138 NATURAL HISTORY OF HAWAII. 



Iao Valley. 



As has been the ease on the other ishinds. this volcanic pile lias snffered 

 its deepest erosion on the northeast flank. Exposed to the trade winds, the 

 great awe-inspiring valley of Iao, with its head a vast amphitheater in the very 

 heart of the mountain, has been so wonderfully eroded that it is indeed dilficult 

 to feel it has been formed solely by the chisel of the elements. 



Rising on every hand about "The Needle," an isolated, nearly inaccessible 

 pinnacle, standing hundreds of feet above the floor of the valley — are almost 

 vertical verdure-covered walls of basalt. They rise abruptly for more than 

 four thousand feet. Over and about the top of the highest peaks cluster and 

 frolic the down-like clouds that so often, without apparent provocation, gather 

 into a lowering pall from which pours torrents of cold, pelting rain. Within 

 an hour their waters will flood and choke the babbling gorge stream, until it 

 rushes down to the sea in an irresistible torrent. 



P\nv are the visitors who have seen the grandeur of Iao who are not willing 

 to compare it favorably with the more famous valley of the Yo-semite. Rut 

 those who have mastered the difficulty of the ascent and who have once lookeil 

 down from the summit of Puu Kukui into the head of Iao Valley, and the 

 equallj' wonderful valleys of Waihee and Olowaln, are unstinted in their praise 

 of the wild scenery that stretches away from their feet in all directions — to the 

 ocean, to Haleakala, and to the snow-capped mountains of Hawaii. Those 

 travelers who can take the circumstances that surround each into account and 

 compare the grandeur of the Valley Isle with the grandeur of the Yosemite 

 never fail to rearrange the list of Ajnerica's great natural wonders in a w;iy 

 most complimentary to this island v.-ondei', which, unfortunately, too few have 

 as yet been privileged to visit. 



The summit of Puu Kukui is made up of an extensive bog which, as a great 

 mountain reservoir, receives and stores the water that flows down the lee or 

 Lahaina side of the mountain. As a matter of fact no few-er than eight canons 

 radiate in all directions from the central portion of west Maui, at least five of 

 them being notable for their size. The wliole snnunit of this western end of 

 the island is copiously supplied with water. It is therefore well wooded, 

 although the lower slopes, especially on Die southwestern side, are dry and 

 barren. Along the shore the costal plain is composed of rich red soil washed from 

 the mountains. When artificially watered and under cultivation it is most 

 productive. 



In its outline the island of ilaui has often been compared to the head and 

 bust of a woman. West Maui, the head, with the face looking to the southwest : 

 the lowland joining the portion just descrilied to the larger eastern end of the 

 island, forms the neck, with Kahului Bay at the back of the neck and ]tlaalaea 

 Bay forming the hollow beneath the chin. 



