The Book of the National ParksYard, Robert Sterling
History
The Book of the National Parks
Yard, Robert Sterling
National parks and reserves -- United States
Haleakala has its legend, and this Jack London has sifted to its
elements and given us in "The Cruise of the _Snark_." I quote:
"It is told that long ago, one Maui, the son of Hina, lived on what is
now known as West Maui. His mother, Hina, employed her time in the
making of kapas. She must have made them at night, for her days were
occupied in trying to dry the kapas. Each morning, and all morning, she
toiled at spreading them out in the sun. But no sooner were they out
than she began taking them in in order to have them all under shelter
for the night. For know that the days were shorter then than now. Maui
watched his mother's futile toil and felt sorry for her. He decided to
do something--oh, no, not to help her hang out and take in the kapas. He
was too clever for that. His idea was to make the sun go slower. Perhaps
he was the first Hawaiian astronomer. At any rate, he took a series of
observations of the sun from various parts of the island. His conclusion
was that the sun's path was directly across Haleakala. Unlike Joshua, he
stood in no need of divine assistance. He gathered a huge quantity of
cocoanuts, from the fibre of which he braided a stout cord, and in one
end of which he made a noose, even as the cowboys of Haleakala do to
this day.
"Next he climbed into the House of the Sun. When the sun came tearing
along the path, bent on completing its journey in the shortest time
possible, the valiant youth threw his lariat around one of the sun's
largest and strongest beams. He made the sun slow down some; also, he
broke the beam short off. And he kept on roping and breaking off beams
till the sun said it was willing to listen to reason. Maui set forth his
terms of peace, which the sun accepted, agreeing to go more slowly
thereafter. Wherefore Hina had ample time in which to dry her kapas, and
the days are longer than they used to be, which last is quite in accord
with the teachings of modern astronomy."
MAUNA LOA
Sixty miles south of Maui, Hawaii, largest of the island group, contains
the two remaining parts of our national park. From every point of view
Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, both snow-crowned monsters approaching fourteen
thousand feet of altitude, dominate the island. But Mauna Kea is not a
part of the national park; Kilauea, of less than a third its height,
shares that honor with Mauna Loa. Of the two, Kilauea is much the older,
and doubtless was a conspicuous figure in the old landscape. It has been
largely absorbed in the immense swelling bulk of Mauna Loa, which,
springing later from the island soil near by, no doubt diverting
Kilauea's vents far below sea-level, has sprawled over many miles. So
nearly has the younger absorbed the older, that Kilauea's famous pit of
molten lava seems almost to lie upon Mauna Loa's slope.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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