164 NATl'RAL IJISTOKY OF HAWAII. 



not a siii<;l(' pcrsdii li;is perished in the molten floods that time and time auain 

 have been pimi'ed ont, though tens of thousands of acres of the island's monn- 

 tain slopes have been made desolate and blaekened. so that fertile land and peaee- 

 tiil valle\s have been choked and left worthless when the torrent <if iiipiitied 

 stone hail ee;isei.l to tlow.'-"' 



One's venei'atiiin for this <ireat imiuntaiii iiu-reases when it is understood 

 that it is in this way and by the same process that the whole '.^-roup of islands 

 has lieen l)nilt up. A large view of the amplitude of geologic time can be 

 gained by reference to a map showing the comparatively small proportion of 

 the fonr thousand square miles of the surface of Hawaii that after all has been 

 scourged by fire within one hundred years. Rut when it is known that all the 

 material which composes this island, like tlud of the other islands (d' tlic i^ronp, 

 must have been forced up from beneath the floor of fh(> ocean to be poured out 

 on the sides of the mountains, one can better understand how i;re;it the combined 

 flows must have been. However, in ari-iving at an understanding of the amount 

 of volcanic work that has been doiu' in the group it is important to take into 

 account the broad bases of the islands as well as fluif iiorfion which towers above 

 the ocean's surface. 



Geologists are fond of regarding ilauna Loa as an excellent example of a 

 volcanic mountain that has gone on slowly adding to its bulk until it has attained 

 to near the limit in allitndc to which the sublerrani'an forces can lift a eolunni 

 of li(piid lava. 



The story of the titanic phenomenon attending the rise and fall id' the 

 lava in the ehinniey which ends with the sununit crater on ]\Iauna Loa would 

 furnish material for an interesting chai)fei', but it seems wis" to devote the 

 limited space available to a brief account of the active volcano Kilauea, on the 

 remaining mountain (d' the island. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

 KIlvArKA. THE WORLD'S (iREATEST ACTIVE VOLCANO. 



Reference to a map will show Kilauea located a|ipai-entl.\- on the slope of 

 ]\Iauna Loa and well to the southeastern part of the island of Hawaii. Tlie 

 name is directly ap])lied to the woi'ld's largest activi' ci'aler, which in i-e;dity 

 is the center (d' activity of a shattered moinitain 4,U4(.) feet high. .As the crater 

 is easily reached by automobile and train from Ililo Bay, on the north, and as 

 the journey can bi' e,\l ended past the crati'i- to Honuapo on tlie sea-shoi'e on 

 the opposite or soufhcni side of the mountain, w liiM-e the i-;leaniei' can be taken 

 for the return tri|i to Honolulu by way of the Koiia coast. 1 hei'e is, pei'h.aps. no 

 Ix'tter way for coinph'tiiiL:' oui' account of the uvoloey and topotji-.iphy of Hawaii, 

 and at the same lime presenting the erandenr of tlie er<der and the pli'asnre id' 

 the journey to it, than by follo\vinu Ihe route ordinarily taken by tourist travel- 

 is The nuul flow (if ISliK, linwevcr, claimccl ;, larcc- mniilur nf liiiiiiiin victims. 



