The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1867-10-17

almost instantly tie satire surface
broke up; the black crust disappeared
and the red sea Of lava was agitated in
furious waves. It boiled like / ealdron
while from the erests Of the waves, jets
Of lava were thrown to the height Of
thirty or forty feet, falling back into
fiery food, and the wind drew out the
smaller PARTICLES into long, 6qs threads,
which the natives called "Pele's hair .
Words fail to describe the grandeur
and sublimity Of the scene. From ur.
der the rocks beneath us, We could ycs
the fiery food pouring forth, the waves
dashing fercely against the banks. The
lava OF Kilaula Is noted for It's liquidity
and while in its melted state it Il "red
(and even white) hot" like molten
iron.
Returning to the plain above, We sat
down to 4 good dinner: The turkey
was cooked by steam, having been wrap
ped in banana leaves and buried in the
ground near one of the cracks on the
upper bank Of the crater. Though We
had passed a comfortable day, As the
land breeze came from the snowy height
above us, We were glad to wrap our
blankets around "a and sit near blaz.
Ing Gre at the door Of the grass hut
which We made our headquarters. Be-
hind US that grand old mountain, "Mau-
ma loa," rose to an elevation of thir-
teen thousand eight hundred feet. The
smoke and vapor from the crater form
ed beautiful cloud, tinted with the
reflection Of the 6res below, reminding
US Of the pillars Of cloud and Ere, in one,
which guided the 1sraelites, in their
wandering through the wilderness. At
intervals We had splendid pyrotechnic
displays. The lake was literal sea of
fire, aud frequent eruptions from the
cones hurled red hot stones aud l.v. to
an immense height.
During the intervals between the
eruptions, our guide amused US with
the traditions Of tho people in regard
to the volcano.
Here the beautiful aud powerful god
dess "Pele" held her court, surrounded
by inferior gods aud goddeases. The
caves were their homes, and the Lake
Of Fire tho sea in which they amused
themselves, sporting in the fiery surf:
The powerful god Kamapuaa, hearing
Of the beauty and wealth Of this god
dess, resolved t. secure her as his wife.
For this purpose, attended by splendid
retinue, he presented himself to the
court As suitor, but was scornfully re-
jected. Filled with wrath, he turned a
mighty food Of water into the crater,
with the intention Of putting out the
fires and drowning the goddess. He
nearly succeeded j.; the vast pit was al:
most filed and the fires burned low j.:
but, by mighty effort, she swallowed
the flood; issued forth, borne upoa a
terrible burst of:lava; pelted him with
red hot stones ; and chased him for
twenty miles, aud finally drove him in
to the sea.
The crater is still in action, and
though the old lake IS nearly filed up,
there are six smaller lakes of fire scat
tered over the surface of the crater.
Some of the most extensive eruptions
on record have taken place on the noun
tain above. In March, 1852, the old
crater Of "Mokuawcoweo," on the sum-
NIT Of the mountain, awoke from the
slumber Of years. When We retired
for the night, the sky was beautifully
clear, and not cloud vas to be seen on
or about the mountain. About mid
night, the entire top Of tho mountain
appeared as if in blake; fiery jets Of
lava rose high, and river Of lava rush
ed down the mountain side. The next
night = little light and clouds Of smoke
were all that was visible. The third
night the smoke had vanished, and the
mountain seemed IS quiet as ever. Ear
ly in the morning of the fourth day,
the natives aroused us with the intel
ligence that "Pele" was again to be
seen. About half way down the side
Of the mountain we beheld two shining
spots of fame. They soon united, and
the lava burst forth in = fountain, rising
before daylight, to height Of hun
dred feet, while = torrent Of molten lava
began rolling towards ~. Before the
next night, this river, having reached
the plsia At the foot Of tho mountain,
had entered the jungle, aud was dow.
ing in 4 straight course toward ouI
| heantifinl fovn.
I can never forget the days and
nights Of suspense which followed. Fol
twenty days and nights, the lava poured
forth from the mountain side, and rose
in fountain five hundred feet high
and on ono memorable morning, i,
reached tho fearful height Of one thou
sand feet, whilo the stream continued
its deadly progress toward US. To add
tv our suspense, the stream had reach
ed and was flowing over plain, through
= dense jungle, 10 that We could moi
tell how near it was to us. Daily and
hourly we expected 70 zee It issue from
the jungle, only tour miles away. Al