152 XATUKAL HISTORY OF HAWAII. 



1855 1880 and 181)0 all Ix'ing' i)laiiily visible from the summit of Mauna Kea — 

 the white mountain. 



Dr. C. H. llii.-lu'(»c-k. wlio mach' tlie ascent in 1885, writing of the recent 

 flows visible on .Mauan Loa says: "They are narrow and tortuous near their 

 sources, spreading out low down into ])lack extensive areas, almost coalescing. 

 Besides these, others of prehistoric age can be traced and nowhere can one be 

 more impressed by the fact that the mountain has been built up by intermittent 

 lava Hows, and can appreciate the certainty that millions of years were required 

 to construct 1his eminence." When not covered with snow the surface of the 

 plateau of .Mauna Kea is described as a desolate gravelly plain on which occur 

 five or six specii's of phmts resembling those of the colder climates of high alti- 

 tudes. As reported by Professor INIacCaughey, the lake at the summit, though 

 very cold throughout the year, supports a very luxuriant growth of green algae. 



HUALALAI. 



Along the western coast of the island to the southwest of ]Mauna Kea, and 

 about •■<|ual in distance from Kohala to the north and Mauna Loa to the south, 

 is Hualalai. It is a much smaller mountain than :\Iauna Kea, but otherwise re- 

 sembles it in its general outlines and in having no characteristic summit crater. 

 It is 8,269 feet high and has its base entirely Avithin the Kona district. Its 

 lower base slopes quite gradually, but the ui)per part of the mountain is much 

 steeper and is rough and difficult of ascent. The north side of the mountain 

 appears quite bare, but the opposite side is well wooded. Its slopes are dotted with 

 many cinder cones — hundreds perhaps, which increase in size and number 

 toward the top. 



The few naturalists who have ascended this lawless mountain have found its 

 summit covered A\itli crater bowls,'^ cinder cones and pit craters. Some of the 

 craters have gravel bottoms, while others are formed with hard basalt floors. 

 One of the features of the summit is the "bottomless pit" — a blow hole twenty 

 feet in diameter and 400 feet deep. 



The Eruption of 1801. 



The last erui)tion of Hualalai is placed at about 1801. It occurred from an 

 ( )[)eti i ug on the sea or western side of the mountain. From there the lava descended 

 to the sea in a wedge-shaped stream. The flow was a very liffuid one and is said 

 to have traveled a distance of fifteen miles in two or three hours. This flow is 

 believed to have marked the extinction of the volcanic fires beneath the mountain. 



An early missionary, the Rev. William Ellis, gathered an account of the erup- 

 tion from eye witnesses, who were living in 1823, about twenty years after the 

 flow. His account states: "Stone walls, trees and houses all aave way before 

 it, even large masses of rock of hard ancient lava, when surrounded by the fiery 

 stream, split into small fragments and, falling into th^ burning mass, appeared 

 to melt again as borne b\- it down the mountain side. Offerings were presented 



'* One of them 800 feet in diameter. 



