The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1893-10-10
A VOLCANIC ERUPTION IN HA-
Wall
Vivid Description Of Magnificent but
Awe-lnspiring Spectacle.

disturbances that are on record, and
the announcement just made that the
same mountain in Hawaii is giving
evidence of another eruption adds
new interest to my experience.
The pretty little town of Honolulu,
where Mtssrs Stevens and Blount have
made their names famous, does not
stand upon the larger island of the
the Sandwich group. Its founders
were wise when they left Hawaii to
give its name to the nation and placed
their capital on the smaller Oahu.
But for this precaution Honolulu might
long ere this have suffered the fate Of
Pompeii, or been abs utely destroyed
in sea Of lava. For the greater Ha-
waii is little more than a group of vol
canoes, although | specially commend
it to the traveller in whom a love of
nature may transcend the ruder a,trac-
tior of trade or politics.
1t is not only the largest and grand
est of the islands, but historically the
most interesting, practically the least
useful, and among the natural curositles
unique. Yatchsmen on the Pacific
coast are lucky in having such des-
tination before them for a cruise, and
with big American hotel at the foot
Of Mauna Kea, or overlooking Keala-
kekua Bay, nothing but little engineer
ing would be needed to make it a rich
pleasure resort, with just enough spice
of the terrible to give it an exceptional
value
| cannot promise always such con-
dltlons as those under which first saw
Hawaii, but they may exist at any time,
and there will always be ample COM
pensstion for the visitor. An island
of some 1000 square miles, composed
entirely Of four volcanic mountains,
rising nearly $4,000 feet out of the
sea, with preCipices sometimes over
hanging 1000 feet Of perpendicular
rcck, is at all times a picturesque
object Of approach. But during an
eruption, when fire and vapor ard
molten rocks are being thrown 1000
feet into the air from numberless
craters, the chief of which is nine miles
in circumference, no imagination can
picture the scene.-~For such, indeed,
was happening when had my first
introduction to this remarkable island.
A FINE CRUISING GROUND.
There is really no more enjoyable
cruising ground than the Pacific.
Yachtmen who can think of nothing
but the Mediterranean, or at best the
civilized spots of Europe or the West
Indies, remind me of those all en-
thusiastic fox hunters who "revel in
the glorious sport" when weather is
fine, and where fences are low, water
scarce and good luncheon is part of
the program, but would shiver in a
Scotch mist and tremble before bull
finch.
To enjoy yachting it is positively not
necessary to drop anchor nowhere but
before a hosptable club house or in
the waters of some fashionable resort
And when it is remembered that the
experiences to be had With a small
schooner in the waters between Amer
lea and Australia are such now as can
not all recur for the pleasure Of another
generation, the piquancy should be in
creased. Already FIJI and the Navi-
gators have lost much of the character
they had few years ago, and many of
the lesser groups Of islands have also
lost that element of insecurity which
within my recollection gave zest to the
visit ashore. There are, indeed, very
few left where the most amateurish
lyachtsman would not have to offer
strong provocation before he could earn
a place in history by being tomahawked
and eaten.
| had been two or three months
mingling pleasure with business amid
the islands of the Pacific, when late
one afternoon, after sudden change Of
wind, there came over every one on
board a vague feeling that something
was happening somewhere. The sea
was smooth, and the vessel, making
less than four knots under full spread
of canvass, rose and fell languidIy to
the long, peculiar roll of that ocean.
We were distant eighty miles or more
from Hawaii, and when darkness set in
our captains prediction that an erup-
ton was in progress there received
strong veriication Before sunset the
sky to the eastward had been strangely
dark, even black; now it was lit up by
a ruddy glare, and some OF us thought
We heard rumblings as of distant thun-
der, only continuous and deep.
BEFORE THE ERUPTION.
1t was at once agreed to change our
course and stand in for Hawaii, follow
ing almost exactly the track which
more than a century ago Captain Cook
had followed when he and his COM
panions fell victims to the cannibals oi
Owhyhee. Nobody went below that
night, The wind freshened for some
hours, then fell away to a calm, or
blew in fitful gusts from different dlrec-
tions in succession. Watchfulness was
. rewarded, Hour by hour the lipht i'm