358 J. D. Dana — History of the Changes in Kilauea. 



descent with the subsided hells between, and the many fissures 

 of the Solfatara depression just back, others occur farther north 

 and east, to a wall, about forty feet high, which is evidently a 

 fault wall. This wall is about 2000 feet from Kilauea at the 

 northwest corner, and diverges eastward to about 5000 feet, 

 and then bends around southward so as to embrace Kilauea- 

 iki within the large northern border region of fissures and 

 subsidence. 



Deep and wide rents extend also along the whole western 

 border of Kilauea, generally two or more together ; and near 

 the highest station, Uwekahuna, there are six of them parallel 

 to one another. South of this station, between it and the 

 southwest angle of the crater, the fissures are continued over a 

 large depressed border 500 to 1,500 feet wide, lying between a 

 precipitous ridge — fault-plane — on the west and the crater. 

 North of Uwekahuna the evidences of subsidence now visible 

 are small ; but south of it the surface has different terrace levels, 

 showing great and various sinkings of the surface. Almost in 

 front of Uwekahuna, bordering the Kilauea wall, there is a 

 surface, 200 to 298 feet below the level of this station, accord- 

 ing to the Government maps, which is plainly, as seen from 

 below, a result of subsidence ; and various other terrrace-levels 

 exist farther south. On the east side of Kilauea, also, there are 

 fissures parallel to the walls ; and large depressed areas exist 

 between Kilauea and the two adjoining craters. Fissures ex- 

 tend northward to the east of Kilauea-iki, as noticed by the 

 Wilkes expedition in 1840, and new openings there, near the 

 Keauhou road, were reported as opened in March, 1886, at 

 the time of the eruption. 



The wall on the northeast side of Kilauea, near the path of 

 descent, called Waldron's ledge (after a purser in the Wilkes 

 expedition) is one of the highest and most stable parts of the 

 walls, being but eleven and a half feet below the level of the 

 Volcano House datum. It is a bare-faced, vertical precipice, 

 showing stratified lavas to the top. Like Uwekahuna, it seems 

 to be an exception to border instability. But it stands on the 

 brink of the most unstable region — that of the north side. In 

 a walk along the base of the precipice I found a fresh uncov- 

 ering of the rock at bottom for a height of two to three inches, 

 showing that a recent sinking adjoining it had taken place, or 

 that one was then in progress. 



This border belt of fissures and subsidences, if reckoned as 

 part of the Kilauea fire-region, or region of disturbance, adds 

 5000 feet to the length of the region, and nearly doubles the 

 width across the northern half. 



There are long fissures also, over the region southwest of 

 the crater, some of which were reported by the Mission Deputa- 



