The tri-weekly news. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1865-1876, 1866-05-10
by GailIard s. Desportes.
TNE TRL-WEEKLY NEWS
Terribly Sublime Spectacle


portions than any ever conceived Of is
described bv Mr.. Coan in the Honolul.
Friend of February, in his account of the
eruption of Manua Loa, on the Island
of Hawaii:
The eruption commenced near the
summit OF the mountain, and only five
or six miles southeast Of the eruption in
lS43. For two days this summit crater
sent down its burning floods along the
northeastern slope ofthe mountain; then
suddenly the vale closed, and the great
furnace apparently ceased blast After
thirty six hours the fusia was seen burst.
ing out OF the eastern side of the noun.
tain. about midway from the top of the
base.
1t would seem that the summit lava
had found a subterranean tunnel, for
half way down the mountain when
coming to weak point, or meeting with
some obstruction, it burst up vertically,
sending a column of incandescent fusia
one thousand feet high into the air. This
fire jet was about one hundred feet in
diameter, and it was sustained for TWEEN.
ty days and nights, varying in height
from one hundred to thousand feet.
The disgorgement from the mountain
side was often with terrific explosions.
which shook the hills, and with detona
tions which were heard for forty miles
This column of liquid fire was an object
OF surpassmg brillancy, of intense and
awful grandeur. AS the let issued from
the awtu! orfice It was at white heat
As'it ascended higher it redeemed like
fresh blood, deeping its color, until, in
Its descent much of it assumed the color
OF clotted gore.
In few days it had raised cone
some three hundred feet high around the
burning orifice, and as the showers oI
burning minerals fell in livid torrents
upon the cone, and quivering with rest
less action, and sending out, it became
one vast heat of glowing Goals, flashing
the heat of ten thousand furnaces IN full
blast. The struggles in disgorging til,
fiery masses, the upward rush of the
column, the force which raised it one
thousand vertical feet, and the. continu
Gus falling back of thousands OF tons Of
mineral fusia into the throat Of the era
ter, and over cone Of glowing minerals,
one mile in circumference, was sight
to inspire awe and terror, attended with
explosive shocks which seemed to rend
the mural ribs Of the mountain, and
sound to waken the dead and starlle the
spirits in Hades. From this fountain q
river of fire went rushing and leaping
down the mountain with amazing veloci.
ty, filling up basins AID ravines, dashing
over precipices. and exploring rocks, ur.
til it reached the forests at the base of
the mountain, where it burned its fiery
way, consuming the jungle, evaporating
the water of the streams and pools, cut
ting down the trees, and sending up
clouds of smoke and steam, and murky
columns and heecy wrcaths to heaven.
All Eastern Hawaii was sheen Of
light, and our night was turned into
day. So great was the illumination at
might, thut one could read without a
damp, and labor travelling and recreation
might go on as in the daytime. Mari.
rlers at sea saw the light at two hundred
miles distance. 1t was pyrotechnical
display, more magnificent and marvellous
than was made by any earthly monarch
In the daytime the atmosphere for
thousands Of square miles would be filed
with a murky haze, through which the
sunbeams shed pale and sickly light.
Smoke, steam, gases, ashes, ciuders-
furnace or capillary or Elementary Wit.
rifcations called Pele's hair--Aoated in
the air, sometimes spreading out like a
fan, sometimes careering in swift cur
rents upon the wind, or gyrating in
everchanging colors in the ftful breezes.
The point from which the fire fountain
issued is ten Thousand feet, above the
level Of the sea, thus making the igne.
Gus pillar distinct object of ofobservation
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 aud