New-York daily tribune., 1859-05-18

trwirg of toward The plain to the southwark in their
courSe fifteen twenty smaller streams Of lava, some
of them miles in length ard all Ineandering hither and
fhther and inersec'ing with another that the
whole slope of the mountain, for the distance ot day
Journey, and width in places Of three or iOur
miles presented the appearance of shining rose-coloed
lace work. In the foreground were two larger active
crates which, although they had ceased to spout forth
lava and sc"rla, still threw up tsmes ana from Whcn
arose immense pillar Of smoke and cloud, looking IN
the red reflection fOm within, like columns OF hvlng
fire, reaching Ia the zenith and forming majestic
termination to the brilliant arch OF fiery cloud "hch
floating above the laws stream, covered onehalf the
blue dome from the sea to the crater
"Profting by the of strong sea-breezc, sue
cceded In descending a short distance, perhaps twenty
feet into the upper active crater to small projecting
ledge but sudden whir Of the wind threatening me
with sufocaon obliged Inc to retreat again, in double
onick time This crater had changed materially in
appearauce since the yist Of the previous party In
stead Of the comparatively small blow hole there was
now a deep chasm or rift, some eighty feet in depth
and width, between whose red-hot walls great
volume Of steam ascended, allowing only an Occas0nal
glimpse al the region beneath. AT intervals however,
when an Obging puff U wlud thinned for an instant
the yapOrou- ass, could distinguish be low stream
of incandesceDt lava ru-ng forth from the mountain
side with almost Incredible velocity. Before leaving
the crater the chasm again covered and the river
ran beneath the cruz" until It again emerged at the
other crater, quarter ct mile below. We were un-
able TO explore the interior OF this crater IL seemed
however to possess more action than the upper One
Upon leaving il, the stream once more passed unde
ground and finally emerged again for the last time al
the lower aud I'll aler crater
The eruption may COZ tuue tor months to come.
That of 1865 continued for about thirteen months,
and covered an area of pe'haps 300 square miles.
But the most brilliant eruption was at the begin
Ming and has now passed.
have before giveU account OF the shape and
size of this burning mountain, being an immense
dome. rising from base Of almost the whole Of the
large island OF Hawai-, and yet incomplete. 1t is
being built up by these accreOns sent up from the
great interior reservoir of the earth. How rapidly
this work is progressing Way be judged from the
fact that there have been eight eruptions in the
present century. They do not proceed from any
single crater but occur all sides Of the mountain
and at various attitudes.
The important crater of Kilauea is but a, lO4 feet
above the seq and the traveller is not sensible OF an
ascent to it, so gradual is the rise; but usually 1t
bursts out at from 1900 to $4,000 feet elevation.
On the summit is an enormous crater, twenty-iour
miles in circumference, aud I,21O feet in depth.
Its bottom is rent BY chasms OF uniathOma6le
depth Only one other crater is known exceeding
this in size-IIaleskalu, tue house OF the sun, on
Maui another Of islands. This has not been
in action within the memory Of man.
Mauna LOa remains the only active volcano OF
the group. When the immense effllx OF Its lava
the ler 9Th of its flow, toe area of country sub
merged, and the long duration of it's active opera
tions are cOnadered il will not be disputed to DO
one Of the greatest Of volcanoes, aud one OF the
wonders of the world LAWRENCE.