousands of years — how many thousand who shall say ? — fiery floods 

 have poured forth, and still pour forth, until they have builded mountains of vast extent. 

 All conditions of the lava-rock are seen here : basaltic and trachytic, solid and cellular, from 

 the rich black soil, deep and fertile as on Kauai, to the smooth hard rock of this year's flow. 



To obtain the best idea of Hawaii it may be well to make the circuit of the island near 

 the coast, to ascend the mountains, and finally examine the great volcano Kilauea. 



The form of Hawaii, as will be seen on the map, is roughly triangular, the western coast 

 being eighty-five geographical miles in length, the south-eastern sixty-five, and the north- 

 eastern seventy-five miles ; the area is three thousand eight hundred square miles. Its whole 

 surface pertains to the slopes of its four mountain summits, — Mauna Kea on the north, which 

 rises 13,950 feet above half-tide; Mauna Loa on the south, 13,760 feet high; Mauna Hualalai 

 on the west, 8,500 feet high ; and Mauna Koha^la on the north-west, about 5000 feet : — and 

 so distinct are these summits, that a subsidence of six thousand feet would leave three islands, 

 two of which would be eight thousand feet high, and the third would still equal the heights 

 of Molokai. From the sea on the east side the two mountains, Kea and L6a, are alone 

 visible, and so slight is their elevation compared with their great horizontal extent that 

 the voyager is wholly deceived in estimating their height. Their surface seems smooth 

 and unbroken, their slope so gentle as hardly to be perceptible, and their rounded summits 

 seem easy of access. 



Starting from the western coast at Kealakeakua Bay — the memorable scene of Cook's 

 punishment — the island may be described as the traveller journeys along the coast towards 

 the south and east. Kealakeakua presents several points of interest. At the head of the 

 bay is a nearly perpendicular rock-wall eight hundred feet high, on either side of Avhich recent 

 lava-streams have descended. The face of the cliff is broken in several places by large caves, 

 and seems to be the section of a lava flow of great size, of which the extremity has been 

 engulfed in the sea by some violent shock. The northern point on which Cook was killed 

 is a lava-stream, and the bare black rocks on which he landed are part of a flow which may 

 be traced up the steep ascent, and over the precipice in a black rock-fall, where every wave 

 and curve and twist of the once molten torrent has been transformed into an iron-like mass, 

 as if instantaneously. It is a remarkable fact that this cliff is the only similar one on this 

 coast, while further south they are of frequent occurrence. Although they have not been 

 tracked to the vent from which they issued, it is probable that the Kealakeakua streams 

 originate from Mauna Loa, not from the nearer Hualalai. 



From the top of the cliff, the slope towards the interior is more gentle, and is covered 

 with a deep and productive soil. Thick forests extend more than six miles up the sides of 



