Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1859-04-06

We quote from the Pacific Advertiser of the !
18th of February;
During the daytime the eruption at the |
crater and the lava streams are hardly per- |
ceptible. The night is the time for Observe |
ton. Soon after the sun had set, the streams |
of fire began to show their course. while the |
spouting of the lava from the crater became |
more and more snowy. The reflection of the
numerous fiery streams rolling rapidly down
the side of the mountain across the plain. lit
up the overhanging clouds, making it as bright
as moonlight for many miles round.
This new crater. for which we can find no
native name except "Iels hou.'' (the new
eruption. is located on the northern slope of
Mauna Loa. at an elevation of say $500 feet
above the sea, and an equal distance from
the summit of the mountain. 1t is some
ten or more miles westward, and about 1000
feet lower down than the last eruption of
1855, known as that of Mokuaweoweo.
The lava does not simply run out from the
side of the crater like wafer from the side of
a bowl. but ii is thrown up in continuous col
umns. very much like the Geyser springs, as
represented in school biographies. At times
this spouting appeared to be feeble, rising
but little above the mouth of the crater, but
generally, as if eager to escape from the pent
up bowels of the earth. il rose to height
nearly equal to the base of the crater. But
the columns and masses Of lava thrown out
were ever varying in form. Sometimes, when
very active. a epire or cone Of lava would
shoot up like rocket. or in the form of a
huge pyramid to a height nearly double the
base of the crater. If the mouth of the era
ter is 500 feet across, the perpendicular
column might be eight hundred to one thou
sand feet in height! Then, by watching 1t
with spy-glass, the columns could be seen
to diverge and fall in all manner OF shapes,
like beautiful fountain.
This part of the scene was of true gran
deur; no words can convey full idea of 1t
to our readers. The molten fiery redness of
the lava, ever varying, ever changing Its
form. from the simple gurgling OF spring to
the hugest fountain conceivable, is scene
that to be viewed will be painted, IN all Its
splendOr and magnifcence, on the memory OF
the observer, till death. Large bouiders or
red-hot lava-stone, weighing hundreds, if not
thousands, of tons, thrown up with lncon-
ceivabie power high above the liquid mass
could be seen occasionally falling outside or
on the rim of the crater, tumbling down the
cones and rolling over the precipice, remain
ing brilliant for a few moments then becom-
ing cold and black, were lost among the
mass of surrounding lava. So awtully grand,
so beautiful, is this ever varying scene, that
the observer who sees il from good position
cannot help watching it with intense delight
and increasing excitement for hours together.
A dense, heavy column of smoke contnu-
ally rose out from the crater, but always on
the north side, and took nOrtheastcrly d.
rectiOn, rising in one continuous column far
above the mountain. to the height perhaps of
10000 feet from the crater. This smoke how
ers over that island, and indeed all heislands,
and must at times, when the trade wind lulls,
obstruct the view. During our stay, how
ever, il passed off from the mountain, leaving
the lower atmosphere quite clear. We watched
closely to observe whether any steam could
be seen issuing either from the crater or from
any of the streams of lava, but could not see
anything that could be called steam or vapor,
unless occasionally very small indications
along some of the lava streams.
On leaving the crater. the lava stream does
not appear for some distance, say an eighth
Of mile as it has cut its way through a
deep ravine or gulch. which hides it from the
eve. How deep this gulch may be is all con-
lecture, as it is impossible to get near enough
to look into it, but it probably is several hum
dred feet deep. The first then that we see of
the lava after being thrown up in the crater is
it's branching out into various streams some
distance below the fountain head. Instead of
running in one large stream, IT parts and di-
vide into n great number spreading out over
IL tract of five or six miles in width.
The principal stream reached the sea near
Wainanalii, or about fifteen miles from Kaw-
aihae on the 3lst, after flow of eight days
from the time that the eruption commenced
on the 23d of January. This stream, on
reaching the sea, spread out to about half
mile in width. The sight of it as it poured
into the sea, forming clouds of steam several
hundred feet high, is represented by those
who saw it, very beautiful.
Some Of the finest scenes of the flow were
the cascades or falls, formed in it before the
stream reached the plain. There were several
of them, and they appeared to he changing
and new ones formed in different localities as
new streams were made. One, however,
which appeared without change for two days,
must have been so to 100 feet in height.
First there was fall, then below were cas-
cades or rapids. To which this fall during
the night when the bright red hOd steam of
lava was flowing over it at the rate of ten
miles an hour, like water, was scene not
often to be, met, and never to be forgotten.
In fact, the lava near its source had all the
characteristics of river of water flowing
rapidly along, aud gurgling with cascades,
rapids. currents and falls.
The length of the lava stream from the era
ter to where il enters the sea at Wainanalii.
we estimate to be thirty-eight miles. For the
first ten miles from the crater the flow is divi-
ied into many streams-pcrhaps as many as
filty-but low err down, it is confined 10 one or
two principal streams, with frequent branches
10 the right aud lett.
On the afternoon of our arrival Mt the
camping ground, a new stream started some
+ few miles below the crater, which had evil
IDENTITY been damned up by some obstruction,
and came rushing down with Tremendous
noise and fury through the thick jungle,
which lay in its track. burning the cracking
trees, and sending up for time thick
smoke almost as dense as from the crater.
This stream from the time it broke away
from its embankment, moved along two miles
an hour till il reached the vicinity of our
camp, when its progress was checked, and II
moved not more than one-feurth of a mile IN
an hour. But j. formed a grand sight. Here
wasa stream OF lava rolling over the plain,
twenty To twenty-five feet in height, and an
eighth of mile in width though It's width
varied great deal, sometimes broader, some
times narrower. Il was, in fact. a mass or
pile of red hot stones, resembling pile OF
Goals on fire. borne along by the liquid lava
stream underneath. As il moved slowly
along, large red boulders would roll down
the sides, breaking into a thousand small
stones, crushing and burning the trees which
lay in the track. Ii is impossible To give n
true conception Of The immense force and
power of this lava stream, bearing along as IL
does an almost inconceiyable mass. IL re-
minds us NEST wildly of the breaking up of
the ice in large river, only the Imagination
must stretch the comparison and suppose the
ice piled up twenty-five feet, aud thus borne
along by the current beneath. the whole
width OF the river moving at the same time
crushing and breaking and pilIng Up cones
and irregular masses on tsop.
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