The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1896-03-12
feature of the trip, had brought
their riding habits with them.

lCdCu1 = VI C11O ~ r, Aou OAONS
their riding habits with them.
A few of these were native
Hawaiian women, whose Gus
tom it is to ride astride, and
their flowing habits, reaching
nearly to the ground upon
each side of the horse, and
streaming out in the rear when
they rode swiftly, were a pic
turesque feature of the calva-
cade The road is bordered up
on both sides, as has been said,
with luxurious plant growth
palms, great tree ferns, and
other tropical foliage, but be-
yond this and partially hidden
from the road are the coffee
plantations; for this is the re-
gion where the coffee plant
grows, and now that the crown
lands are open for settlement,
this region is soon expected to
rival in Importance the great
sugar-producing areas in other
portions of the islands.
The journey to Kilauea from
Hilo is not far from forty miles,
and although the road is excel
lent, it was nearly sundownn
when we reached the Volcano
House where we found ample
Accommodations. The sensation
of sitting down to comfortable
meal, and, above all, of going
to bed, in a house situated
close to the crater of a volcano
is decidedly curious, and one.
which can be realized nowhere
in the world but here. We did
not, however, retire at once to
bed, weary as we were from
our journey, for it is after
nightfall that the fearful sub
Unity of Kilauea is seen at it's
best. It is not safe, however,
to venture far away from the
Volcano House, even in the
daytime, without a guide, for
what may seem, perhaps, as
solid ground, covered with a
tangle of Towering vines, may
| be a pitfall, where the indis-
Greet wanderer may receive an
unlucky tumble.
The volcano, as has been
said, never overflows the up
per rim of an immense crater
upon the floor of the tremen-
dous depression upon the sum
nit of the mountain, which
scientists have called the cal
dera. The outer rim of the cal
dera is several hundred feet
above it's floor, and it is a hard
but not dangerous scramble
down the decliv1ty. The foo,
is composed of cooled lava, and
is evidently only crust cover.
ing the immense lake of mol.
ten fire which boils and seethes
beneath. Here and there, as
the traveller crosses this floor
are assures, through which are
visible the fires below, and 6
stick thrust into one is quickly
charred.
It is a walk of a mile or two
over this lava floor, before one
reaches the great lava lake
Halmaumau, or the House o:
Everlasting Burning. Grea'
cliffs surround the pit, VI
which one must scramble
Once at the summit, he gaze.
down into the awful chasm, fo
hundreds of feet, into the seeth
ing mass of boiling lava below
For more than a year prior t.
the Sd of January the grea
lake had been quiescent. TIL.
great mass of lava had SUM
away, down the vast shaft I'm
til scarcely vestige of it wa'
to be seen. But upon that dat,
it began to rise in the shaft
boiling and tumbling as i
came. Within twenty-fou
hours it had risen to the top O
the shaft and begun to over
flow upon the floor of Hale
maumau. In a few hours {
lake, $50 feet in length by 2O(
in width, had formed within
the pit, and this was hourly
increasing in area until at the
/ time of our visit it had reached
| fully double these dimensions
| By the time that this lette1
reaches it's readers the lake
will doubtless have reached
it's normal size, when the vol
cano is in full action, which is
about 1000 by 10000 feet. 1t is
impossible to describe AIDE
quately, the tremendous sight
Standing upon the crest of the
I Il