Saturday press. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1880-1885, 1885-05-16

VubHN HaFc Hldut w We lauBhtu Bouu
deal poked our walking sticks into fiery
crannies said diTespectiul things of Pees
complexion made irrelevant and perhaps IL.
reverant jests about everything vifible and
many things invi,blc through Jumps Of
lava down the fiery gullet of the Little Began
until, half an hour after sunset, we seram.
bled up to the narrow ledge whence we could
look down on lIalemaumau.
In the time Of the great deluge tKaiakahinlii)
there was mighty agitation in the Pacific and
all the southern seas were a bubble, as IL
monsters were at work beneath the surface.
Monsters there were at work but not of the
sea. That mighty commotion was the north.
ward course Of Pee, who, with her Ave
brothers and eight sisters, was on their way
from Tahiti to Hawaii. When they landed
Kamohoali, Keoahikamkaua, Makoiewa.
waiwaa, iIiakahoikepoliopele ('the cloud.
holder that kisses the bosom Of Pele') and all
the rest Of them, wen, to live in Klauea.
So runs the legend. So we nigh, easily
have believed as we stood there and looked
down upon that strangely beautiful scene.
Two Of US had seen the Tavernier paintings,
and so were better prepared for the beauty tina,
Burst on the vision as dream
Tha, make, undreAmed delight to seem"
Imagine level floor, walled by an ampithea.
tire OF beetling crags, save the gallery where we
stood, and broader, smoother gallery hun.
dred feet below, with a perlous fight of dizzy,
t,xa v,,t. 49,. ~
clambered and stood almost at the edge Of the
level floor. Not quite at the edge the heat
was too intense. For the mos, part the floor
was jet black, crust Of partially cooled lava.
But here and there the white. hot metal burned
through the thin crust, and portions Of the
jetty blackness became molten brightness,
almost too intense to look upon changing
| back again. sometimes by slow sometimes by
swift gradations, from white to yellow, from
yellow to flame red, from fame red to dull
brown, from dull brown to inky black
The lake was not in intense action. II was
depressed energy that made those fiery 1igzags
and spirals and disks and whirl POOLS But
twice during the while we watched there a
| III us
pigmy way as tn. great lake of fire that yawned
to the gaze of those haole pioneers, fifty years
ago-and jets of molten metal rose to the
height OF perhaps twenty feet and fell back
into the bubbling caldrons whence they come.
The light and heat were less intense from the
upper gallery, to which we returned with the
las, light of deepening dusk. I, was raining
gently as we sat looking our last upon it. The
light from long stream Of fire that ran in a
broken line across the lake, lit up grotesquely
the beetling walls on every side deepening the
gloom OF the shadows and bringing into sharper
relief the outlines we had peopled with fan,as.
tic imagery. 1t was not AS we had feared il
might be-awful, grewsome, terrible it was
only magnificent.
II we had tried TO think about the tremcn.
dous energy that made that magnhcience pus.
sible, II our knowledge of physics had compre.
hended some knowledge of the science Of
volcanic il we had gene into speculation oil
the cause behind the cause" perhaps it nigh,
have seemed more awesome than it did. But
TO us, that night, it was merely splendid
pageant and we were merry children, enjoy
ing i, to The full.
Then we went slowly back to the house
pausing at intervals to rest, to peer into
+ crevices, to see narrow, slowly.crawlne
rivuiet Of lava, that was moving on the still
warm crust across which led our sulphur linee
trail. 1t was only little past eleven when W,
reached the foot Of the pail below the house
But il was almost midnigh, when we reached
the warmth and comfort of the sitting room
tire place for the natron was weared by tn
six miles of uneven walking.
!. Mr.. Shipman gave us jolly little supper
and we sat before the fireplace for an hou,
alter 1t, discussing the other fireplace thre,
miles away. Then we went to bed and .lep
the sleep Of the satisfied
f 1t rained SO hard the following day an,
, evening that we gave up second trip to tn
cd lake. The new lake had been quiet al
/ the first night and all the second day. Blu
. about nine o'clock that nigh, sudden glar
Z made us all rush to the front porch, and W
4 saw the new lake ''go all to pieces all a
once"--as the deacon's shay did. Twas tn
y most startling bit Of incandescence ever saw
!, II we had tarried longer with Hos, SHIP
, man, he would have shown US Little Kilauea
{ an extinct, or perhaps somnolent crater nc
lar away yet rarely visited the Echo Hole
a mother extinc, crater the Koa groves fror
which kamehameha used to get his wa
E canoes and perhaps other wonders. al
sorry now We did not stay another day.
: Before we left, Lord Ross wrote some bad
4 dish eSe--embalming an excellent sen,imer
in the hotel register and l added fe
e lines OF very bald prose. testifying the apr,
n citation OF the party for a genial reception
o good entertainment, and--a "hrst.rate tim
n generally" as Don Juliano said. We doul
not tina, Mr.. Wilder's enterprise may add muc
to the comforts. conveniences and Injuries
o the Volcano House. But Mr.. Wilder's cater,
&c will find |, diffcul, to prepare more accept,
is BILE rePast than our dinner Of wild turkey roas
u ohe.o sauce, crisp fresh vegetables, good brea
d and good butter. 1t will linger long in ii
N recollection Of all OF us.
Al But on Saturday morning babe the o,he
" farewell, turned Sooners unwilling nose /,
K wards the Puma trail, and babe him folio
$. both.
re My volcano experience Was doubtless vel
e like tina, Of many another. When il shall b
:, come other than a delightful memory. sha
be conscious OF approaching do,age.
n pohoiki, Puma, April 10. 1855. RS. 5.
= Mr.. L. |. Nichols has jus, published We
neat map OF the Island Of Hawaii. compil,