The Hawaiian gazette., 1885-12-15
Hnwniinn XoInnnnns.

BY the courtesy of His Ex. Jno. NJ. Kapeua, the
IGAzErTE office has been provided with a COPY OF
tne valuable work on the above subject by Capt
Clarence Edward Dutton, Ordnance Corps, U.S.A
The volume Is an important contribution to the
science OF volcanic action in general, and as exhb
tied IN these islands more particularly. 1t contains
40 pages with thirty well executed plates includ
ing chart OF the group, mans of Hawaii Mani
and OAHU, and plans of the principal craters
VI course, IN a work of this kind, sundry state.
ments OF fact, well as theories put forward And
the deductions drawn therefrOm, may differ from
the observations and conclusions of other scientific
travellers, but the value of this work remains
though 1t may give rise sometimes to assent ol
again 10 dissent.
Capt. Dutton says on page 81 that "Mauna I,oa'
th5 GREAT Mountain, Is certainly the King OF
modern volcanoes. No other in the world an,
proaches 1t IN the vastness of its mass or in tbe
5magnltude Of its eruptiye activity. > Etna and
all ITS adJuncts are far inferior while Shasta Hood
ma hanlef, II they we're melted down ana run TO.
SetheT' would fall much below the volume of the
island volcano. "Mauna Kea'' "the White Monn.
lam, Is also colossus among volcanoes do NOT
recall another IN the world equal to it In mapni.
, SGle except It's neighbor, though possibly Mt St
eruptlous Mauna Loa is also unriyailed
4 moderate eruption of this mountain represents
more material than Nesuvius has emitted sinoe
Ile gays OF Pompeli The great flow of 1855 would
nearly have built Nesuvius.'
With regard to the distinction between ,,,Lo,lo,
md a. capt Dutton says: ''the same lava stream
nay tAhOlt p1fOtiiOs or "a, according 10 the cir
iqmStances attending the flow, and the final form
hicl the stream takes Is quite independent of the
cAelnlca constitution Of the lava. Excellent iIns.
Iratlons of both kinds may be found at Honuano :,
capt. Dutton prefers the Spanish term cdlis,,t.
to the word cJdfer for all pit-craters such as Kil
ue1' MokuaWeOwea and Haleakala. Many such era
tiers have been disguised by being fllad mn wifi IN
acuncs, that OF the peak of Tenerife for instance
having built up far above the edge of the ealIsI1
80, too Mauua kea looks is if it might have had a
caloera at ITS summit which has been filed up and
oyeitopped by several tufa cones, while KiIanea
seems TO be trying 10 get up a cone of loose m
eri'l which Is now high as the edge of the era.
In TINS work too attention is called for the first
time 10 the fact that Kilauea seems to be an inde
pendent volcano, and not an outbreak on the slope
Of Mauna Loa rs 1t has been generally represented
Inc description of kilauea and its lakes is very
completely and carefully given. and compared with
me experience OF former travellers notably Ellis.
IN 80, the officers Of H. B. NJ S. Bl9nde, in IS25
and those of the United States Exploring Expedi'
ilon under Wilkes, in 1871, who all observed the
blowing cones, rising from % to 40 and even 5l
teet above the surface OF the lake, a phenomenon
more recent times.
Further on at pp. PA ct seg it is shown that the
Wlndward side or Eastern 0shu has been almost
completely swept away by erosion. "The work
mus referred to, says the author, lis no doubt a
very grand one, yet 1t is by no means uuprece-
dented, On the contrary, we can point, in other
parts Of the world to other instances 50 much ore
vast that this falls into insgnifcance BY compar-
The above are only a few, very few of the in
teresiing points investigated in this work: Halea
6ala Is visited, and the writer remarks ''it seems
hlShiy probable that the last eruptions of Halea-
Sala took place only very few centuries ago
Capt Dutton Is not too much taken M with his
scientific observations to prevent his remarkinc
On tue beauties of the country, the richness Of it
vegetation and the hospitality of the planters
FOR the rest 1t only remains to be said that the
work is well printed with good type on excellent
paper with ample margin for the book binder, and
ilat 1t deserves, and must secure place in every
library Of travel or scientific research.