GEOLOGY AND TOPOGRAPHY OF HAWAII. 135 



The southeastern, aud partienlarly the southern part of the ishmd, is broken 

 l)y a number of parallel ridges and vallevs. As the valleys are many of them but 

 two or three miles in length the streams, which have tlicir source in the cloud- 

 wrapped peaks that form the dividing' line of the ishnul. are cool and beauti- 

 fidly clear. In nmny of these valleys inay still be seen tlie remains of the old 

 orange and breadfruit groves for which Molokai was one time famous. The 

 heads of the valleys often end in almost vertical and deeply eroded precipices. 

 Several of the valleys, as INIoanui, have a number of large caves, which were used 

 extensively in olden times as burial caves. 



The valley of Mapulehu is the largest valley on the south side of the island. 

 Having steep funnel-shaped sides and being opposite the great rain-soaked valley 

 of Wailau, it is especially subject to torrential rains. 



The nearby harbor of Pukoo, well to the eastern end, aud the harbor of 

 Kaunakakai, near the center of the island, are the principal ports of call on 

 the southern side of JNIolokai. They are both formed by openings in the wide 

 coral reef which extends along the greater part of the island. 



The Leper Settlement. 



Unfortunately the whole of this island of ^Molokai is known as the "Leper 

 Island." In reality only the low shelf-like promontory of Kalaupapa which 

 jets out into the sea, a distance of three or four miles, at a point about the 

 middle of the island on its northern side, is in any way included in the area set 

 apart by the Territory for the isolation and care of those suffering witli this 

 disease. 



The settlement forms a colony inhabited by eight hundred to one thousand 

 persons, most of whom are lepers. The colony is completely cut off from the 

 rest of the island by clilfs fifteen hundred or more feet in height, the steep sea- 

 face of which is called Kalawao. The plain or shelf of Kalaupapa is crossed by 

 several lava streams of more recent date than have been found elsewhere on 

 the island. So it is not unlikely that this section, as stated in tlic legend of Pele 

 previously mentioned, was the last point on ]\lolokai to feel the influence of vol- 

 canic fires. 



Lanai and Kahoulawe. 



Lanai is in plain view from both ^Molokai and ^Ijiui. b( ing only nine miles 

 west from the nearest point of the latter island. 



From the vessel as it passes through the channel between the islands it ap- 

 pears as a single volcanic cone, that doubtless, owing to the protection fur- 

 nished bv the nearbv-island to windward, has suffered but sliuht erosion, thougli 

 its sides are here and there furrowed by small gulches, down one of which there 

 runs a small stream. It has an area of 139 square miles and the principal peak, 

 which is well Avooded, is given as 3,400 feet in heii^Iit. It rises from near 

 the southeastern end and slopes rather gradually to the northwest, where abrupt 

 declivities are found. Steep cliffs also occur along the southwest shore where 



