The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1880-01-29

How Of the fiery tide, in much'th same
way that buoys do along the sea-coast.
1 take my first step on tho floor of the
largest known Of active volcanoes, and
it crackles under foot like the icy sur.
face on snow. When the lava, in how-
ing over given place, cools, it forms
q thin cruse of the consistency Of glass.
hard and sharp, but exceedingly brittle.
Underneath this crust the lava congeals
more slowly, and is dense and heavy,
whereas the crust is as light as char
coal.
How this thin layer glistens on its
upper side! In the sunlight it gives back
all the colors of the precious jewels.
On its surface it is comparatively
smooth; but here the light penetrates
millions of miniature cells, and makes
each one beautiful with a beauty all its
own. Our guide, who has come with
us to carry our basket of goods and
canteen of water, and TO show us the
way, pretends-with how much truth [
am not able to say-that this wafer-like
crust in some places is only q treach-
erous covering to concealed caves and
assures, into which it might be fatal to
fall. And so we follow his lead after
this, rather than risk it on our own re-
sponsibility. And don't we keep close
at his heelsf-several times literally
stepping on them, so concerned are we
lest we fail to do the thing Just right.
Mentally, L don't believe word about
the caves; practically, l shall avoid
them if can. Fe,. -. g.
So crunch, crunch, we go in Indian
file, on our weary three-mile walk.
Here is q place where the lava, when
flowing, spread out its long fingers like
the tentacles of devil-ish. Here we
are reminded of the great hawsers of
an ocean-steamship, so literally are the
twistings of rope initiated. break off
small cone, q few inches high, and
find that it is a nest of sulphur crystals.
/ put my hand over a crack, and it is
uncomfortable warm. step on one
end of q large sheet of lava, and it
breaks like ice, giving me fall Of six
inches or more,-a thing which some
what startles me, but which shall get
used to in an hour. And SO we plod on,
the lake, whose banks alone we see,
seeming nearer all the time. But how
slowly we get away from those tall cliffs
behind us! Stepping down from one
cake to another, q piece of ''aa," fiat
and sharp as knife, goes through my
shoe as though it we're paper, and
lodges fast in my foot. 1t is the work of
more than q moment to get it out, and
it leaves q pain after it.
The lake, on nearer approach
least the spot where the smoke is rising,
seems to be on an elevation; and, as
we go up, we wonder what our sensa-
tions will be when at last we reach a
point from which we can view the whole
thing. A mile back, our guide had
kindled our excitement by running like
q madman to a hillock that was un-
usually black and glistening, and which,
on inspection, proved to be decidedly
warmer than anything else we had
seen.
This was last night" he said, with
face beaming. Now he leads across
assures that are multiplying about us,
and from which steam and hot air pour
forth. This place looks as though it
might vomit liquid lava any moment.
Here we teeter on a broad cake, that,
so far rs we know, may in a second s
time sink with us into an abyss whose
tossings and splashings we imagine we
hear below us. / hear what sounds
like the sea madly booming in a deep
cavern. hear sizzing noise pro-
longed and multiplied. The swash OF
breakers, and the spattering of cloud
Of spray, and the grinding and crack
ing of a river breaking up in spring,
are sounds which become more distinct
at each step. The heat becomes in
tense. All the way the sun has shone
with steady glare, and its rays have
been sent back from the glass-like floor
into our faces. But now the heat is OF
that dry, parched nature which almest
burns to ones bones. Hotter and still
hotter it comes in great waves. Louder
and louder are the sounds SO strangely
mixed. A report deep as of a cannon
is followed by the rattle Of musketry.
just then we jump, run a few steps to
the left, and Lake Halemauman, "the
house everlasting" comes into full
view.
The first sensation is one of disap-
pointment. The sounds continue in all
their variety; at the farther end is q
red-hot cave, into which the lava booms
and splashes, and from whose roof
hang numberless orange-colored stall
actites, just in process of formation
the ends of the larger ones anon bathed
in the ebbing and flowing lava, and
dripping like melted icicles. To the
right is an island whose sides are mark
ed by livid line at the point of con-
tact with the surface of the lake. Be-
hind this island there seems to be un-
usual activity; and the surface, all mol
ten, heaves like pillows, and, dashing
against the walls which inclose the
lake, spatters them with drops, The
surface of the lake is as immobile as q
rocky plain. The clouds of smoke and
gas drive ceaselessly toward the south.
But where is the turbulent sea of fire
that promised myself I should seep
am about commiserating myself on
having chosen an inauspicious time
for q visit to the crater, when-crack
and q seam opens clear across the lake,
out of which oozes q yellowish-red
liquid that has much the consistency oi
boiling molasses. This cools.rapidly,
leaving q ridge of a dark hue, which in
few moments becomes black. This
rapidity with which liquid lava con.
geals is o constant surprise. Only 9
few moments after flowing by q giver
point it can be safely walked on, the
stream continuing to flow few inches
underneath, the only drawback being
the heat, which is not so great, how
ever, as one would expect. Our guide
assures US that the lake never remain.
long the same; and SO we are not sur
prised to see the activity increase
Over toward the cave, into which the
lava is fiercely throwing itself, fountains
begin playing, hobbing around like
seals in water. The whole surface be
gins to move, the cracks multiply, and
like an iron tide, the current sets in be
hind the island-fountains playing now
at many points over the rapidly-chang
ing surface. This motion sends the
lava Of South Lake in through a narrow
strait which connects the two, and Hale
mauman begins to rise. The curren
sets with great volume and force TOWARD
the island, crowds the narrow channel
halts q moment, and tips one-third o
the island into the lake. 1t is like tn,
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