Daily union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1865-1866, 1866-04-27
aaniun aud Smrriran.
ERUPTION OF MANUA LoA.

Terribly Sublime Spectacle-A Column Of Fire
One Thousand Feet in Hight. and River OF
Flame Thirty-fve Miles Long.
A let Of lava Of more stupendous proper
tons than any ever conceived Of is described
by Mr.. Coan, in the Honolulu Friend, Of
Februara, in his account of the eruption Of
Manua Loa, on the island of Hawaii:
The eruption commenced near the sum
init of the mountain, and only five OR six
miles southeast Of the eruption in 1913.
For two days this summit crater sent down
lis burning floods along the northeastern
slope of the mountain; then suddenly the
vale closed, and the great furnace apparent
" ceased blast After thirty-six hours the
f1sia was seen bursting out Of the eastern
side Of the mountain, about midway from
the top to the base.
1t would seem that the summit lava had
found a subterranean tunnel, for half way
down the mountain, when coming 10 a weak
point or meeting some obstruction, il burst
mp vertically, sending a column Of incan-
descent fusia one thousand feet high into
the air. This fire jet was about one hun
dred feet in diameter, and it was sustained
for twenty days and nights, varying in hight
from one hundred 10 a thousand feet The
disagreement from the mountain side was
often with terrific explosions, which shook
the hills, and with detonations which were
heard for for forty miles. This column Of
liquid fire was an object Of surprising bril-
liancy, of intense and awful grandeur. As
the jet issued from the awful orifice it was
at white heat. As il assembled higher and
higher il REDEEMED like fresh blood, deep
ching its color, until in its descent, much Of
il assumed the color Of clotted gore.
In few dayr il had raised a cone some
three hundred feet high around the burning
orifce, and as the showers Of burning min
erals fell in livid torrents upon the cone, IL
became one vast heap of glowing Goals, fash
ing and quivering with restless action, and
sending out the heat Of ten thousand fur
naces in fall blast. The struggles in dis
gorging the fiery masses, the upward rush of
the column, the force which raised it one
thousand vertical feet, and the continuous
falling back Of thousands of tons of mineSal
fusia into the throat of the crater, and over
a cone of glowing minerals, one mile in cir
conference, was a sight 20 inspire awe and
terror, attended with explosive shocks which
seemed TO rend the mural ribs of the noun
tain, and sounds 20 waken the dead and
startle the spirits i'm Hades. From this
fountain river of fire went rushing and
leaping down the mountain with amazing
velocity, filling up basins and ravines, dash
ing over pTecipices, and exploding rocks,
until il reached the forests at the base of the
mountain, where il burned its fiery way, con-
Stunning the jungle, evaporating the water of
the streams and pools, cutting down the
trees, and sending up clouds of smoke and
steam and murky columns Of feecy wreaths
20 heaven.
All Eastern Hawaii was sheen Of light,
and our night was turned into day. So great
was the illumination at night, that one could
read without lamp, and labor, travelling
and recreation might go on as in the day
time Mariners az sea saw the light at two
hundred miles distance. 1t was a pyrotech-
meal display, more magnificent and marvel
Gus than was ever made by any earthly
monarch In the daytime the atmosphere
for thousands Of square miles would be filled
with a murky haze, through which the sun
beams shed a pale and sickly light.
Smoke, steam, gases ashes, cinders-iur-
mace or capillary or Elementary vitrifactions
called Pcle's fabricated in the air, some
times spreading out like fan, sometimes
carecring in swift currents upon the wind,
or gyrating in ever-changing colors in the
titful breczes. The point from which the
ire-lountain issued il ten thousand feet
above the level of the sea, thus making the
igneous pillar distinct object of observa-
ton along the whole eastern coast Of Hawaii.
During the eruption the writer made an
excursion to the source. After three days of
hard struggle in the Jungle and over fields,
ridges aud hills Of bristling scoria, he ar
rived near sunset at the seat OF action. All
night long he stood so near the 10 the glow
ing pillar as the vehement heat would al
low, listening to the startling explosions and
the awful roar Of the molten column, rs it
rushed upward thousand feet, and fell back
in fiery avalanche which made the noun
tain tremble. 1t was such a scene as few
mortals ever witnessed. There was no sleep
for the spectator. The fierce, red glare, the
subterrancous mutterings and strugglings,
the rapid explosions of gases, the rushes
and roar, the sudden and startling bursts, as
of crashing thunder-all, all were awe-in-
spring, and all combined to render the
scene one of Undesirable brilliancy and of
terrible sublimity. The rivers of fire from
the fountain flowed about thirty-fvc miles,
and stopped within ten miles of IIilo. Had
the fountain played ten days longer, it would
probably have reached the shore.