The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1880-01-31


seeming nearer all the time. But how
slowly we get away from those tall cliffs
behind us! Stepping down from one
cake to another, a piece of "aa," flat
and sharp as knife, goes through my
shoe as though it were paper, and
lodges fast in my foot. 1t is the work OF
more than a moment to get it out, and
it leaves pain after it,
The lake, on nearer approach, at
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 mailman to q hillock that was I'M
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 broad cake, that,
so far as we know, may in second s
time sink with us into an abyss whose
tossings and splashings we imagine we
hear below us. l hear what sounds
like the sea madly booming in deep
cavern. hear Sizing noise pro-
longed and multiplied. The swash of
breakers, and the scattering of a cloud
of spray, and the grinding and crack
ing of 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 almost
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 cannon
is followed by the rattle of musketry.
just then we jump, run 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 a
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 I'M
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
rocky plain. The clouds of smoke and
gas drive ceaselessly toward the south.
But where is the turbulent sea of fire
that promised myself should seeP l
am about commissioning myself on
having chosen an inauspicious time
| for visit to the crater, when-crack!
and a seam opens clear across the lake,
out of which oozes a yellowish-red
liquid that has much the consistency of
boiling molasses. This cools rapidly,
leaving ridge of a dark hue, which in
few moments becomes black. This
rapidity with which liquid lava con-
geals is a constant surprise. Only a
few moments after flowing by given
point it can be safely walked on, the
stream continuing to flow a few inches
underneath, the only drawback being
the heat, which is not so great, how
ever, as one would expect. Our guide
fassures us that the lake never remains
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 narrow
strait which connects the two, and Hale
mauman begins to rise. The current
sets with great volume and force toward
the island, crowds the narrow channel,
halts moment, and tips one-third of
the island into the lake. 1t is like the
launching of an iron-clad. Liquid
tongues of lava leap over it as it goes
under, and the mighty current moves
| on.
At these times of special commotion
we notice thousands of thread-like OBJ
jects glistening like flaments of glass
as they float in the air. Our guide
stolidly remarks, "Peles hair" We
secure some in a crevice near by, and
do not wonder that the natives gave it
the name it bears, deeming it, as they
once did, the hair of their tabled god
dess. 1t has been torn out by the roots,
so to speak, as at the end of each hair
there is small jet bulb. This product
of the fires is sometimes carried score
or more of miles in the air before being
deposited. We have to handle it very
carefully, as it penetrates the skin like
a needle, and breaks off in the flesh
like small splinter of wood.
We work our way halfway round the
lake, getting new view with every
change of position, until we get tolera-
bly, familiar with the location, shape,
and size of the objects around us. The
fires, we Judge, are hundred feet be-