The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1859-02-24

.de. The lower crater. from which the great jet
had besn playing tuo days before, was somewna
larger, and ! great gap was left open on the lowe.
i'd through which . torrent of lava had moved
down the slope.
We found Z third crater, above the two we
have ment;oned. which was still smoking and
=. Get re could trace a line of fresh lava and
ro,ia cones two or three miles farther up The
mountain. The larger cones were IN the censer
of . still smoking stream, = mile wide, wnscn
must have flowed from a source considerably
higher up-
It WAS = subject of regret to the party that
thew did not have a barometer to measure the eie-
walton of the source, but. taking all things into
account. we think it cannot be less than 500
feet. and is probably nearer $1,000 feet above the
sea. The elevation of the &c heiau of UNI Is
given bv wilkes at 5000 feet, and we think the
source of the eruption is certainly 3oOO OF 4ooo
feet higher.
We slept on the warm lava that night, anu
early next morning revisited the lower crater, and
followed the central flow for half q mile, passing
two or three mall cones. till we reached the pres
ent outlet, to which the stream evidently has
found its way from the crater by a subterranean
channel. 1t was in appearance a pool OF blood.
a few rods in width, boiling up like a spring, and
~spouting up thick, clotted masses to the heightof
ten or twenty feet. One of our party approached
near enough to run his pole into It, on the
lower side it poured in a cataract of molten metal
at a white heat, Down a descent Of about fifty
feet, with a roar like that of heavy surf. A
strong south wind was blowing, which enabled
us, by holding our hats before our faces, to get
within a few feet of the brink. The lava aP-
peared almost as fluid as water, and ran with a
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 river was a continuous series of rapids and
cataracts. At length we reluctantly returned to
our camp, a distance of two or three miles across
the fresh lava, which in several places was hot
enough to burn our sandals.
After taking our breakfast, and starting our ma
tives over the old {" pahoehoe'' along the south bank
of the stream, We returned to the great cataract
The action had greatly increased during the last
three hours I; the pool had become a fountain, play
ing to the height of 80 feet, and the falling pieces
were fast forming a crater around 1t, the rim OF
which was already 10 feet high, but open On the
lower side to afford an outlet for the torrent. Two
| smaller jets were piayinR 3OoNc IT, WHICH hhf PAooH~
bly, unite with it to form one crater. The upper one
threw up light pieces of pumice to the height of GO
feet, and was forming a very regular cone
Il was fortunately a clear day on the mountain,
and a strong wind was blowing from the southwest,
so that we travelled for three or four hours along the
very brink of the stream, without inconvenience. 1t
had worn for itself a deep, well-defned channel, so that
there was no danger of any sudden change in its
course The canal in which it ran varied from 20 to
so feet in width, and was 10 or Is feet deep. But
the stream was in reality much wider than this, for
the banks on either side were undermined to q con-
siderable distance Often we met with openings in
the crust, through which we could see the rushing
torrent q few feet or even inches below our feet.
To describe the scene is impossible. No epithets in
the English language are adequate to the task. For
the first time we saw actual mares and actual spray
of liquid lava. As its surges rolled back from the
enclosing walls of rock, they curled over and broke
like combers on the reef. Its forms, however, were
holder and more picturesque than those of running
water, on account Of its being a heavier and more
tenacious fluid.
There was, besides, an endless variety in its forms.
Now We passed q cascade, then q whirlpool, then q
smooth, majestic river, then a series of rapids,
tossing their waves like a stormy sea; now rolling
into lurij caverns, the roofs of which were hung with
red-hot stalactites, and then under arches which it
had thrown over itself in sportive triumph. The
safety with which it could be approached was matter
Of astonishment to US all
After following it six or eight miles, we halted for
dinner on an island, about a quarter of a mile from
the largest fall. and then proceeded down the stream
till 4 P. NJ. As the descent became more gradual,
the torrent changed its color, first to rose-color, then
to g dark, blood red; its surface began to gather a
1 -,-u 81 1~~-o J.S.-- 1850 Ia1.-> -
quent- 1t now began to separate into numerous
branches, and it become more and more unsafe to
follow the central stream, as changes were constantly
taking place, and our retreat was liable to be cut of
at any moment. We therefore kept nearer the edge
of the How, and at length e~ncamped on an island in
the woods. During that night the craters were very
active, and the whole plain seemed to be on fire be-
low and around u.s.
The party were called out by four o'clock the next
morning and went up a short distance to observe a
new stream which was pouring down through the
woods to our camp. 1t was a shallow flow in a high
state of fusion, and was forming smooth Is pahoehoe."
Its mode OF advance through the woods, girdling and
slowly consuming the trees, the surface constantly
cooling over and breaking up by turns, was exactly
the anne as that observed at Hilo, and needs no de-
s~cription. Here we were able to take out as many
specimens in q liquid state as we wished, to insert
coins into them, and if we had carried moulds with
us, we might have forced the liquid into almost any
required shape. We spent the forenoon in following
the stream to the plain. partly crossing it in some
places to reach the scene of q new overflow. We had
been particularly curious to see how clinkers are FORM
ed, and our curiosity was now g,atifed. The differ
ence between ''pahoehoe'' or smooth lava, and .saa',
or clinkers, seems to be due more to a difference in
their mode of cooling than to any other cause. The
streams which form the sspahoehoe'' are compare
lively shallow, in a state of complete fusion, and cool
suddenly in a mass The "aa'' streams on the other
hand, are deep, sometimes moving along in a masS
20 feet high. with solid walls; -they are less fuid,
being full Of solid points, or centers Of cooling, as