Hawaii National Park: A Guide for the Haleakala Section, Island of Maui, Hawaii

by George Cornelius Ruhle

“The crater of Haleakala, if so it may be called, is a deep gorge, open at the north and east, forming a kind of elbow: the bottom of it, as ascertained by the barometer, was two thousand seven hundred and eighty-three feet below the summit peak, and two thousand and ninety-three feet below the wall. Although its sides are steep, yet a descent is practicable at almost any part of it. The inside of the crater was entirely bare of vegetation, and from its bottom arose some large hills of scoria and sand: some of the latter are of an ochre-red colour at the summit, with small craters in the centre. All bore the appearance of volcanic action, but the natives have no tradition of an eruption. It was said, however, that in former times the dread goddess Pele had her habitation here, but was driven out by the sea, and then took up her abode on Hawaii, where she has ever since remained. Can this legend refer to a time when the volcanoes of Maui were in activity?

“The gravel that occurred on the top was composed of small angular pieces of cellular lava, resembling comminuted mineral coal. The rock was of the same character as that seen below, containing irregular cavities rather than vesicles. Sometimes grains of chrysolite and horn-blende were disseminated. In some spots the rock was observed to be compact, and had the appearance of argillite or slate: this variety occurred here chiefly in blocks, but was also seen in situ. It affords the whetstones of the natives, and marks were seen which they had left in procuring them.

“Of the origin of the name Mauna Haleakala, or the House of the Sun, I could not obtain any information. Some of the residents thought it might be derived from the sun rising from over it to the people of West Maui, which it does at some seasons of the year.

“Having passed the night at the cave, Mr. Baily (sic) and young Andrews preferred returning to the coast, rather than longer to endure the cold and stormy weather on the mountain.

“Our gentlemen made excursions to the crater, and descended into it. The break to the north appears to have been occasioned by the violence of volcanic action within. There does not appear any true lava stream on the north, but there is a cleft or valley which has a steep descent: here the soil was found to be of a spongy nature, and many interesting plants were found, among the most remarkable of which was the arborescent Geranium.

“The floor of the crater, in the north branch, is extremely rough and about two miles wide at the apex, which extends to the sea. In the ravines there is much compact argillaceous rock, similar to what had been observed on Mauna Kea, retaining, like it, pools of water. The rock, in general, was much less absorbent than on the mountains of Hawaii.

“Mr. Drayton made an accurate drawing or plan of the crater, the distances on which are estimated, but the many cross bearings serve to make its relative proportions correct. Perhaps the best idea that can be given of the size of this cavity, is by the time requisite to make a descent into it being one hour, although the depth is only two thousand feet. The distance from the middle to either opening was upwards of five miles; that to the eastward was filled with a line of hills of scoria, some of them five or six hundred feet high; under them was lying a lava stream, that, to appearance, was nearly horizontal, so gradual was its fall. The eastern opening takes a short turn to the southeast, and then descends rapidly to the coast.

“At the bottom were found beds of hard gravel, and among it what appeared to be carbonate of lime, and detached black crystals like augite, but chrysolite was absent.

“From the summit of the mountain the direction of the lava stream could be perceived, appearing, as it approached the sea, to assume more the shape of a delta.

“From the summit the whole cleft or crater is seen, and could be traced from the highest point between the two coasts, flowing both to the northward and eastward. Volcanic action seems also to have occurred on the southwest side, for a line of scoria hills extends all the way down the mountain, and a lava stream is said to have burst forth about a century ago, which still retains its freshness. The scoria hills on the top very much resemble those of Mauna Kea, but the mountain itself appears wholly unlike either of the two in Hawaii, and sinks into insignificance when compared with them.