Jeffersonian Republican. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1840-1853, 1841-08-11

il varies from one TO four or FIVE miles in width,
conCorming itself. like river, to the face of the
country over which it flowed. Indeed, II you
can imagine the Mississippi, converted into
LIQUID fire, of the consistency of fused iron, and
moving onward, sometimes rapidly, sometimes
sluggishly; now widening into sea, and anon
rushing through a narrow defle, winding It's
way through mighty forests and ancient soilci-
,udes you will get some idea oil tbs spec'ale
here exhibited The depth OF the stream VIII
probably vary from ten to two hundred ieet, ac-
cording to the inequalities of the surface over
which it passed. During the flow, night was
converted into day on Eastern Hawaii The
light rose and spread like the morning upon the
mountains, and its glare was seen on the oppo-
site side of the island. 1t was also distinctly
visible for more than one hundred miles at sea;
and at the distance of forty miles, fine print
could be read at midnight The brillancy of
the ligh, was like blazing armament, and the
scene is said to have been one of unrivaled sub
limity.
The whole course of the stream from Kilauea
10 the sea is about 40 miles. It's mouth is about
25 miles from Hilo station. The ground over
which it flowed descends at the rate of one
cooled, and may be iraversed with care, though
scalding steam, pungent gases, and smoke are
still emitted In many places.
In pursuing my way for nearly two days over
this mighty smouldering mass, | was more and
more impressed at every step with the wonder
full scene Hills had been melted down like
wax; ravines and deed valleys had been filled;
and majestic forests had disappeared like
feather in the flames. In some places the mol
ten stream parted and flowed in seperate chan
nels for a considerable distance, and then unit
ing. formed islands of various sizes, from one
to fifty acres, with trees still standing but scared
and blighted by the intense heat. On the outer
edges of the lava, where the stream was more
shallow and the heat less vehement, and where
of course the liquid mass cooled soonest, the
trees were moved down like grass before the
scythe, and left charred, crisped, smoulderng,
and one half consumed As the lava flowed
around the trunks of large trees on the outskirts
of the stream, the melted mass stiffened and
consolidated before the trunk was consumed,
and when this was effected the top of the tree
fell, and lay unconsumed on the crust, while
the hole which marked the place Of the trunk
remains almost as smooth and as perfect as the
calibre OF cannon. These holes are lnnumer-
able, and found them 10 measure from 10 TO
90 feet deep, but as | remarked before, they
are in the more shallow parts of the lava, the
trees being entirely consumed where it was
deeper. During the flow of this eruption, the
great crater of KiIauea sunk about 300 feet, and
her fires became nearly extinct, one lake only
out of many being left active in this mighty
cauldron. This with other facts which have
been named, demonstrates that the eruption
was the disagreement of the fires of Kilauea.
The open lake in the old crater is at present
intensely active, and the fires are increasing,
as is evident from the glare visible at our sta
tion and from the testimony of visitors.
During the early part of the eruption slight
and repeated shocks Of earthquake were felt,
for several successive days, near the scene of
action"