GEOLOGY AND TOPOGRAPHY OF HAWAII. 181 



are far more brilliant by iiiuiil. Tliuuyli not pei'i-cplililt' l<i (uu- ](jokiii;j;- diri'etl\' 

 into the pit there is a stea(l\- column of vapor rising straight over it to 

 high heaven, where, as it cools, a cloud is formed that becomes a pillar of fire by 

 night, visible thirty or forty miles at sea. 



The wonderful and vai'iod spectacle produces in some observers a sense of 

 profound reverence and awe, in others a spirit of wild, cliild-like glee. However, 

 one and all sooner or later grope as in the presence of the Great Unknown and 

 ask for an explanation of the wonders before them, so grand, so bewildering, so 

 terrible to contemplate. 



In search of the answer to these questions men of science with delicate instru- 

 ments now camp day and night at the crater and record Pele's slightest whim 

 in the hope that some day, in some way, the explanation to the ages-old 

 question as to "the cause of the phenomenon of volcanoes" may be gained from 

 Pele herself. For the present the visitor must be content with theories and 

 superficial answers to almost every question. 



It is evident, how^ever, even to the most casual visitor, that Pele is in a 

 sullen mood and is at work filling up her great caldera, preparing for an out- 

 break or an overflow. Every few hours the lake recedes a few feet, only to well 

 up again, swelling each time higher than before. Kilauea is active and nearing 

 the flood tide. Doubtless before the lava rises much higher, the expected and 

 oft-repeated breakdown in the walls of the great mountain will come, and the 

 fiery lake will vanish back into the bowels of the earth just as it has so often 

 done before.-" 



The trip back to the Volcano House is usually an uneventful and silent one 

 for all ; even the most frivolous have food for deep and reverent thought. 



Side Trips from the Crater. 



Those who are able to prolong their stay at the crater will find a number of 

 side trips may be made that will lie full of pleasure and interest. Near Kilauea 

 may be seen tree molds formed in the solid lava, which, in remote time, flowed 

 through an ancient koa forest. In time the charred remains of the trees disaj)- 

 peared leaving their casts as great holes in the lava stream. Holes formed in 

 this way may be seen that are from six inches to six feet in di;mi"tci'. wliicli in 

 some cases are twenty feet deep. 



Fossil tree moulds are quite plentiful in several places on Hawaii and aj)- 

 pear to have been formed in different ways. In Puna Inindreds of these 

 tree moulds stand above the flows, each mai'king the location of a li-cc. The 

 living tree was enveloped by the molten on-i'ushing Ia\'a, which (|uickly cooled 

 about the tree tnnik forming a crust. As the wood bui-ned nway fi-esli lava 

 filled the inside of the mould. When the stream iiowcd on the lava flood re- 

 ceded, leaving the cast in some cases, in others the mould, standing above ils 

 surface, forming a forest of tree trunks of stone. The li\ing koa forest a coui)le 

 of miles beyond the Volcano House will give the visitoi- ;i glimpse of these giant 



2" The lake of fire disappeared May. 191H, leaviiiR the i)it omiity. 



