The National tribune., 1881-12-10
THE CRATER OF KILAUEA,

The following picture of the fearful crater
of Kilauea is from the Honolulu Advertiser.
Tourists to the volcano for many years past all
remember certain active pools of lava the North
and South Lakes, which ordinarily bubbed and
tossed a fiery food at depth of about 100 feet
below the floor of the great crater. Now these
lakes have all been filled up, and there have
arisen peaks and cones of hard lava that rise
loo feet above the south bank of the great crater
"hch is about 900 feet high. But there has burst
lorth new opening in the great crater floor not far
distant from the old lakes and created new lake
almost round In fOrm about 600 feet across and !.
some seventy feet in depth, in ordinary stages
below the surrounding brink Here the prea
Hawaiian volcano presents the most varied fam
tastlc play OF liquid lava. Here are some of the
phases of the play of fire lake. as recently oh
served in the crater of Kilauea. Sometimes it
seems almost to Sleep and the disannoipted visi-
tor looks down into black valley and observes
a smoking pit giving no more evidence of conn
bustion than tar kiln. But the observer stands
on the brink of the pit, or great pool or lake, as
now appears, about 600 feet across, and whose
surface is about seventy feet below him. And
what is this surface? 1t presents dark silver
gray hue, with satiny shine. This is a crust of
quiescent lava, and the observer who has expect
ed to have his sense of wonder strained to speech
lessness says: SIS this ALP" No look! the frozen
CLASSY lake is alive. What heave in the centre
some mighty beast lifting up that floor! Now
a wave of undulatiOn runs round the lncrusted
marge And there is an outburst, blood red
fount, gushing and bubbling from one of earth's
arteries. The broad disk of the lake heayes and
trembles! Fitful gaseous flashes fit across and
now the moving floor cracks and serrated is-
sure like the suture of a skull runs from marge
to marge, and quick, darting streaks, sudden
cracks of the crust shoot across in all directions
These serrated streaks are at first rosy lines on
the gray surface then they widen like crimson
ribbons broadening to the view. They undulate
with the bllowy motion Of the whole upheaving
surface. Another crimson fount springs up along
the now fretting and roaring rim of the lake;
and another and another of now wildly upleap-
ing fountains of fire toss high their CORY crests,
even casting gouts and cots of the red spray that
fall and harden near the observers feet. By this
time the spirit of our inferno is aroused. The
whole fierce red lake is all boil, and leap, and
roar. It is more than the roar of loud sea surfs
beating bold bluffs. The surging tide of the mol
ten earth sounds a deeper believing bass than
any note of the sounding sea. And now the
heayed-up crust broken into fragments is churned
up and dissolved in the boiling food. The roar
ing gulf is now, indeed, vortex of indescribable
glories and terrors Caves open the sides of the
surrounding wall, and man sees more of hell
than he ever imagined. A thousand demons are
now holding high carnival in this bottomless pit
and the leap and play of fiery flood, the dance
and swell of red surging tide, and the roar and
shrek of the dread forces issuing from the red
hot pulsating heart of the planet, make thought
full observer hold his hand to his own heart and
say, This is enough; the Almighty is here"