224 



HAWAII, 



[letter XXIV, 



wood road, then into a bridle track, then into a mere trail 

 ascending all the way ■ and at dawn, when the rain was over, 

 we found ourselves more than half-way up the mountain, amidst 

 rocks, scoriae, tussocks, oheios, a few common compositse, and a 

 few coarse ferns and woody plants, which became coarser and 

 scantier the higher we went up, but never wholly ceased ; for, 

 at the very summit, 10,200 feet high, there are some tufts of 

 grass, and stunted specimens of a common asplenium in clefts. 

 Many people suffer from mountain sickness on this ascent, but 

 I suffered from nothing but the excruciating cold, which be- 

 numbed my limbs and penetrated to my bones ; and though I 

 dismounted several times and tried to walk, uphill exercise was 

 impossible in the rarefied air. The atmosphere was but one 

 degree below the freezing-point, but at that height, a brisk 

 breeze on soaked clothes was scarcely bearable. 



The sunrise turned the densely packed clouds below into 

 great rosy masses, which broke now and then, showing a vivid 

 blue sea, and patches of velvety green. At seven, after toiling 

 over a last steep bit, among scorise, and some very scanty and 

 unlovely vegetation, we reached what was said to be the summit, 

 where a ragged wall of rock shut out the forward view. Dis- 

 mounting on some cinders, we stepped into a gap, and from 

 thence looked down into the most gigantic crater on the earth. 

 I confess that with the living fires of Kilauea in my memory, I 

 was at first disappointed with the deadness of a volcano of 

 whose activity there are no traditions extant Though during 

 the hours which followed, its majesty and wonderment grew 

 upon me, yet a careful study of the admirable map of the crater, 

 a comparison of the heights of the very considerable cones 

 which are buried within it, and the attempt to realize the figures 

 which represent its circumference, area, and depth, not only 

 give a far better idea of it than any verbal description, but 

 impress its singular sublimity and magnitude upon one far more 

 forcibly than a single visit to the actual crater. 



I mentioned in one of my first letters that East Maui, that 

 part of the island which lies east of the isthmus of perpetual 

 dust-storms, consists of a mountain dome 10,000 feet in height, 

 with a monstrous base. Its slopes are very regular, varying 

 from eight to ten degrees. Its lava-beds differ from those of 

 Kauai and Oahu in being lighter in colour, less cellular, and 

 more impervious to water. The windward side of the mountain 

 is gashed and slashed by streams, which in their violence have 

 excavated large pot-holes, which serve as reservoirs, and it is 



