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nels can be seen for miles, frequently arched over and making 
immense caves. 
Two miles more of easy ascent tops the Huehue ridge, a shoul- 
der of Hualalai, at an elevation of 2,000 feet. From there the 
road strikes the mountain at an elevation of from 1,200 to 1,800 
feet, through the settlements of Holualoa 10 miles, Kainaliu 8 
miles, Honaunau 8 miles, Kalahiki 4 miles, Papa 16 miles, a total 
of 66 miles of hard, smooth a-a road. 
From a scenic point of view there is much of interest in the 
short stretches of forest, the fields of coffee, sisal, bananas and 
pineapples, with all the time a wonderful panorama of 40 miles 
to sixty miles of coast line and villages spread out below, each 
turn of the road bringing new combinations of color and added 
charm. 
The numerous villages along the beach are connected to the 
upper road by well constructed roads, the maximum grade being 
6 per cent. 
These side roads have a mileage of approximately 60 miles, 
making Kona the banner district for good roads and pleasant 
drives, for the roads are never muddy and seldom dusty. 
East of Papa the road shows the lightness of the travel, but 
can be classed as good road for perhaps 8 miles when one encoun- 
ters the more recent flows. Earth and boulder material were 
scarce and the road-bed is frequently a stretch of loose stones, the 
size of an egg, worn round by the travel and most trying to the 
traveler and his animals. One or two autos have managed to 
cross this stretch by using raw hide protectors on the tires, but 
travel avoids this stretch, commonly known as the Kahuku flow 
of '89. It is at present closed to traffic by the 1907 flow, which 
plowed across the road for a width of a mile or more, and covered 
it with from 20 to 50 feet of lava. 
Once across, however, the road drops rapidly to YVaiohinu, a 
pretty village at the head of the valley, 900 feet elevation, and 
thence on through Xaalehu and down to sea level at Honuapo, 
the principal port of the Kau district. Here the climb to the 
Volcano House begins. The road rises 800 feet in the 12 miles to 
Pahala, over the old a-a flows, through stretches of kukui groves, 
pasture land and cane fields. The road-bed of a-a and gravel 
leaves little to be desired. From Pahala the first 6 miles are dirt 
road, then come 10 miles of macadam over a grass covered pahoe- 
hoe flow, and 6 miles of a-a cinder brings one to the end of the 
constructed road in Kau, a gap of 4 miles still remaining to be 
constructed to connect with the hard road on the opposite side. 
This 4 miles is not difficult, however, except in the night time 
when there is liability of mistaking one of the many abandoned 
trails for the right one. The last mile and a half leads through 
a portion of the old crater of Kilauea to the Volcano House, 
situated on the brink of the big crater, where the pit of Hale- 
maumau is in almost constant active operation. 
