226 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
to the crater of Kilauea, the same general principle is exemplified. 
This consideration explains to us the opening of these pit-craters on 
this part of Hawaii, and for their absence from other parts. Had the 
sides of the mountain below been able to stand the vast pressure of 
the lavas which once rose to the summit of this pit, Kilauea might 
have been the centre of another rising dome or volcanic cone like 
Mount Loa. 
From the calculations, it appears that the slopes of Mount Loa from 
the summit to Kilauea, to the nearest point on the south coast, and to 
the nearest point on the west coast, are severally approximately equal ; 
and that these same declivities continued, would have finished off the 
dome within five miles southeast of Kilauea. We therefore see that 
these craters and this great scene of action, is situated just over the 
proper limits of the main dome; and that eruptions in that region and 
beyond have been the means of the extension of the base of the moun- 
tain twenty miles to the eastward. It is by no means very improbable 
that the outbreak which produced Kilauea may have been an early 
step in the progress towards this result. 
i ES AND Om Mea 
Maui* lies about twenty miles northwest from Hawaii, and is the 
next largest as well as the next highest island in the group. Its length 
is fifty-four miles, greatest breadth twenty-five miles; and area six 
hundred and fifty square miles. It consists of two peninsulas, which 
are distinct in their slopes and elevations, and are connected by so low 
a neck of land that vessels have at night made the fatal attempt to pass 
across. ‘The annexed sketch of its outline, as seen from the south- 
ward, is imperfect, yet too instructive to be rejected. Clouds concealed 
ISLAND OF MAUI. 
at the time the rest of the view. It shows the double character of the 
island, and its slopes as seen in the distance at sea. 
The eastern peninsula resembles one of the mountains of Hawaii. 
* The author only had views of the island when passing in the Peacock and Flying- 
Fish. It was visited and examined by Dr. C. Pickering and Mr. J. Drayton, from whom 
the facts stated are mostly derived. 
