Map of part of the Island of Hawaii Sandwich Islands Shewing the Craters and Eruption of May and June 1840 by the U.S. Ex. Ex.

The  beautifully colored “Map of part of the Island of Hawaii, Sandwich Islands, Shewing the Craters and Eruption of May and June 1840 by the U.S. Ex. Ex.” is a historic cartographic document produced during the United States Exploring Expedition, led by Lieutenant Charles Wilkes in the early 1840s. This expedition was a landmark American naval and scientific voyage, and the map represents one of the earliest detailed depictions of volcanic activity on the Big Island of Hawaii. Focusing on the eastern region of the island—then known as part of the Sandwich Islands—the map highlights key volcanic features such as the Kīlauea Caldera and several smaller craters. It traces the path of the 1840 eruption, in which lava flowed from Kīlauea’s eastern rift zone to the coast in the Puna District. This eruption, occurring in May and June of 1840, was among the first to be systematically documented by Western scientists and likely includes data gathered both through direct observation and from Hawaiian eyewitness accounts.

The map reflects the scientific goals of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, with careful attention to volcanic craters, lava flows, fissures, and vent locations. Its cartographic style is consistent with mid-19th-century practices, possibly featuring hand-drawn or engraved elements, annotations, and scaled representations of the terrain. It may also include stylized depictions of topographic features such as elevation contours, coastlines, and vegetation zones. Importantly, this map marks one of the first efforts to scientifically record Hawaiian volcanic activity and represents an early attempt by Western explorers to understand the unique geological processes of the Hawaiian Islands, which lie atop a volcanic hotspot in the Pacific.

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