Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1866-04-30
SUBLIME SPECTACLE.
A Column of Fire One Thousand Feet in
Height, and a River Of Flame Thirty
five Miles Long.


A jet of lava of more stupendous pro-
portions than any ever conceived OF, is
described by Mr.. Coan, in the Honolulu
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 burni ng floods along the
northeastern slope of the mountain, then
suddenly the valve 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 to the
base.
1t would seem that the summit lava
has found subterranean tunnel, for
half way down the mountain, when
coming to weak point, or meeting with
some obstruction, it burst up vertically,
sending column of incandescent fusia
| 900 feet high into the air. THIS fire jet
was about 100 feet in diameter, and it
was sustained for twenty days and nights,
varying in height from 500 to 1000 feet.
The disagreement from the mountain
side was often with terrible explosions,
which shook the hills, and with detOn-
ations which were heard for forty miles
This column of liquid fire was an object
of surprising brillancy, of intense and
awful grandeur As the jet issued from
the awful orifce it was at white heat
AS it ascended higher and higher, it red
dened like fresh blood deepening its
color, until in its descent, much of it
assumed the color of clotted gore.
In few days it had raised cone some
800 feet high around the burning oriice,
and, as the showers Of burning minerals
fell in livid torrents upon the cone, it
became one vast heap OF glowing Goals,
flashing and quivering with restless
action, and sending ont the heat of 10000
furnaces in full blast The struggles in
disgorging the fiery masses, the upward
rush of the column, the force which raised
it 1000 vertical feet, and the continuous
falling back of thousands of tons of min
eral fusia into the throat of the crater,
and over a cone of glowing Goals one
mile in circumference, was sight to in
spire awe and terror; attended with ex-
plosive shocks which seemed to rend the
mural ribs of the mountain, and sounds
to awaken the dead and startle the spirits
in Hades. From this fountain, river
of fire went leaping and rushing down
the mountain with amazing velocity, i'll
ling up basins and ravines, dashing over
precipices, and exploding rocks, until 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, cutting
down the trees, and sending up clouds
of smoke in murky columns of heecy
wreaths to heaven.
All Eastern Hawaii was a sheen Of
light, and our night was turned into day.
SO great was the illumination at night.
that one could read without a lamp, and
labor, travelling and recreation might go
on as in the day time. Mariners at sea
saw the light 200 miles distant. 1t was
pyrotechnical display more magnifi-
cent and marvellous than was made by
any earthly monarch In the day time the
atmosphere for thousands ofsquare miles
would be filed with O murky haze,
through which the sunbeams shed pale
and sickly light Smoke, steam, gases,
ashes. einders-furnaee or capillary or
hamentary or Notifications called Pelo's
hair-1oated in the air, sometimes spread
ing out like a fan, sometimes careering
in swift currents upon the wind, or gyra-
ting in ever changing colors in the hiful
breezes The point from which the fire
fountain issued is 10000 feet above the
level Of the sea. thus making the igneous
pillar a distinct object Of observation |
along the whole eastern coast OF Hawaii /
During the eruption the writer made |
an excursion TO the source. After three I
days Of hard struggle in the Jungle and !
over fields, ridges and bills Of bristling
scoria. he arrived near sunset at the field |
Of action. Ar night long he stood as
near the glowing pillar as the vehement
heat would allow, listening 20 the start !
ling explosions and the awfal roar Of
the molten column. as it rushed upward
|, 1000 feet, and fen back in fiery ava