The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1894-01-27
4 DESCRIPTION OF THE VOLCANO.
a Vivid Account OF Scenes on Hawaii
The Bard OF Dal0eattie" Enter
tains his Fellow TOwnsmen with n
Talk About the Islands.


ject, which was delivered under the
auspices of the Dalbeattie Mechanics
Institute. Mr.. w. Smith occupied the
chair, and briefly introduced the lee
turer.
Mr.. Ewart commenced his journey
round the island of Hawaii from Hilo,
the principal town on the island, of
which he gave a description. He also
described the most interesting and
MIST important sights in and around
the tOwn-the Rainbow Falls, Cocoa
nut Island and the old craters of Ha-
lai. Although his lecture was entitled
"Unbeaten tracks OH Hawaii" he
found 10 necessary to follow the beaten
track as far as the volcano of Kilauea.
He gave an extract from a letter of
writer who had visited the volcano
recently, but he considered the best
descriptive effort ever made with
Kilauea for a text was that by Mrs.
Bishop isabella l.. Bird. After all
it was an attempt to describe the in
describable. John RuSkin, the greatest
word painter in the English language
would feel how punyand weak his most
glowing and elaborate sentences
would be to convey any adequate idea
of the glory and the terror of Kilauea.
No painter can ever paint it. There
is no color on his palette to represent
the CHASTITY glare of the pale yellows
of its sulphurous clouds, the weird
and unearthIy cTimsons and Scarlets
of its awful floods, or the intense black
of the shadows of its charred and
blackened rocks. Notwithstanding
these remarks, he presented the two
sketches of Dana Lake, and he had
executed them in the hope that they
might convey to his audience some
impression of what the interior of that
awful pit was like, which had
earned for itself the not inappro
pirate title of "The Worlds In
ferno." Our limited space prevents
us from giving as much of ar.
Ewart's account of the journey
round Hawaii as we could desire.
His audience followed him with
great interest as he rode through the
lava-bound district of Kau, and
along the western shores of Kona.
He described the old temple at
Honaunau, and exhibited pic |
ture of the now neglected gods |
carved in wood and stone. He |
described the fierce conflict of Kua- |
moo, when the people broke through |
the kapu, and the army of the up |
holders of idolatry, with all its cruel |
ty, its wretchedness and Its folly, was |
utterly routed by the forces of Liho-
Hho. The landing of the missionaries |
three months after was also touched |
upon, when they found a nation wan
dering through
Barren fields of unbelief.
Sans God, sans creed, to guide their wan
dering feet.
The lecturer described the journey |
over the Waimea plains and the SUBJ
sequent descent into the valleys of
Waimanu and Waipio. He entered |
into minute description of these
valleys and the numerous gorges that
pierce the foot of Mauna Kea along
the northeastern shores of the island.
He contradicted the assertion in a
modern geography that Hawaii is
naked and waterless iron-bound ISL
and, mass of lava, full of volcanoes"
and gave as an instance that between
and Hilo, distance of
thirty miles, there were no less than
sixty streams. Mr.. Ewart, in con-
clusion, said the coast of Hawaii,
through which we have passed-in-
deed the whole island-bears I'M
evidence that in the dis
tant ages earthquakes have rent their
strange and shattered way throughout
its whole length; that rivers of liquid
fire have rolled down their incandes-
cent floods from the summit craters of
the mountains, and burned out the
leep valleys that open their mouths
TO the sea. In time the disintegrated
ava afforded a scanty foothOld for
and as the years went by |
t grew and increased, and peace came
% the shining shores at last. All
along this northern shore of Hawaii |
here were few spots, few crannies or
,revices in the mountain walls, where
some vegetable form has not covered
is nakedness and found grace to grow, |
with cooling rills to water it and sun
shine to warm it with beauty and
strength There is q tangled veil of
gorgeous creepers and swaylng vines
dangling over the faces of the cliffs,
Dying with the spray and the mists '
If the cascades. There is a cataract
leep and shady glens; curtain
woven of the azure and the
crimson convolvuli, and myriads of
things, spreading in con-
1agration of color over an 1nundatlon
If parasitic life that has clasped the
,rees and the cliffs in its embrace,
md lives and blooms and basks in the
smile Of a never-ending summer.
The lecture was illustrated by four
Ewart from photographs in his pos
session. The pictures represented the !
following places: "Hilo from the
Sea, I" "Rainbow Falls" "On the Vol
,ano Road" two pictures of the "The
Dana Lake" "Hookena," 'Native
House at Kailua," "Waipio Valley"
'Onomea," "Cocoanut Island" "a
Stream" "The Akaka
Falls" and one picture gives repre-
of some of the old Hawaiian
dolls. They were all executed In
color, and we know that the lecturer
spent considerable time in getting
I'D these illustrations, The applause
was frequent during the evening, and
1t the close, on the motion OF Bal!le
Craik, a very hearty vote of thanks
vas accorded Mr.. Ewart.-Dalbeattie
Observer.