The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1859-08-18
A Lava Stream. a..

| Prof Haskell, of Oahu College, Sandwich Is
| lands, recent graduate of Yale, visited the VOL
cano of Mouna Loa, with about thirty of tbs stu
den g. and in an article on the subject gives viv-
( id description of the majestic river of lava flow
ing from the mountain to the sea. lie says
/ Descending by the stream of lava flowing from
the mountain, were able to follow it on its
south side as the wind blowing from that
direction. Here we found good walking. and
could with safety approach within a few feet OF
the channel The width of the stream is from 20
to 100 feet. but its velocity Is almost Incredible
Some of orr party thought it leo miles per hour.
We coad not calculate it in any way. for pieces
of coid lava thrown into it would sink and melt
almost immed ately. The velocity certainly
seemed great as that of a railroad car. For
eight or ten miles the stream presented success
ion of cascades rapdA ediies, and curves, with
occasional cataract. Some OF these were
formed by the nature of the ground over which it
flowed It therefore presented not only hoiiows
but yes Ia some places for a few feet the
course CT the stream was al ascent Of five to ten
degrees; in one instance of tweaty five. Where
the turns in the stream were abrupt, the outside
of the stream was much higher than the inside -
So'mlch was this ths case, thai the outside c1rv-
ei over tie inside sometimes. for mag spiral
Il is needless TO add thai we're filed with W on.
der and admiration at the lights we saw.
The cnkers are al ways formed by deep streams.
aud generally by wide ones, whlcn u Nv sluggish.
ly, become damned up in front by the cooling OF
the lava and ~ some instances cooled over the
top. forming it were pond or lake. As the
stream augments beneath, the barriers beyond
and the crust on the surface are broken up, and
the pieces are rolled forward aud coated over the
melted lava, which cool5 and adheres to them
more or less Then from the force of the melted
lava, behind and underneath, the stream rolls
over and over ITSELF In this way bank of clink-
ers ten to forty feet high resembling an embank-
ment Of railroad is form-d. Ofea at the eud OF
the stream no liquid lava can be seen, and the
ONLY evidence Of motion is the rolling OF the jag
ged rocks of all siz.s down The front of the ealj
again. and then the same processes are repeated.
carries as it were on its back immense masses of
ciinkers, which look like hills walking We found
no clinkers until reached the plain and it
would that none are formed except where
the descent is but little or the lava bat i'm per.
fectly melted.
There is one point more of which will speak
I an not quite satisfied tha. there is fssure in
the side of the mountain, through which the lava
made its exit to the surface. Those of
party who had seen the flow of 1870 and who
had doubt of fss1re in the side of the noun
tain then, think that there is fissure 10 this
case. l do not, of course believe in a perpendic-
ular duct or pipe reaching down to the reservoir
Of lava bnt it seems to me that che lava, by the
pressure of gases and steam, works its way to the
surface. as the water of springs oy the hydraulic
pressure. Hydraulic pressure also constitutes q
part of the force which impels lava. Moana Loa
is full of caves passages, &c., aud very porous;-
and besides, the lava in of this ow, at least,
could melt its way, more or less, where it met OBJ
structions. 1t may be however, that there is
rent in the side of the mountain