Old Volcano House. 



113 



It has been mentioned that the lama wood was especially that used for building 

 houses for the gods, that is, the thatched houses within the enclosure of the hciaii or 

 hiakini (temple), and its use in building the house for King Lot, Kamehameha V 

 (Fig. 94), gave an excuse for its reported use by an old kahuna (priest) in the king's 

 establishment, for a house of prayer, and I am assured by an old resident that prayers 

 to the gods were frequently offered therein. 



Another example of the old Hawaiian building modified by foreign needs is seen 

 in the old Volcano House on the brink of the crater of Kilauea. When this was built 



FIG. 97. OLD VOLCANO HOUSE: PAINTED BY HOWARD HITCHCOCK. 



for the accomodation of visitors to this which is perhaps the most attractive volcano on 

 earth, access was difficult; the long trail, nearly thirty miles from Hilo, was bad and 

 consumed a long day in the horseback ride. To get foreign material for even a small 

 hotel to this place was very difficult, and recourse was had to the native methods of 

 building to a considerable extent. When the present comfortable hotel was built, after 

 a cart road had been opened from Punaluu, the old house was incorporated with it. 

 In process of modernization the lanai was widened and indeed rebuilt, and the old posts 

 were found to be of hewn naio (bastard sandalwood). It was originally built largely 

 by natives who had their hale pili scattered here and there through the region, and 

 made a living by picking />«//<, an obsolete article of commerce. 



Memoirs B. P. B. Museum. Vol. II, No. 3.-8. 1^97 J 



