The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1908-11-20

A few days ago a native newspaper,
IA Haze Hawaii (The Hawaiian Ban
ner) came into the writer's hands This
was published in Honolulu in March,
1859. In it is a very interesting ac-
count of various historic lava flows
which have contributed to the upbuild-
ing of the large island Hawaii. The
sketch is in the quaint Hawaiian ton
que and makes no pretense of being
scientific; nevertheless there is his
toric value and therefore the record ic
translated. There is no reference to
the many legendary eruptions nor to
such outbreaks as that on the western
slope of Haleakala, which is sufficient
ly recent to be almost historic.
The story as told by he Hawaiian
runs as follows:
I'm the very ancient time Mauna
Kea threw out vast Pele fires, but long
ago these eruptions have been impri-
soned. The earth has covered them
in on all sides and the abundant soil,
large trees and green things of many
kinds are multiplying. But not SO
Mauna Loa and Hualalai, other noun
tains of this island Hawaii. Pele fires
have burst forth from them even up TO
recent times. Not many years ago,
perhas fifty (true date 1S0D, a fire
door opened from the interior of Hua-
lalai The lava burst forth and pour
ed down into the sea on the Kona
coast, destroying cocoanut groves and
fertile lands and even the villages. This
eruption was visited by Kamehameha,
who cut off some of his sacred hair
and threw it into the lava as an Of
fering to Pele. This was day or two
before the flow stopped" (There have
been three known eruptions from Hua-
lalai-this of 1901, another in 1906 from
the western slope of the mountain, a
few miles southwest of the flow of 1901
and the third from the northwestern
foothills of Hualalai, where a curious
little crater can be seen below the pres
ent road This is a cone shaped like
an inverted bowl with ragged broken
side showing cavern, out of which,
in 1911, a flood of lava was poured
down to the sea. Since then there
has been no special sign of activity in
Hualalai.)
"Mauna Loa is the greatest Of all
mountains opening doors for the Pele
fires from all it's sides. Kilauea and
Mokuaweoweo are the very wonderful
Pele pits (craters) discharging fire
from the very depths of the mountain.
In the time of Keoua (who was fighting
Kamehameha) a certain body of his
warriors was destroyed in showers of
burning ashes and death-causing winds
(gases) when they were on their way
from Hilo to Kau for battle. That
eruption perhaps was in the year 1888.
(The historical statement is that in
November 1890 Keoua divided his army
into three divisions. The first passed
the crater and camped some distance
further on in the Kau district. The
middle division camped on the lodges
of Kilauea and was destroyed. The
other division was in the edge of
the eruption but suffered no serious in
jury.) In the year 1922, or 1928 per-
haps, there was an eruption from XII
lauea pouring down into Kau district
very close to the Puma line. From
the depths of Kilauea was this burst
ing forth. The IA (brfoken Laval
of this eruption in its journey to the
sea spread about eight miles. In De-
cember, 1924, Kapiolani, the high
chiefess of Kona, visited the crater and
defed Pele.) In the year 1882 the pit
of Kilauea was full of burning IA. 1t
broke into some ancient tunnel con-
nected with Kilauea and flowed away.
The place where the IA reached the