Baltimore daily commercial. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1865-1867, 1866-04-11
A Fiery FOunfain-IEie Volcanic Eruption
OF Mama L;st,, on one Of the Sandwich
Islands

OF Mama L1Su, on one Of the Sandwich
ISLANDS,
jet of lava Of more stupendous proportions thaa
any ever con ceyed Of is described by Mr. Coan 10
the Honolulu Friend of February. in his account of
the err ton of Mauna Loa on the island of Hawaii
The eruption commenced near the summit of the
noun ain and only five or six miles southeast of the
eruption of lS43 For two days this summit crater
sent down its burning foods along the northeastern
slope OF the mQuntanj thon suddenly the valve closed
and the great furnace apparently ceased blast After
thlrty-sx hours the fusia was seen bursting out Of
the eastern SIDE OF the mountain, aboH%midway from
the top to the base. 1t would seem that the summit
lava had found asubterranean tunnel for half way
or meeting with some obstruction it burst up vert-
e4lly, sending a column of incandescent fusia
thousand feet into the air.
This iire-jet was about one hundred feet in diam
ter. and it sustained for twenty days and nights
varying in hcighth from 500 to 1000 feet. The dis
gorgement from the mountain side was often with
terrific explosions which shook the hills and with
detonations which weo heard for forty miles. This
eoinmn OF nqGd Te was an object o. surprising
jet issued from the awful Orifce was at white heat
As it assembled higher and higher it redeemed 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 three hundred
feet high around the burning orifce. and. as the
showers Of burning minerals fell in livd torrents
upon the cone it BECAME one vast heap of glowing
Goals. flashing and quVerii,g with restless action,
and sending out the heat of ten thousand furnaces
in intense blast.
The struggles in disgorgng the fiery masses, the
upward rush of the column the force which raised it
a thousand vertical feet, and the continuous falling
back OF thousands OF tons of raj fusia into the
burning throat of the crater, and over a cone of
glowing minerals, one mile in circumference, was
sight to inspire awe and terror attended with explo
sive shocks which seemed to rend the mural ribs of
the mountain, and sounds to wake the dead and
startlc the spirits in Hades. From this fountain a
river of fire went rushing and leaping down tho
mountain with amazing velocity filing up basins
and raVlnes dashlng over precipieeS and exploding
rocks until it reached the forest at the base of the
mountain. where it burned its fiery way, consuming
the jungle evaporatng the water of the streams and
pools and cutting down the trees and sending up
clouds Of smoke and steam in murky columns of
heecy wreaths to Heaven
All Eastern Hawaii Eas sheen of light and our
night was turned into day. So great was TIE illu-
m1nauon at night, that one could read without
lamp. and labor, travelling and recreation might go
on as in the daytime. Mariners at sea saw the light
at two hundred miles distance. 1t was pyrotech-
meal display E!ore magnificent and marvellous than
was ever made by an earthly monarch, In the day
time the atmosphere, for thousands of square iuias
would be filled with murky haze, through which the
sunbeams shed pale and sickly light. Smoke.
steam gases, ashes, cinderS-furnace and capillary
or hlamentous vtriianans called shair-foated
IN the air. sometimes spreading out like fan some
times caTeering in swift currents upon the wind or
gyratng IN ever changing coorS in the ftful breezes
The point from which the ire-fountain issued is
10000 feet aboye the level of the sea- thus making
the lgeneous pillar distinct object of observation
along the whole eastern coast OF Hawaii.
During the eruption the writer made an excursion
to Its source After three days of hard struggle in
the jungle and oyer fields ridges and hills of brisng
scOrla ne arrived near sunset at the of action
All night long he stood as near to the slowing pillar
as the vehement heat would allow, listening to tho
startling eGplosioIe ana the awful roar of the molten
column it rushed upward thousand feet and fell
back in fiery avalanche which made the mountain
trembe. 1t was such scene as few moraIs eyer wit
messed. There was no sleep for the spectator. The
fierce, red glare, the subterraneap mutterings and
strugglngs the rapid explosions Of cases. the rushes
ing thunder-all, all were awe-inspiring. and all
combined to render the scene one of Undesirable
brilliancy and of terrible submy. The river of fire
from the loutain flowed about thirty five miles and
stopped with in ten mile Of H;lo. Had the fountain
played ten days longer, 1t would, probably, have
reached the shore. '"'