GEOLOGY AND TOPOGRAPHY OF HAWAII. 143 



but in comparison these seem to be mere pimples on the liack of the gigantic 

 Haleakala. Taking the entire western slope into consideration there are two 

 dozen of these craters. Most of them appear to be very ancient but show no 

 evidence of ever having been points of eruptive flow, though on the west coast 

 near the shore there are several streams of very fresh-looking lava that may 

 be traced to some of them. 



All the route to the summit is exceedingly interesting and instructive to 

 one with an interest in geologj', but to the ordinary tourist the ascent seems a 

 trifle monotonous after the first few miles of travel. The surface of the moun- 

 tain is everywhere covered with quantities of broken red rock and resembles the 

 region about Kaimuki on Oahu. On the lower slopes the lava beds, which compose 

 the foundation of the mountain when exposed, show their texture to be. very solid 

 and apparently very resistant to the ordinary forms of erosion. 



After passing the mountain house ^'^ the first view of the crater is obtained. 

 On arriving at last at the very edge of the caldera the immense size of the 

 yawning gulf does not readily take hold on the imagination. It is only by 

 comparison and after its dimensions have been reduced to miles and acres and 

 its altitude to feet that the sublime magnitude of the scene is appreciated. 



One must think of this stretch of mountain scenery not as a mere view 

 to be admired but rather as a burned-out boiling pot twenty miles in circum- 

 ference, that has an area of twelve thousand one hundred and .sixty acre.s — five 

 times that of Kilauea. Measure with the eye its extreme length from point to 

 point'' and its extreme width '- and compare it with the largest city yon have 

 ever seen ! See if you can realize that the island of Manhattan with all the 

 teeming life of New York City could be comfortably placed in this mighty 

 chasm and buried more than a quarter of a mile deep ! Grasp the fact that the 

 floor of the crater, at its lowest point,'-' is two thoiLsand nine hundred and 

 fifty-two feet below the highest point on the rim and that the point, Pukaoaa, 

 or Pendulum Peak '-* is 10,032 feet above the level of the sea. 



The sixteen mounds on the floor of the crater towards the south end are 

 not mole hills, but craters, the highest of which i° rises nine hundred feet from 

 its base, while none of them are less than four hundred feet in height. Com- 

 pare any one of these with Punchbowl or Diamond Head on Oahu and remember 

 that they are but the last parting touch laid on as the titanic fires that gave birth 

 to all the grandeur and desolation that surrounds them, died out, retiring into 

 the Ixnvels of the earth hundreds, possibly thousands, of years ago, perhaps never 

 to appear on J\Iaui again. 



One of the most impressive sights in the entire gn)up is that fre(|uently 

 to be witnessed on the edge of this yawning gulf as the sun sinks into the west- 

 ern ocean. Set as it were between heaven and hell, the change in the atmos- 

 pheric conditions on this great mountain summit are most rapid and pronounced. 

 As the sun drops in the sky and the chill of night comes on, the clouds that 



117.48 miles. '= 2.37 miles. " The cave. "White Hill or Pakaoao. 



