My trip to the volcano
		N H Wood

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	??? Mar 6th 1892 {1892/03/06}
Dear Sir
	In my last, I gave you a short account of my trip in Hawaii with the partial promise to refer to it again. I arrived at the volcano house Saturday afternoon intending to explore the Crater the following day.
Here it will be necessary to draw a plan of the Crater.
I will represent it thus.
The Crater is nearly 3 miles across it.

Volcano House		

At the time I was there the volcano was very active. On the west bank stands the building called the lookouthouse. Where parties go in the evening and view the natural curiosity and one of the greatest

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wonders of the world.
	The view at night is splendid as you see all the smaller lights which look some of them like stars both large and small, and I should think there were hundreds of them. At the same time some of there blow or air holes are constantly dischargeing hot lava and which, when its emitted makes a noise like the report of a small cannon. In the crater propper, are 5 burning Lakes that are continualy burning and cooling or melting and cooling.
The noise from theese lakes resembles the dashing of waves on the sea coast as they dash against the rocks along the shore. The South Lake was the most active when I was there.  it resembled a large kettle about the size of the common in F[?]. This was constantly boiling over. Every few moments the whole mass would seemingly lift it self up to the highth of 29 or 30 feet and then fall back again in to the boiling caldron. There is a sulphur bed, on the east side of the crater, also one on the bank, or main land 1/8 of a mile from the crater and more than 100 ft above the Crater. It looks like an old yellow sand bank. Theere sulphur banks are

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on fire all of the time the heaviest rains have no more affect on them than it does the burning volcano. Near the sulphur bank last discribed they have a bath house built over one of the steam holes If you wish to take a sulphur bath you undress yourself leave your clothes out side then go in to the bathhouse, shut the door, open a window just large enough to stick your head through and thrust it outside while the rest of your body is in side in two minuits you are steaming & sweating beautifully. there are several of theese portholes so that a number can take a bath at the same time. after sweating as long as you wish you open the doors step in to another building & rub yourself well with towels. you then feel like a new person if you have pains or aches or rheumatisim it will take it all out of you. about half way around the crater and from one route 40, or 60, are fissures or steam cracks in the ground. where boiling hot steam is continualy pouring out.
This steam is condensed from some of the steam craks and is the only water they have for drinking or cooking

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and after it is cooled it is splendid water to drink. Theese steam cracks are up on an elevation more than 100 feet from the bed of the Crater & some of them 1/4 of a mile from it. I wished to cross over the crater to the south lake, which was the most active it was my intention to do so on the next day. But that night there was a flow from the north lake which prevented me from going on to the crater that day. I then waited one day more and in the mean time the lava had cooled off so that I could walk on it.
I then crossed over the late flow of lava and visited the celabrated south lake which is always in action and at this time was in better working order than it was ever known to be before ---
I was well paid for waiting one day as it was the greatest display of fire works that I ever saw ---
Thoussands have visited the volcano Kiluia, but all that I ever saw or heard of say that language fails to portray the awful grandeure & yet beautiful display of volcanic fires as seen at the crater of Kiluia. ---
N H Wood

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