The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1859-03-10


This part of the was one Of true grandeur
words convey n full idea of it to readers.
The molten 6ery-redness ever varying, every chang
ing its form, from the simple gurging of spring to
the hugest fountain conceivable is that, only
when viewed in its surprising grandeur, will remain
painted the memory till death. Large boulders of
red-hot lava stone, weighing hundreds, If not thou
sands, Of TONS thrown up with inconceivable power
high above the liquid mass, could be occasionally
falling outside the rim of the crater, tum
bling down the and rolling the precipice,
remaining brilliant for few moments, then becoming
cold and black, were lost among the mass of sur
rounding lava So awfully grand, so beautiful was
this varying scene, that the observer cannot
help watching it with intense delight and increasing
excitement for hours together the only drawback
being the cold of the night, against which
travellers should be provided.
dense heavy column of smoke continually
out from the crater, but always on the north side,
and took n north-elsery direction, rising i'll
continuous column far above the mountain, to height
of perhaps 10000 feet above the This smoke
hovers over that island and indeed all the islands,
and must ut times, when the trade wind lulls, OBJ
struct the view. During stay, however. passed
off from the mountain leaving the lower atmosphere
quite clear. We watched closely to observe whether
any steam could be issuing, either from the
fro any OF the streams OF lava, but could
not see anything that could be called steam vapor,
unless occasionally very slight indications along
of the lava Considerable smoke along
the stream, the molten lava came in contact with
trees and vegetable masses, but the mass of smoke
various places the plain, issuing from the rocks,
and near one of the camps the heat intense
that a teakettle could be boiled it. Bnt this
steam was undoubtedly caused by the heat of the
flowing lava which about mile distant coming
in contact with pools of water in caves or pits
On leaving the crater the lava stream does not
appear for some distance, say eighth of mile,
it has cut its way through deep ravine or guch,
80 100 feet Deep which it hides from the eye. The
first then that the lava after being thrown up
in the crater is its branching out streams dis
tance below the fountain head. Instead of running
in one large stream it divides into great number
perhaps as many ffty-spreading out over tract
of five or six miles in width. For the first six miles
from the crater, the descent is very rapid and the
flow of the lava varies from four to five miles an hour
But after il reaches the plain, where it is level, it
moves slower. Her the streams are not SO numerous
as higher up. there being principal one which
varies and is very tortuous--from an eighth TO
quarter of mile in width with frequent branches
running OF from it.
Some of the finest scenes OF the 6ow the
cades or falls formed in the stream as it flowed down
the steep declvities below the crater, and before it
reached the plain. There were several of them, and
they appeared TO be changing and rev ones formed
in different localities as new streams made
One, however, which appeared without change for
two days, so to 100 feet in height. First there
was a fall, then below were cascades or rapids. To
watch this fall during the night when the bright
cherry stream of lava tumbling it at the
rate of ten miles hour. like water scene not
often witnessed, and 10 be forgotten In fact,
the lava its had all the characteristics of
n river of flowing rapidly along, and gurgling
with cascisles, rap pis, currents and falls.
On reaching the plain, where 1t is more leve, the
lava sire I'm of course along more slowly and
in one general stream less divided than above. The
stream which had into the sea, had apparently
ceased flowing and cooled over, that we crossed
and recrossed it in many places, and through the
assures we could the molten lava with its red-hot
glow an intense heat issuing ont from them. In
many places the surface hot that the soles of
our shoes would have been burned had we not kept
in rapid motion. The length of the lava stream
from the crater to where it enters the at Waina
nai, is estimated to be forty M les.
On the afternoon of arrival at the camping
ground a new stream started few miles below
the crater, which had evidently been damned up by
some obstruction, and came rushing down with tre-
menduous noise and fury through the thick jungle
which lay in its track, burning the cracking trees,
and sending up thick smoke almost dense as that
from the crater This stream, from the time it broke
away from the embankment. moved along two miles
an hour till reached the vicinity of camp. when
its progress checked and 1t moved not more than
n quarter of a mile an hour But it formed mag
nificent sight Here was a stream of lava rolling
over the plan twenty to twenty-five feet in height
and an eighth of ~-eile in width, though its width
varied a great deal, sometimes broader, sometimes
narrower 1t was, in fact, or pile of red-hot
stones, resembling pile OF Goals OF hre borne along
by the more liquid lava underneath. As it moved
slowly along, large red bouders would roll down the
Sides breaking into thousand small stones, crush
ing and burning the trees, melting the rocks, and
destroying everything which lay in the track 1t is
force and power of this lava stream, bearing along
it does an almost nconceivable Il reminds rs
most wildly of the breaking up of the ice in large
river, only the inaginafior must stretch the com-
parison and suppose the Ice piled up seef
and thus borne along by the current beneath. the
whole width of the river moving ct the Same time,
crashing and breakipg and piline mp mnH and 1rrs-