168 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
latter, which soak up all the rain that falls, so that there is little de- 
composition in progress. Besides, the mountain is still ejecting its 
lavas; while Kea has been long extinct, and the period elapsed has 
been sufficient to form water-courses, and produce a coating of soil 
over many parts of its surface. 
The fertile district of the northeast extends around by the north, 
and the Kohala range has been styled “the ever-verdant hills.” 
Waipio is spoken of as a most beautiful valley ; Waimanu as “a lovely 
vale” on the northeast shore. ‘Travelling northward from Hilo is ex- 
tremely arduous, on account of the endless succession of deep gorges. 
A cliff of several hundred feet faces the sea, so that the only course 
for the traveller is to ascend and descend the ridges, and ford the 
many streams. 
2. VOLCANOES OF HAWAII. 
Volcanic action on Hawaii is at present confined to Loa and 
Hualalai. Mount Kea has been extinct since the earliest traditions 
of the natives. 
a. MOUNT LOA. 
General Features.—The form of Mount Loa, a flattened dome, is 
its most remarkable feature. ‘The idea of a volcano is so generally 
connected with the figure of a cone, that the mind at once conceives 
of a lofty sugar-loaf ejecting fire, red-hot stones, and flowing lavas. 
But in place of slender walls around a deep crater, which the shaking 
of an eruption may tumble in, the summit of the Hawaiian volcano is 
nearly a plane, in which the crater, though several miles in circuit, is 
like a small quarry hole. Observing the mountain from a distance, as 
it appears lying low on the horizon, the mind has no conception of its 
magnitude. Even while travelling on its sides, the distance of its gra- 
dually receding summit is not apprehended, and the mountain might 
readily be mistaken for a swelling hill of small elevation. Such it 
appeared to the writer when traversing its slopes, about 3000 feet above 
the sea. Menzies was disappointed for this reason, when commencing 
the ascent from Captain Cook’s vessel at Kealakekua Bay ; his estimated 
twelve or fourteen miles turned out to be not half the distance. In 
certain views, however, when the state of the atmosphere is favourable, 
