164 XATUEAL HISTORY OF HAWAII. 



not a sintilt" im'Inoh lias perished in the molten tloods that time and time ai;ain 

 have been (xunvd out. ihoutrh tens of thousands of acres of the island's moun- 

 tain slopes have been made desolate and blackened, so that fertile land and peace- 

 ful valleys have been choked and left worthless when the torrent of liquitied 

 stone had ceased to flow.^^ 



One's veneration for this oTeat mountain increases when it is understood 

 that it is ill lliis way and by the same process that the whole group of islands 

 has been biiill up. A large view of the amplitude of geologic time can be 

 oaiiK'd by reference to a map showing the comparatively small proportion of 

 the foiii' Ihousand s(|uare miles of the surface of Hawaii that after all has been 

 sccmrged by tire within one hundred years. But when it is known that all the 

 material which composes this island, like that of the other islands of the group, 

 must have been forced up from beneath the tioor of the ocean to be poured out 

 on the sides of the mountains, one can better understand how great the combined 

 flows must have been. However, in arriving at an understanding of the amount 

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

 account the broad bases of the islands as well as that portion which towers above 

 the ocean's surface. 



Geologists are fond of regarding Mauna 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 altitude to which the subterranean forces can lift a column 

 of ]i(|ui<l lava. 



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

 lava ill the chimney Avliich ends with the summit crater on ]\[auna Loa would 

 furnish material for an interesting chapter, but it seems wise to devote the 

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



remaining mountain of the island. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



KILAUEA, THE WORLD'S GREATEST ACTIVE VOLCANO. 



Reference to a map will show Kilauea located apparently on the slope of 

 Mauna T^oa and well to the southeastern part of the island of Hawaii. The 

 name is directl\- applied to the world's largest active crater, which in reality 

 is the center of activity of a shattered mountain 4,0-10 feet high. As the crater 

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

 the journey can be extended past the crater to Honuapo on the sea-shore on 

 the opposite or southern side of the mountain, where the steamei" can be taken 

 for the return trip to Honolulu by way of the Kona coast, there is. perhaps, no 

 better way for completing our account of the geology and toi)ography of Hawaii, 

 and at the same time presenting the grandeur of the crater and the pleasure of 

 the journey to it, than bv following the route ordinarilv taken bv tourist travel- 



'° The mud flow of 1868, luuvovpr, i-Iaiined a large nuiuVier of human victims. 



