92 BA WAIIAN G UIBE B OK. 



measured by the eye, as many a long gallop will prove. 

 Ashes, sand and lava prevail hour after hour, to be suc- 

 ceeded by clinkers and pahoehoe, with, a few scatter- 

 ing trees. The tragic camp where the army of Keona 

 met its terrible destruction, is in this vicinity. Bing- 

 ham says, " It may be briefly stated, on the authority of 

 natives who were cotemporary with Keoua and Kame- 

 hameha, and who represent themselves as having been 

 witnesses, that while they encamped two days and three 

 nights at the crater of Kilauea, there were repeated 

 eruptions or the sending up of flame and smoke, cinders 

 and stones. On the third day they set forward towards 

 Kau. The earth trembled and shook under their feet, 

 a dense dark cloud arose from the immense crater, light- 

 ning and thunder burst forth over their heads, and dark- 

 ness covered them, and a shower of cinders and sand, 

 thrown high from the crater, descended on the region 

 round about, and great numbers of Keoua's men were 

 killed and were found there many days afterward, 

 apparently unchanged, and were at first mistaken for 

 a living company." 



Near the verge of the broad lava field, ten or more 

 miles from Kilauea, are caves, some of narrow limits ; 

 one, an ancient burial place, has two mau/ca (mountain- 

 ward) and two maJcai (sea-ward) corridors, extending 

 several miles. They are unexplored, and will probably 

 remain so forever, unless some traveler, more daring 

 than any who have preceded him, is found to accom- 

 plish the task. 



HEED'S RANCH, 

 At Kapapala, is a tract of land bounded by the ocean 

 and the sky, or as high on Mauna Loa as grass can 



