New-York daily tribune., 1859-05-18
THE ERUPTlON or MAUNA LOL

Since NV last we have been favored win iuller
accounts of the great ,ruptrn now Ia oPerahoh
from Msuna LOa, Of which had formerly gwen
YOU some description. la continuing thst secouuI
shall avail myself largely of the published descnP-
tons of other yistOrs for 1t Is only by aggregsting
observations of many p.rson-, from many points OF
view snd at different uue', that we can get cor
rect conception of "a vast aud Impressive phe'
nomenOp.
The fely river in five days reach the sea, iorty
miles distant. The p or inhabitants ot Wainananl
we're aroused at the midnight hour by the mSs'ng
and roaring OF the approaching IRE, and had out
iusl time to save tneu,,eiyr-. Some OF The houses
were partly destroyed before the inhabitants had
time to escape. \ wrl'er says;
"Nken the torrent Of fire precipated Itself INTO me
ocean, the assumed character ot terinc ana
ind, scrlbable grandeur The magnncence O destruc'
tiun was never more percepbly displayed than wnen
thee sIagori,tc elements met IN deadly STRIFE. Inc
ghtcst o earth magazines Of fire poured ior'h its
burning biows to meet the mghtiest of oceans fer
two-score miles il came rolling, tdmbng, sweing ior-
ward an awful agent OF death Rocks melted like
WAX in It's path: forests cracked aud blahed before s
ferveut heat the very hills were lifted from Their pm
meval beds, and sank beneath It's tide, or were ootne
onward by its wave the works ot man were To II Out
as scroll in the flames Nature shrlveed and trenl-
hled before the irresistible flow. Imagine Niagara
stream above the brink uf the Falls nstantaneously
I n
erals the wrecks Of creative matter blazing and dis
auuearing beneath its suracr; volumes OF Kissing
steam aising smokes cudins upward from ten
thul and vents, which give utic'ance To as many
dcep-toued mutterings, sulen, confined, ana
ommous c'am,riugs; gases dc"nat,ng anu shneAhg
as they burst from their hot puson-housei the
heavens urd with flame; tine atmo phere dark,
| turrid and oppressive; The l0ri2on murky with va
pors and cleaning with the reflected con,ost; while
cave and hollow, the ho' air swept along their
heated walls, threw back the unearthly sounds IN
myriad of prolonged echoes Such was the scene az
the fiery cataract poured lis flood upon the ocean.
The waters recoed aud sent forth tempest o spray
they foamed and lashed around and over the melted
rock; they boiled with the heat and the roar oi the
conflicting agencies grew hercer and louder Inc re-
ports uf the exploiting gases were distinctly heard %
miles distant They were hkeued Ia discharges ot
whole broadsides Of heavy artillery Sreaks oi the h-
tensest light gar ced like lightning in all directions the
OUT kirts oi the burning lava as II ie cooeu oy o
shock was shvered into millions OF fragments, and,
borne ao.t by strong breeZes blowing toward the
land were scattered in scutlant showers lar INTO ho
country"
Still the water continues scalding hot, and at
every wash of the waves send up steam.
OF this fountain head We have this account by
another Observer-yieWiug it from an adjacent hill:
Before you at distance of two miles, rises the
new formed crater in the midst OF fields of black,
smoking lava while from its centre there jets column
of red hot lava TO Immense hight, threatening in
stant annihllaion to any presnmpuous mortal who
should within the reach OF its scathing influence
The crater may be thousand feet IN diameter and
from hundred to one hundred and nifty feet high
The column of liquid lava which s constantly sus-
tanned in the air il from two hundred To hve hundred
feet high and perhaps the highest jets may reach az
high as seven hundred feet! There Is a constant and
rapid succession of Jets within another the masses
falling outside and cooling they TALL form sort ot
dark veil, through which the new jets darflng mp with
every degree of force and every variety OF form, rem
der this grand fire fountain one OF the most magnif-
cent objects that human imagination can conceive Of
From the top Of the lava jet, the current oi heated
air carries up a large of scora aud pumce which
als again in constant showers for some miles around
he crater
Some days later he says
"The jet had ceased to play, but the two craters
were blowing of eDo nous columns of steam and show
Of redhot scora, with noise ike that of heavy
surf occasionally like discharges of artillery. Half
mile below the lower crater appeared a cataract of
fire. continued several miles in winding river of light
which then divided into q netw rk of branches, en-
closing numerous islands. The branch tow ards kawa
ibae still gave a dull red light in few spots, but the
force of the stream seemed to be directly west towards
Kona.
"Two new streams seemed to be running race, as
il were, in that direction, and we could the forest
blazing before them. The next day i0th) rainy,
and the fog 80 dense that could not travel. We
moved down couple Of miles, aud encamped on the
fresh lava stream, half nile south Of the principal
cone. BY the heat Of the steam cracks boiled our
coffee roasted meat and potatoes, and melted the
snow, which our natives had brought down in sacks,
till We filled all our water containers
The two principal cones are about mile apart.
They about 40 feet high and composed entire
y of pumice and small fragments of lava which were
thrown out in liquid state. The upper cone was q
closed crater inclosing two redhOt vent holes fur
naces, several feet in diameter, from which II was
emitting steam and sulpburous gas, and now and then
showers of light pumce. The suhocating gases rem
dered it impossible o approach except on the wind
ward side. The lower crater from which the great JET
had been playing two days before, sonew hat lar
ger, and great gap left open the lower side,
through which torrent Of lava had flowed down the
slope.
We found third crater above the two we have
mentioned, which still smoking, and in fact we
could line Of fresh lava and scoria
three niles further mp the mountain. The larger
were in the center Of n still smoking stream, mile
wide, which must have flowed from a consider
ably higher up.
" Ii was a subject of regret to the party that they
did not have barometer 10 measure the elevation Ut
the source but taking all things into account we think
1t canpCt be ess than 600 feet and is probably
~ OO0 feet above the The elevation Of the heiau
# Uni il given by Wilkes at 600 feet, and we think
the source Of the eruption IL certainly ,OOO or 1000
feet higher
We slept the warm lava that night, and early
morning revisited the lower crater and followed
the central flow for half mile, passing two or three
small cones till reached the present outlet, to WHICH
the stream evidently has found It's way from the crater
by a subterranean channel. IL vas in appearance a
pool Of blood, a few rods in width boiling up like
spring, and spoutng up thick, cotted masses TO the
hight Of ten or twenty feet. One Of our party ap-
preached near enough to run his pole into H. On the
lower tide, poured in cataract Of molten metal at
white heat, down descent of about fifty feet, with
roar like that of heavy surf. A strong south wind
was blowing, which enabled u.s. by holding hats
before our faces to get within few feet Of the brink
The lava appeared almost as fluid water, and ran
with velocity which the eye could scarcely follow.
The solid fragments which now and then fell IN disap-
peared almost instantly For several miles the fiery
ritser uf a.