2 Kilaura and Maiuia Lna. 



careful survey of Kilauea in 1865. If little new be added to the story, some correc- 

 tions authorized by greater knowledge, and perhaps a more orderly arrangement of 

 the material in hand, may be a sufficient apology for attempting in this paper to carry 

 on to the present year some of the admirable work of the author's friend, the late 

 James Dwight Dana, whose name is identified with Hawaiian vulcanolog3'. His dis- 

 quisition on Volcanic Charadleristics is easily accessible and need not be repeated 

 here: the petrology may also be omitted, for the knowledge of the intimate strudlure 

 of rocks is greatl}' increasing j^ear b}- year, and man}' have written thereon. Here 

 the reader may look onl}' for a conne6led story of the activities of the Hawaiian vol- 

 canoes in historic times, with all the accuracy at the writer's command from a long 

 familiarity with the visible phenomena and the written record and a personal acquaint- 

 ance with most of those whose testimonj- is quoted. 



The Island of Hawaii. 



To those who are not familiar with the geography of Hawaii a glance at the 

 map will render clearer my explanation. The area, 4015 square miles, is wholly com- 

 posed of the lavas poured out b}- the five volcanoes which rise 31,000 feet from the 

 bed of the ocean, and nearly 14,000 from its surface. Not all crude lava, for ages of 

 decomposition and the wear and tear of the elements, with the rapid work of the vege- 

 table transformer have made soil of great fertility and suited to many crops, so that 

 if many of the higher ridges are devastated by the lately molten rock not yet relieved 

 of its savage form, the valleys present all the beauties of a tropical vegetation. Here 

 are the few rivers, especially on the northern or windward side, that the island can 

 boast, and in their course are many and most picturesque waterfalls. If rivers of 

 water are uncommon over three-quarters of the island, rivers of stone are sufficiently 

 apparent to indicate the process by which the island has been formed. In the newer 

 parts the lava streams are everywhere, and in some places they have cut through the 

 forests and made their way to the sea, as will be seen in the course of our studies of the 

 volcano in adlion. Often the traveler in the uplands comes across a mass of jagged and 

 apparently lawless rock (Fig. i), impassable for his horse, almost for himself : all our 

 modern resources of explosives could hardly work such disorder, such desolation. As he 

 cannot cross the frozen lava stream just here he may follow it up and at last come to 

 a portion of the flow where the surface is comparatively smooth where he and his horse 

 can walk as on a paved street, a surface the natives call pahocJioc (see PI. XLI), and 



the name has so completel}' supplied a want in our vocabulary that, in spite of the 



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