The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1879-02-01
Late from the Volcano on Hawaii.

Late from the Volcano on Hawaii.
hersased AefioH Of he Fires an oil KHauea-Egeot Of Rain,
IN the ToEo1Ho-A Snouc Storm IN TIE Tropics-Mqana Loa
and Mama Kea o0rered cih SH0r.
To The Editor of Pacific Commercial Advertiser.
SIR 1 was much interested with your remarks
in last weeks paper on the influence Of rain in pro-
ducing volcanic disturbance, as they coincide. in the
main, with the views which have long held and
expressed, and which my observations during the
past few months confirm. Having lately visited the
crater of Kilauea, on Hawaii, and found it in great
activity, 1 will comply with your request and state
what has occurred.
The wet season in kau ommeneed early in De-
cember, and with it greatly increased activity of the
volcano. Ny house is some twenty miles southwest
of the crater but the latter is go located as to be in
full view, and its smoke by day and the light by
night are distinctly seen. a~fording opportunity to
watch the daily changes that take place. On my
way to Hilo, 1 reached the crater about dusk on the
9Th of January, after riding through the rain for FIVE
hours from Kapapala. Approaching it, L found an
Unusual amount of steam rising both from the extern
sive crater and the plateau which surrounds it.
You may remember that the road from KapapaIa
approaches the crater cliffs two or three miles south
Of the hotel. Well, from this point on to the hotel
clouds of sulphurous steam rose from the numerous
cracks along the road, so dense as to make it almost
impossible, aud quite q task TO urge my animal
through it. l have never seen the like in my fire.
quent visits there during the past thirty years, al
though there is always considerable steam to be seen
along the road and in the crater itself, but on this
occasion 1t was one unbroken cloud of steam for 500
yards from the crater.
On reaching the hotel, my host, Mr.. LentZ, in
formed me that it had been raining unusually hard
in fact, they had had n great deal of rain for q
week past, and the rainfall during the last twenty
four hours must have been ten or twelve inches.
You can imagine in what state l found the volcano.
My visit could not have been more opportune for
observing the effect Of rain on its fires, which were
in a state OF terrible commotion, the lava rising to
the rim of the two lakes now in fusion, and causing
frequent outbursts Of lava streams, which flow into
the central depressed basin of Kilauea. This sunken
portion Of the crater was formed by the sudden sub
sidence of the lava during the great eruption of1S6S,
when, to use an expressive term, " the bottom Of
the crater fell OUT leaving q basin some four hum
dred feet lower than the surrounding lava ledge.
Into this streams are now frequently pouring the
lava which bursts out from Halemaumau, and which
tends to fill the basin. OF course, this central part
of the great crater was all aglow at night with hun
dreds Of fires, lending additional charm and fascina-
ton 10 the scene. During the night l spent there q
new stream Of lava burst from Halemaumau and
flowed around the base of the hill which surrounds it.
Another unusual sight that has lately been of fire.
quent occurrence IS the falling IN Of the precipitous
walls Of this hill, caused by their being undermined
by the boiling lava at their base. In this way, sec
tions Of the walls, perhaps 200 feet high and weigh
ing tuOuSanuS OF IONS, tumble INTO the merry lake with
q most terrific crash and noise, there to be melted,
boiled over, and thrown out in streams as before
stated. From the verandah of the hotel it looks as if
it might be dangerous to venture among such a
restless, uncomfortable, fiery element but, accom-
panied by a careful guide, there is not the least
danger. Indeed, one loses NIL fear when fairly
launched on a voyage Of discovery amoug the molten
streams and fires of Kilaues, so novel and so fasci-
mating is the sight. 4 more favorable time could
not be selected to visit it than now, in this very
stormy season.
1t may not be generally known that the vicinity of
the crater is more subject to rain than any part Of
Hawaii. This may be caused in part by the heat
which constantly issues from it, affecting the stmos-
phere for miles around. l have often observed the
cloud # smoke rising from the pit to a height of,
say, 1000 feet, taking n sweep to the eastward for
ten miles or more, till it encounters the trade winds
from the sea, then, curving upward, float twenty or
thirty miles to westward, at least 5000 feet above
the crater. This smoke stream often takes the shape
of a hand sickle, the handle resting on the crater,
the blade first curving east, ano its point stretching
far of to westward. At other times it hangs over
the crater like n spread umbrella. As this dark
smoke leaves the crater, perhaps charged with cleo
tricity, it must have a great effect in producing rain
in that immediate neighborhood.
Perhaps the finest sight observed in connection
with the late stormy weather has been the snow on
Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. The first snow storm
Of this winter-and q really novel sight is q snow
storm in the tropics occurred on the 26th Of De-
cember. 1t was accompanied with terrific peals of
thunder and frequent lightning. On the lower lands
we had ram, out the next morning revealed Mauna =
Loa's summit covered with snow down as far as the
in little patches, but perfectly white, as
If it had been covered with q sheet spread over its
entire summit, stretching forty or fifty miles in
length, without an uncovered ridge or hill TO be
seen. 1t is worth a twelvemonth's residence on Ha-
waii to witness such a sight, for 1t is only once in
many years that the entire summit is &c completely
covered, although nearly every winter some snow is
on both mountains. Mauna Kea has also been
well covered with snow the past month, but its sum-
nit being more serraled, the snow lies in drifts. Up
10 the date that / took the steamer at Kawaihae,
%, both mountains had snow on them.
| should like TO write more of interest in this con
lection, but l have given enough to show that there
s a striking sympathy between the volcano and the
rains aud stormy weather around il. OF one thing,
however, we may feel perfectly safe, that there will
be no eruption on Mauna Loa 90 long as the volcano
# kilauea remains open and intensely active as il
low is, for it serves as a wonderful safety-yalve,
provided by an all-wise Creator, to allow the in
creased steam and gases to escape with damage TO
10 one. But when Kilauea becomes closed, even for
short time, and these terribly powerful agents are
hut up in the vast internal fire pits,-heH look out
or an explosion.
Very truly yours, II. NJ. WHITNEY.
Jan. 81, 1879.
z. 5 Allow me 10 suggest that if one or more
nstruments were provided to measure the direction
md force Of earthquakes, and also TO measure the
amount Of electricity in the atmosphere, and sta
Toned at the best points near the volcano, valuable
might be gathered which would assist in
the laws that govern volcanoes in con-
with storms, of which little is yet known. /