Daily Honolulu press. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1886, 1886-03-27
NEWS FROM THE VOLCANO.
Evidences Of Returning Activity.

Knowing the deep interest felt in the
changes and freaks of Madame Pele by
residents and visitors, | take the liberty
Of deferring, for the present, the nara
ton of my trip hither in its order of
sequence, and hasten to report what the
delegation OF spies have found.
Various and contradictory reports
met the parties enquiries at all points
and stations enroute, and with fears
and misgivings we came into full view
of the crater of Kilauea, on the west
side, where the Kau road brought us,
in a steady drizzling rain, which, to-
gether with the emissions from numer-
Gus steam cracks and assures, not only
in the floor Of the crater, but on its
sides and banks, SO enveloped the
whole crater as to assure us of the pres
ence of fire. On reaching the Volcano
House we learned that this condition
had been observed now for several
days, and that fire could be seen in
various cracks. | have noticed that the
steam in the crater is very much less in
the early part of the day, but grows
more intense as the day wanes. There
has been no material change in the
sunken portion of the crater, except
continual falling in of rocks and debris
from its banks, as the contraction from
its former intense heat loosened their
compactness and sent them hurting
some 600 or 100 feet below, giving
forth at times boom as of distant
thunder, followed by clouds of cinders
and ashes shooting up into the air 100
to 800 feet, proportionate, doubtless,
to the size of the newly-fallen mass.
Yet, Notwithstanding this condition of
the huge pit or yawning chasm, Rev.
E. P. Baker descended into it on the
1 9TH instant to within what he judged
to be fifty feet of the bottom. His
recorded experience in the Volcano
House records does not recommend
the feat to others at present, nor did its
appearance to the art and historic party
yesterday impress us with feelings of
assured security
Intense heat-waves were found issu-
ing from two partly broken cones near
the brink to the west of Halemaumau's
ruins, also from two broken domes in
front or north of the middle break,
while close to the edge of the north
east portion of where New Lake stood
are two breaks where the heat is most
intense, and living fire cannot be far
from the surface. On the south rim
of the cavity, from which point we OBJ
tanned cur first close view of the i'm
mense pit, and where Mr.. t. SEVERN
took his first in-the-crater view of it Che
had obtained two views from a shelter
ing ledge on the west bank), the guide
set fire to his stick by inserting it in a
crevice not more than fifty feet from
where we we're standing; so that we
had evidences of fire on all sides. The
source of the greatest activity being at
the New Lake side of the crater, and
evidently increasing, impresses me with
the idea that when the clogged chan
nels of this subterranean fire becomes
sufficiently cleared the new outbreak
will occur in that vicinity. The bottom
and sides of Halemaumau are burned
to lifeless mass; there seems to be nc
section of fusable rock, and if so, the
chances for viewing this interesting
phenomenon will be probably short
lived, for the first molten lava in its
vicinity will hasten to fillit again to the
brim.
Interesting as Kilauea naturally is If
state of activity, this periodic change
will give it zest to tourists, and should
enhance considerably its interest tc
scientists and students of nature.
T. G. t.
Volcano House,
Crater of Kilauea, March 20, 1886.