Mann.] 112 [January 2, 



January 2, 1867. 



The President in the chair. Forty-nine members present. 



Mr. H. Mann exhibited a large panoramic photograph of 

 the crater on the summit of Haleakala, the mountain of East 

 Maui, Hawaiian Islands, and in explanation said : 



The crater is now extinct, and has been so for a long time, so that the 

 natives have only the most vague traditions concerning the residence 

 there of Pele^ the goddess of the volcano. She has now emigrated, 

 accordino- to their belief, to the island of Hawaii, where the volcanoes 

 are still active. 



This crater is situated on the summit of Haleakala, Its rim, or what 

 appears to be the mountainous boundary, being at the average eleva- 

 tion of ten thousand feet above the sea. Its depth Is about two thou- 

 sand feet, and the comparatively level plain which forms its floor Is, 

 therefore, at an elevation of eight thousand feet. The shape is that of 

 an nnmense elbow bent at a little less than a right angle, the conical 

 mountain seen near the middle of the photograph standing at the in- 

 side of the angle ; the width of the crater from the western rim, from 

 which the picture Is taken, to the mountain at the angle, is four or five 

 miles. The wall of mountains on the right Is the southern rim of the 

 crater, nearly ten miles long, and at its eastern extremity Is an im- 

 mense gap or break, leading down to the district of Hana. At the 

 northern extremity of the western rim or wall is another gap, that 

 overlooking the district of Koolau. The whole circumference of the 

 crater is thirty or thirty-five miles, it being one of the largest in the 

 world. From the outer angle of the elbow there is a steep sandy 

 .slope, nearly a mile long, affording the only access to the crater on 

 that side for horses. From near the foot of this sandy slope there 

 Is a very large and distinct lava stream, looking as black and fresh as 

 though it had flowed but a few days ago, and running down to the 

 Koolau gap In a northerly direction. From near the same point 

 stretches a line of cinder cones, probably of later date than the lava 

 stream, (as cinder cones usually evince the dying out of volcanic ac- 

 tion.) extending for several miles nearly across the widest part of the 

 crater, with a general direction towards the eastern opening or gap. 

 Sixteen of these cones can be counted from the western bank of the 

 crater, and they vary In height from about three hundred to five hun- 

 dred feet. They are exclusively composed of volcanic cinders, lying 

 on as steep slopes as It is possible for them to maintain, as Is very well 

 perceived In walking up their sides, where the foot causes a continual 

 slipping down of the cinders, and often, by depriving those above of 



