The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1888-07-27
pELE'S D0lNGS,

same. When L, after a very lone
some ride of s hours, came in the
neighborhood of the Volcano house,
1 saw smoke issuing from all and
every of the numerous cracks; and,
as it was my first visit to the realms
of Pele, it presented to me very
interesting and novel sight. Some
times the smoke would be very
dense, completely enveloping the
bushes, then again it would quickly
disappear, only to come out so much
thicker afterwards.
AS l was too tired to go down
into the crater the same night, and
also on account of rainy weather, l
concluded to wait till the next day.
1t was a grand sight TO see the
smoke and glare over the new lake,
and the volcano showed signs Of
great activity.
To the Z. n. L. of the cone
Madame Pele has built magnificent
church, with a splendid perpendicu-
lar steeple, tapering to point, and
ending in a little knob. A short
distance another building has been
erected, evidently the residence
of the minister. The resemblance
is very striking, so much so,
that it would be very diff
cult on photograph to distinguish
this church, that was thrown up
Sunday night, June oath, from a
real one.
Saturday afternoon on the 9TH,
the Guide and | went down into the
crater. When we arrived near to
the cone, we had to walk over new
lava flow. 1t was 4S hours old, and
in places very hot. This flow eman-
ated from the "spitting hole" a
small opening to the N. w. of the
cone. The heat and smoke here
were excessive, and we had to hurry
over it. We went near to the lake,
but as it was too hot, we took a seat
on the side of the cone. The smoke
was so dense, and the heat so great
that we could not ascend the mau-
mau, and we had to stay where we
were.
The new lake 1 think is about 800
feet in diameter. The lava l
judged TO be about 1913 feet below
the rim, and boiling very violently,
sometimes in eight places. While
we were sitting there, the lava rose
constantly, until it came up to with
in foot from the rim, and boiling
and kissing and splashing most
violently, sometimes throwing the
molten lava over 80 feet up in the
air. As the lake became more and
more active, and as the lava rose
higher and higher, the "spitting
hole" showed greater and greater
activity. There was something
awful in the sight, and what made it
more so, were the groaning, rum
bling sounds we heard under our
feet and in the bowels of the cone.
To describe the impression it made
on me, is impossible. Suffice it tc
say that it surpassed my widest ex,
pectations.
Returning in the dark, it made
me at first a little scared to walk
over the hot lava, and see it red hot
in every little crack. We went right
past the elbow hole" large rock
with several holes in it. Every now
and then a rumbling, surging SOUND
would be heard, always followed by
a strong blast out of one of thu
holes, and a flame would shoot ou
Is to 20 feet-in fact it was 81
awful, that l did not like to stay
there very long. When we came il
sight of the church, we could SCI
that the Minister had lit his lamp
He was probably preparing hi
sermon for the next day. The re-
Election of the light that was shining
out of his window, could be seen OF
the church tower. Round us, al
over, the activity was increasing
fast, and the sulphurous smoke be
came so dense, that we had t.
hasten out of it as soon as posi-
BILE.
Returning to the Volcano house
a splendid meal awaited me, and
did it full justice. After that w
sat on the verandah watching tn
fireworks below. A large increas
in the reflection told us, that q new
flow took place, and with the help o
our glasses we could see how tina
the "Spitting hole" sent column
of lava many feet out, in slantins
direction. 1t had done SO when
was down in the crater, splitting i
out some 80 or GO feet, but l thinl
it threw it greater distance after
wards. The light was shining
brightly out of the window in tn
Parsonage" all the time. Short
after midnight the glare and tn
activity decreased, and about
O'Clock in the morning the Ministe
blew out his lamp and went to bee
and so did l.
Thanks to the genial host an
hostess, j spent very pleasar
| tin1a of tho NnIoono housa II