144 NATURAL HISTORY OF HAWAII. 



all day drowsily lioat about the slopes of the mountain suddenly become rest- 

 less and crowd and jostle and mill about one another like frightened animals. 

 At the proper moment, as at a signal fi'oni some shepherd of the winds that 

 guides and protects them in the pasture of the heavens, they recognize and 

 peacefully follow their leader. One by one, in dozens and in droves they work 

 around the slopes of the mountain to where the great gap in the crater \\all, 

 like the gate to a sheep fold, is opened wide, ready to receive them from the 

 pasture oiit on the mountain side into the shelter and protection of the crater 

 fold, — the very heart of the mountain that nourishes them. 



As darkness gathers the last stragglers, those that have wandered farthest 

 from the fold, hurry in to join their fellows until the floor of the crater is hidden 

 from view by the fleecy multitude. In the shelter of the crater wall they settle 

 down for the night knowing, perhaps, that e're long the Southern Cross will 

 climb into the cold clear sky to share with the great Polar star the vigils of the 

 night. Tile tirst ray of light that gilds the mountain is the signal fi'om the 

 shepherd, and at once the crater fold is active: round and round these cloud- 

 sheep go. impatient to be up and away. At the prdpri' moment they again form 

 in line behind tlie one appointed to lead tln' way out through the sap. and before 

 liuiu; ai'e away fur a day's frolic in their favorite lunuits on the momitain side. 



Sliduld the ti'aveler fail to witness the gathering of the clouds by night or 

 their partiuL;- in the morning, the chances are that, as a substitute, he will wit- 

 ness the most gorgeous sunrise to be seen anywhere; or perhaps, if the weather 

 is fine, the gleaming snow-capped peaks of ]*launa Kea and Jlauna Loa on 

 Hawaii will loom up to the south more than a liundred miles away. 



lint to return to the scene near at hand. The crater is not regular in its 

 outline but appears as two or more associated craters fused into one. However, 

 one gets b>it an imperfect conception of the shape or extent of the crater from 

 a single view])oiiit on the brink. The zigzag elbow-shaped pit has its highest 

 ])oint formed by one of the three cinder cones at the southwest angle of the 

 crater. The wall at the north end is split down to its bottom to form the yawn- 

 ing Koolau gap with its towerina- walls. This gap extends to the sea under 

 the name of the Kanae valley. At the opposite or southern end of the crater 

 is a similar break, the famous Kaupo Gap. It descends abruptly as a gorge-like 

 valley to the sea. It is completely floored v.ith a hard lava stream with occa- 

 sional clinker beds. About half way down the mountain this stream emerges 

 from its gorge and spreads over the surface, forming a fan-shaped delta, ex- 

 tending to the sea. These gaps are among the more striking features of Hale- 

 akala and are looked upon by some as offering all the evidence nee'^ssarv to 

 prove that the great crater, as it now exists, was formed by a mighty fault 

 which split the mountain from north to south, freeing the extreme eastern i" 

 portion of the island from the opposite side. The gaps down which the lava 

 subsequently flowed are thus but extensions of the crack or fault. As such 

 they had their part in preventing the crater from filling up with lava as it might 



