The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1894-04-02

ference; but such are the facts, and it
is well worth the journey to see just
how n big mountain looks after IL has
belched forth so much valuable terri
tory.
The pilgrim finally reaches the edge
OF Ii Observation-Disclosures daylight III he -
sensible! To his left is a cave beneath
a pinnacle Of ragged rocks, and before
him the crater. The entire circum-
ference of the silent pit is surrounded
by mountain powders and cathedral
shaped cliffs, with here and there
gap into which people can walk, and
from which they can look upon the
su olimest spectacle on earth-a new
world of lights and echoes, valleys
and steep mountains three thousand
feet below; rainbows and sun-kissed
clouds everywhere, rolling In from
the ocean wastes and encircl1ng the
clear cut outlines of lava red peaks,
which project from the floor of the
crater; mountains within mountains,
craters within the great crater,
mimic world hemmed in by a circle
of towering peaks ten thousand feet
above the foaming sea.
Whatsoever things endure for ages
while the temples and habitations OF
men crumhle away and return to
original dust, impress the mind with
awe. Here are professions of clouds
from away out yonder on the surging
ocean, pouring through great gap in
the mountain side which was once n
flood gate for lava. Through that
chasm the clouds have been rushing
for thousands of years, until their
miSts aud storms have worn away
gigantic powders and polished the
mountains, which suddenly glfsfen
like dark rubies when struck blythe
-, = 10 nc rlO
rainbOws and purple clouds whose
beauties have formed and dissolved
for countless ages. Probably that gall
lery of swift forming pictures in the
air was rich with fantastic forms and
colors before the life of man on earth
began. Nature here shifts the scenes
and changes the tones forever, wttts-
out noise or monotony; for the sun Is.
always on time, mists eternally rise
from the biIlowy main, and the air
watts changing clouds on wings that
never grow weary. Just as the winds
blow, just as the earth rolls, the
myriad beauties of HaleakaIa form
each day beneath Maui's great trop-
ical mountain.
At midnight and early morn alike
the palace of the sun is place for
meditation. Its sublime silence be-
meath the quiet stars and ripe moon
Il
impulses of the human mind, and one
stands entranced as he views thesyast
area embracedwitbin the ancientcrat-
er-an area once covered with surgfng
pillows of melted lava, but now silent
as the sky-aS if the spirit of Fire had
painted it all in immortal cOlOrs that
sunshine and storm can never wash
away. And rising above all is the
eternal mystery of the dead abyss-its
history forever hidden within its sub
lime and speecbless depths!
There are many echo canyons in
the Palace of the Sun-places where
the voice plays fantastic pranks, aS If
to make one think he held communion
with beings hidden in secret caveTDs,
or that shadow sang from
the clouds Musical sounds are repro
duced more readily than any others
by the spirits that dwell in the cav
erns and cliffs of this weird mountain.
Let the voice roll forth clearly in some
round, full musical tone, and the can
yons will sing back the tune again
| a d again TO the fifth echo-the last as
| if from the rose-tinted clouds, or from
| the blue peaks of distant mountains,
so that the effect among the rainbowS
and purple colors is altogether charm
ing.
Over the dead volcaro three spirits
ever hOver-Beauty, Silence and Des-
| olatiOn. The enchanting scenes every
where abounding and forever chang
| ing are wholly new to the eye, as If
majestic Eden of mystery had sud
| denly come to light in the hush of
| Maui's imposing wonderland Through
| rising waves OF morning air the
| mountains within the crater lift their
| dreamy peaks as if refreshed by the
night winds; and the clouds are
| whirled into banks, shoals, peaks and
! fantastic cathedralS as they rush
| through the historic gap that leads 10
| the ocean. Every form is kissed by
| the tropical sun of early morn. Some
| OF these children of the sky have
i peach-hlow tints, while here and
| there bars OF gold or bilIows of pearl
| appear. These temples of the air
| grow richer every moment from the
| birth OF dawn until the Tuddy light OF
day dissoives them in its glistening
| sheen. Dawn is the poets hour at
Haleakala, for every object of nature
| is then silvered or puTpled in the
| growing light, according to- its eleva-
ton and capacity for absorbing colors-
| The sublime in nature is seen here as
much as az Niagara o. in the Alps,
| but the chiseled mountains and
| changing lights have been wrought on
| a larger masterpiece in Haleakala,
and amid more desolate wastes of
silence and grandeur than in any
| land known to man. In some phases
the aspect of Maui's wonderful sun
palace suggests the moon, whose
| empty oceans and towering mOuD-
| tains have siuni6ered in solitude for
ages, unbrOken by the sounG of voices
| or the thro5 OF busy life.
LEIGH II. IRVINE.
Honolulu, March 80, 1894.