The New York herald., 1922-06-18
The House of the Sun

House OF the
coral rock, much after the fashion
Of the giant kiins in our Western
clay factories. The tombs here and
there were garlanded with brilliant
flower wreaths.
Swiftly we motored around the
rugged coast line of West Maui over
brick red lava flows to the village of
Wailuku, on the isthmus. The sea
in all it's opal splendor stretched as
far as the horizon line on our right.
Maui, like Oahu, is double island
with a low, sandy isthmus 160 feet
high connecting the western and
eastern portions. Western Maui,
around which we sl1irted, is the old
est section geologically. Prof. Bar
toms simile of conical cake ex-
pressed it we'll. Every intermediate
slice has been eaten up by the gods
of erosion and sharp canyons, as
many as eighty, remain with pima
cles piercing the sky. Erosion, pro-
duced by the streams and clouds,
was the canyon maker, and hosts CT
tropical vines and ferns and trees
gathered from far and near to clothe
the naked spires.
Mighty Dome of Haleakala. .
On East Maui the mighty dome of
Haleakala, one of the largest extinct
craters in the world, rose over 10000
feet above the sea and beckoned to
us from beyond the cloud belt. The
Hawaiian Interpretation of Heleakala
is House of the Sun" We found
the mountain well named.
After a brief rest in Wailuku We
motored over the isthmus, past
sugar and pineapple plantations and
up through the fragrant Australian
blue gum eucalyptus groves on the
gentle slopes of Haleakala. In the
little crooked gulches breaking up the
long stretches knots of koa trees
visited with the kukui, which L
called my tree of light. The kukui
(aleurites moluccana) lighted UP the
out of the way places in gulch and
ravine with it's yellow green leaves
busted with a silvery gray powder.
In the olden days the natives used
the nuts for torches, the oil fer
medicine, and with the SCOT of the
burned nuts they painted Their
canoes.
At Idlewilde. 5000 feet above the
sea, we mounted ponies for the final
climb to the summit. At this place
flourished the only syringa bush we
found in the islands. SNOWFALL was
the name of my snow white steed.
surefooted, cautious in the rocky
gulches and spirited on the level
spots. Our cavalcade Of thirteen
slowly mounted the green slopes OF
the mountain. A sunset from the
doorstep Of the House of the Sun"
was the magnet. We passed through
$4,000 acre cattle ranch on the
slopes of this island mountain. We
climbed on the windward side, where
the moisture of the trade winds
coaxes the low green ferns to grow
almost to the rough lava brim OF
the crater. Vagrant clouds played
hide and seek with US as we mounted
to the higher attitudes.
Last 500 Feet of Climb.
| At close of day Prof. Barton
reached the edge of the crater and
silhouetted against the sky urged
us forward the last 500 feet of the
climb. AS we stood by his side on
the doorstep of the House of the
Sun" we watched the evening sun
slip down into the sea of clouds
stretching clear to the horizon line
Almost from our feet the billowy
ocean of sun kissed clouds Travelled
away into infinite space. Before us
Nature opened up the book of the
world and read one OF her most
sublime chapters. We were lost in