The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1892-10-29
Miss Virginia Calhoun's Impressions
Of Them.
The Many Wonders of Nature in
Hawaii.

DEAR MERCURY: To a stranger the
Islands are revelation Of dream
beauty, surprising curiosities and
over awning wonders. To the natives
none OF these seem strange. They
themselves are but tropical growth
In flesh and blood, harmoniZiDg Der
fectly with all else, soft, dreamy and
luxurlant, about them. Their land
they look upon as natural out
growth of the extravaganza generosity
or terrible wrath Of powerful gods or
departed heroes. They believed the
Islands were first drawn from oceans
depths by the magic hook OF Maui,
Que OF the demi gods Day was
heightened when be lassoed the sun
and compelled it to move more
slowly. The cool waters, which the
faint and weary Kanaloa caused to
flow from the caves he diggad in
Kauai, yet refresh the thirsty land.
But the fountain In the one made by
his sister became dry, and it was
then used Is burial place for the
high chiefs. IF caves conld be found
the dead were always deposited
there. The bodies were taken 10
them at night time and III great
secrecy. One can not imagine bow
this was done, as it IS simply impOs-
sible to enter most Of the caves.
Near Honolulu is the historic val
ley, kaliuwaa, named SO from the
appearance Of two large canoes cary-
ed in the rock Of It's PERCEPTIONS
sides. They were made by Kama
puaa in which to escape from q con
hict with Pele, the fire goddess. One
of tho assailants he tur0ed into a
great stone spire, which may yet be
seen. Bat Peie conquered; where
upon the demi god, with gnlp Of
sea water, put ont the fires Vi Dia
mond Head. Ali of the majestic old
craters were supposed to be the for
saken homes Of Pele and her sisters.
But, surely, are they not fi5 home
for the gods?
From their towering cliffs the furi-
Gus goddess could see from island to
island, while the increasing fields of
waving sugar cane, the rectangular
rice plots, the encroaching tarO
patches, showed her the dangerous
approach of the water-god. She
finally feed from Oahu to Maui.
Here she reared her "Palace Of the
Sum-" 10000 feet above the waters of
her hated enemy. The ter-god,
unable himself to ascend to her bat
Elements, called up all his sprites.
She was finally forced to withdraw,
but not without furious struggle.
In this crater, 1000 feet deep, from
twenty five to thirty miles in circum-
ference, and seven and half miles
in diameter, are great cones Of lava
from 600 to 700 feet high. From
morn till morn the misty clouds pour
through the ruptured wall, fierce IN
their search for any remnant OF
Pele's fires. The most fantastic,
weird and awful conflicts happen here
between the fire and water sprites.
Lightnings flash and the rolling
thunders shake the very earth. And,
to day, Haleakala, the ruins Of her
splendid home, is pointed out to
travellers as the largest extinct crater
in the world.
AS one enters Kahului Bay about
o'clock in the morning, and views
this great mountain for the first
time-its veil Of mist dropped to
about the center of the lofty peak, in
a glow Of pink light, and green cane
fields stretched at its base-one can
only exclaim: ''Plan of God, struc-
ture of the ages?"
Hawaii is next to Kauai in luxuri-
u,.outh RI
verify the legend that Pele married
the water-god and afterward they
made this their home. Almost the
entire surface of this island is seam
ed and ribbed with the lava flows
from 1901 to 1887 Most of these flows
are in the northern and eastern parts
from the mountain tops through
forests, over jungles and sometimes
villages to the sea.
About thirty miles southwest OF
Hilo are the remains of primeval
forest perpetuated by lava flow
The trees were consumed by the
molten mould, but to-day may be
seen the hollow lava trunks from IL
to 20 feet high, and extending down
from to 10 feet below the present
surface Around these dusky monu-
ments of the past, new life has burst
forth, and new forest guards the
historic spot. But of all Hawaii's
wonders Kilauea is supreme. Xxi,
lauea, the largest active volcano in
the world Here the goddess Pele
reigns in terrific wonder.
There are two routes to the vol
cano. The road from Punaluu on
the southwest coast is not so inter
esting nor so long as from Hilo on
the northeast. Taking the latter route
from Honolulu, the Kinau arrives at
Hilo Bay at daybreak. During this
distance of 200 miles, one is apt to
have great deal of chop sea" ex
perience. The night before we got
in, the Kinau seemed to be playing
at leap-frog with the sea. But what
scene of peace and beauty came
with the morning. There lay Hilo
empowered in trees of luxuriant
foliage, towering plants grown into
shrubs, hedges entangled with
climbers, some with large, brilliant
flowers. At the extremity of the
crescent bay, toward the east, was Go
t T-lon5 tic old Dalm treas IN