164 PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [DcC. 3, 



grass and wild indigo, led the eye up to the forests that clothe the 

 mountain-sides. Three principal summits, Mauna Kea (13,800 ft.), 

 Mauna Loa (the "Great Mountain," 13,700 ft.), and Mauna Hua- 

 lalei (10,000 ft.), rose above the forests and upland-valleys, not, 

 however, with that sharp-cut rugged angularity of form usual in vol- 

 canic regions, but rather rounded and swelling in their outline. 

 Mauna Loa, almost in the centre of the island, appeared, from its 

 size and distance, perfectly smooth and gently rounded. A little 

 below its summit, two jets of smoke marked the craters of the recent 

 eruption. The whole view was imposing, calm, and grand. 



We crossed the island by the open upland-valley of the Waimea, 

 where many of the products of the temperate zone flourish, and, 

 passing over the shoulder of Mauna Kea amid forests and belts of 

 timber, thence descended into the Hamakua district, and pursued 

 our way towards the little town of Hilo, following a tract above the 

 eastern sea-coast through a most beautiful country. Numerous 

 ravines, filled with banana, bread-fruit, and candlenut trees, cut deeply 

 through the grassy slopes, which, dotted with clumps of pandanus and 

 bamboo, and varied by occasional small coffee and sugar plantations, 

 rose from the sea-cliffs to the forests. As we approached Hilo, clear 

 bright rivulets dashed down the rocky channels of the ravines and 

 fell in cascades into the sea. 



Hilo, a small town of cottages scattered among cocoa-nut, bread- 

 fruit, and other trees along the shore of Byron's Bay, is a place of 

 some importance as a resort of whalers, who frequent it for supplies. 

 It may be said to stand at the foot of Mauna Loa, though the sum- 

 mit of the mountain is about forty miles inland, with a gradual ascent 

 the whole way. 



The three great mountains of Hawaii are all recent volcanos. 

 Mauna Kea, the most northerly of the three, is somewhat the high- 

 est. Its summit bears evident traces of volcanic activity at no 

 remote period ; but of late years it has not been in eruption. 

 Mauna Hualalei, on the west coast, was in eruption a few years ago. 

 By far the most active is Mauna Loa. Kilauea, the largest active 

 volcanic crater in the world, is situated on its acclivity, and is con- 

 stantly active ; whilst, above it, Mauna Loa proper presents an im- 

 iiiense bare area, perhaps forty miles in diameter, which is entirely 

 composed of volcanic debris and lavas of different ages ; and few 

 years pass by without its bursting forth in one direction or another. 



On the 1 1th of August 1 855, the present eruption burst forth at about 

 12,000 feet above the sea-level on the northern side of the mountain. 

 It was rather remarkable for the enormous and unprecedented flow 

 of lava than for any projection of inflamed substances into the air, 

 though its light illumined the horizon for many miles, and the 

 column of fire, or its reflexion, was said by some to have been at 

 first apparently 500 feet high. At the commencement, the lava ran 

 with great rapidity into the upland-valley that divides the summit of 

 Mauna Loa from that of Mauna Kea ; then, taking an easterly 

 direction, it flowed down towards Hilo. The main branch was in 

 many parts about three miles wide ; but, as it reached comparatively 



