The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1907-12-13

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KAHULUI, Island Of Maui. June z
1t Is desired to make the Hawaiian
Islands a winter resort for the idle
rich. Organized plans are making te
induce Eastern people who go to Cali
fornia for the winter months to con-
tinue their journey to Honolulu and
the neighboring islands. There Is
every reason why people with the
time and the desire to see new coun-
tries should come out to the Islands
They can spend a month here COM
fortably and derive much entertain
ment from their stay. Not the least
interesting of the things they would
see are the volcanoes-the extinct Ha-
leakala, whose great bulk comprises
the eastern half of this island, and XII
lauea, where eternal fires glow at the
bottom of great chimney one thou
sand feet deep by half as great diam
eter.
ghe writer, with members of the
Congressional party, ascended to the
summit of Haleakala on horseback,
spent the night there and saw the sun
rise, lTdNcIStQ lUc GiatCt VI AaCN-,
and dined on the edge Of the pit, Ha-
lemaumau. on food cooked from the
heat escaping through the fissures in
the lava floor Of the great crater. The
ascent of Haleakala was made on the
afternoon and evening of Thursday,
May 16. On the morning of the 18th.
seventy-seven persons, the largest
party ever at the summit at one time.
saw the sun rise through the clouds
and flood with light the great, barren,
cloud filled crater.
Maui is the second island of the
group in size. with an area of 100
square miles.
1t consists OF two mountains con-
nected by a low-lylng isthmus seven
miles wide at the narrowest part. II
is the largest area Of level land any
where in the islands. Because 1t is
fiat the islanders call it monotonous
and dreary. The lao valley back of
Wailuku town and the Koolau gulches
offer tropical scenery that can hardly
be surpassed. The lao valley is one
of the beauty spots of the world. Mt.
lEeke, on the western end of the is
ldnQ, Is HcdTll OuOv 4CCb Al6hs WA4AtC
Haleakala, at the eastern end. raises
its dome 10000 feet above the sea, and
is one of the wonders of the world.
ON HALEAKALA'S SUMMIT.
To make the ascent of Haleakala
one must go by train along the coast
from Kahului to Paia and there take
carriage to the Haleakala ranch,
which lies in the foothills at the base
of the great mountain. From here it
is a ten-mile ride over a winding,
rough trail up the side of the noun
tain to the summit. All the lower
stretches of the mountains are cover
ed with green, and thousands of cat
tie find pasturage on the hillsides.
The land is broken with deep gulches,
marking old lava flows, and the horses
pick their way gingerly over the slip
perry footing. As one rises, the out
look is superb. On the level isthmus
connecting the two halves of the is
land, the cane fields are seen marked
off like a checker board. Beyond the
white line of surf and the curved
beaches, the waters of the Pacific
stretch away to the horizon. We
reached the ranch house at Olinda at
four O'Clock in the afternoon, after
riding for an hour through binding
rainstorm. Two hours later, within
three miles of the summit, we saw
sunset more than a thousand feet
above the clouds. The sides of the
mountain were bare and covered with
broken stones, old lava runs. and bits
of broken, dried wood where once
scrubby undersized trees had grown
1t was eight o'clock and pitch dark
before we reached the edge of the
crater. We only knew it was the
summit because the horses refused to
go any further. They had walked to-
within a couple of yards of the crater
walls, which drop sheer down 25e0 feet.
The last hour of the journey we
could not see five feet beyond the
horses heads, and depended wholly
upon the sagacious, sure-footed ami
mails to find their own way; they kept
the trail unerringly.
That night it was so cold on the
that, although we had tents
and blankets, we found 1t impossible
to sleep comfortably, and spent the
entire night seated around a fire,
swathed in blankets and sweaters.
The night was as still as it was
eold and clear. The sunrise the next
was a gorgeous effect. The
crater of Haleakala has a circumfer-
ence of twenty miles and an area
IF nineteen square miles. A score of
cones from three hundred feet to a
thousand feet in height dot the floor,
while from out the one-time cauldron
cad two gaps, once the vents of lava
lows which cover the eastern and
southern fanks of the mountains. The
is one of rare desolation |
and grandeur.
KILAUEA'S ACTIVE CRATER.
The active crater of Kilauea, On the |
side of Mauna Loa, is one of the most
comfortable volcanoes to visit in the
world. One may do it in white canvas
shoes with perfect ease. There is a |
fairly well appointed hotel on the
edge Of the crater. and one may easily !
walk in an hour the three miles from
The top of the crater's edge TO the |
smoking pit, Halemaumau (House of |
Everlasting Ffre).
Active volcanoes exist on the island |
If Hawaii, but even tradition gives
10 account Of any elsewhere in the |
group. And on Hawaii volcanic ac-
.iyity has been confined, within mod
srn times, to the summit and slopes |