The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1855-12-22
WHOLE NUMBER 546.
The Volcanoes sn the Sandwich
IsIands---lccount Of n Visit 70
the volcano Of Kilnuea.

/ AN-------@~--
IcOnsspOndsnee Of the New York Daily Times,l
HoNo1ULU. s. l., Wednesday; Sept. 26, '6s.
send you the following account ofan ex-
curson to the great Volcano of Kilanea,
which you are at liberty to publish, II you
think it would be sufficiently interesting to
the readers ofyour valuable journal.
The mountain of Mauna Loa, on the Is
land Hawaii, is l4,9oO feet in height On the
side of this mountain, 1000 feet above the
base, is the Volcano of Kilansa. The vast
quantities of lava, elected from it for CEN
turies past, have formed a broad plateau,
which extends, with slight declination, for
twenty miles towards the sea, 30 that the
approach to the volcano is otss : seq seq gtts-
uaIly ascending grade-indeed, in the i'm
mediate vicinity of the crater, there is scarce
ly any ascent at all, and one finds himseis
upon its very brink with little or no warning
ofits proximity. 3 7,
We lett Honolulu on the evening OF
g.. A in the steamer Kd!amG, chartered
for the excursion, and after touching at SUM-
dry places on the Islands of Mani and ha-
wuii, we finally arrived and dissmbarked At
Hilo-calIed, on some maps, Byron's Bay
-on the 7th, at noon. The appearance OF
the landscape, for twenty miles before we
came to Hi!o, was very picturesque. The
shore is bold ledge of rocks more than q
hundred feet in height, over whose sides
come rushing a great many small streams,
forming cascades, some of which are very
beautiful. The land slopes gradually up
ward from the shore fOr many miles. and Is
covered with trees and shrubs, with here
and there plantation of sugar cane, and .
cluster of grass houses, presenting Alto
gether, a most luxurious appearance, when
viewed from the deck of steamer.
We left Hilo on the morning Of Sept.
our party consisting Of eleven gentlemen,
among whom were Mr.. GREGG, United
States Commissioner, Rev. 8. A. DEMON,
and we were attttcaded Nv fifteen ss..s..ssts 90. .s
who CARED our provisions, extra clothing DC.
Our cavalcade presented most bizGrrs ap-
appearance, dressed as we were, in red and
blue shirts, instead OF coats, and lcggins,
and sombreros, of all shapes and colors,--
some mounted on horses not too geniles--
some on donkeysssjust the reverse, and SUR
rounded by. about fifty natives, running
hither and thither, tightening girth, or
mending strap, and all jabbsring their
Kanaka, or shouting with laughter.
Our journey was over rough and scrag.
gy road, and at O'Clock in the afternoon
we were glad to come upon the so-called
halfway house, having accomplished eigh-
teen miles, and made ourselves and horses
quite tired This house, which Is built OF
grass, is simply one large room with q fire
place in the centre; the roof being high and
thatched with straw, the smoke from the
fire easily found egress, and gave us no
trouble. Being amply provisioned we had
a dinner prepared at six o'cloek--we keep
fashionable hours--that would have done
credit to your best restaurants.
Our table was large, new mat. spread
upon the ground, and we ate reclining in
true old Eastern style. The house was we'll
supplied with mats, which we used for
chairs, table and beds.
The next day being Sunday. we remained
at our encampment--(traveling on the
Sabbath is strictly forbidden here) In
the morning listened to very good discourse
from Rev. S. C. Damon, who is chapl ain of
the Seamen's Bethel at Honolulu, and It
seemed quite home-like when we all joined
in singing Old Hundred. = In the
evening the servants had a service in
their own language, and seemed very de-
vcut. Early on Monday morning we were
astir, and after four hours riding, found our-
selves suddenly on the edge of the "old
crater" as il ie called, which is fifteen miles
in circumference. Clambering down the
side about thousand feet, we came to .
vast sea of black lava which had cooled and
hardened in the form OF waves and hillocks
and peaks, with here and there yawning
assures, oyer which we could scarcely leap
and from which rose gas and smoke. which
were almost sitting. When we had adj
vanced in this way about three miles, the
scene became truly appalling, for we were
surrounded by clouds Of smoke and steam,
emitted BY the seams around and beneath
our feet, and we could scarcely breath soma
of the time. At length, after toiilng !
long distance, in this ways we came to The,
part Of the volcano, now in . stale Of
eruption and found ourselves standing Up.
on the edge Of a burning lake, . mile in
circumference, and filed with molten lava.
This glowing lake Of liquid FIRE was boiling
and rolling, heaving and surging, roaring and
Kissing in never-csasing commotion- now
spouting up huge column Of lava--now
belching forth clouds ofsmoke and sulphur
GUS gas. Indeed, itwae aacene that passes
all description, and might well terrify The
stoutest heart. Surely here i ia lake thas
bnrneth with FIRE and birthstone. There
| il curious phenomenon noticsabls hsre.
which, if / mistake not. occurs i no other
volcano Small jets Of lava are thrown II
| with great force, and then bloRn:by : strong
| wind, into the gnest threads, which sail away
to the edges of the. crater, and collect ii
L. =