The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1886-12-30

very startling. There was no noise,
no sound of bird or chirp of insect,
only that vast petrified mass lying
in silence below me as if the waves
of the Atlantic in the ticrcest storm
you ever saw had suddenly CONCEALED
into hardened rock, each bounding
billow preserving it's original size
and shape, and even the kissing
spray turned into consolidated
mist.
But where, then, is the source of
kilauea's present activity, of the
fires which often now burst forth,
and the vast lava floods which often
now innundate the whole adjoining
country? Do you see those clouds
of smoke and vapor rising yonder
and covering the heavens with their
gray folds? Do you see that lurid
light reddennlng the sky and reflect
cd from the black hills beyond?
That is all that remains of that once
vast ocean of fire. But it is enough,
as you will presently see. Here is
crater within crater; a lake of
liquid fire in the midst of petrified
sea around; boiling, tempestuous,
seething activity amid a broad ex-
panse of desolation and death.
A SERPENT OF FIRE.
1t was already late in the after
noon when we started for the lake.
1t was to be tramp of three miles
or more, and we were to do it on
foot, for no horse or mule could
possibly be trusted for the journey.
Every man armed himself with a
thick stick and lantern, for the
way was slippery and it would be
pitch dark ere we returned. First
came the long-steeped declivity by
which we were to descend. One
fourth the way down We passed a
stone cross raised on mound near
by. 1t marked the spot where, not
long since, a young Englishman
dropped dead on his return from the
burning lake. Poor fellow! The
excitement from what he had seen
and the ensuing fatigue were too
much for him, and just in view of
the Volcano House he sank and with
out a word or sign yielded up his
life.
Down, down, down, till it seemed
as if the lava plain would never be
reached How the steep precipices
began to frown upon us! They
looked as if they were at least a
thousand feet high. Finally the
bottom was reached and we stood
on the edge of the petritied sea,
which stretched almost illimitably
before us. "Be careful now, boys"
said the guide; Nollow just in my
TRAIL and we did our best so to do,
staggering along paths so jagged
that it seemed as if every particle of
shoe leather would be torn from our
feet, by jutting masses of lava which
threatened to stave in our pibs, down
declivities so sudden that our canes
were snapped in twain, and then
over great yawning crevices through
which the heat would pour like the
blast of furnace. The lurid glare
in front of us marked our way, but
it seemed as if we would never reach
it; besides the rain began to pour
down making the path doubly slip
perry and drenching us to the skin.
Finally the guide drew up on little
mound to the leeward of the great
volume of steam and smoke, and we
were told to look down. We were
standing on the very edge of the
burning lake, which stretched GU,
below us to the depth of five or six
hundred feet. And what a sight
A vast expanse of liquid lava, il
some places boiling and sputterine
like the contents of Il caldron, III
others bursting out into lurid jets Of
flame, in others still yawning in long
crevices, red hot through, and pre-
senting n singular network of fire
like lace pattern spread over the
floor of a house. Great pillars Of
lava stood here and there amid thu
molten expanse, like lighthouses il
a bay, and through orifices at thu
top they gave forth the most inferno
Kissing and gurgling sounds tina
you can imagine. Vast lurid fires
too, cleaned in the distance, sui
phurous vapors poured forth from
hidden vent holes, and the darl
precipices around glared with al
unearthly effulgence. 1t was Dante
"1nferno" over again ! could thinl
of nothing but ''the fire that i
never quenched," ''the bottomles
pit whose smoke ascendeth foreve
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