The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1896-05-22

tndl naQ upneQVeu the Wnole, ~ oul
right rose remarkable monument or
pillar showing black against the sky,
On every hand yawned deep crevices,
and spent waves Of lava had dashed to-
gether in q myriad of shapes and so
CONCEALED. Hurrying on as well as we
were able, we finally reached a Guide
sac formed by a branching a-a flow,
and here we dismounted and tethered
our animals for the night, This done,
we took our way five hundred yards
over narrow strip of rugged lava, and
all at once stood upon the edge of the
crater of Moluaweoweo.
There before us. at our feet, as it
We're, dawned terrific chasm, with
black perpendicular walls, carrying the
eye down some eight hundred feet to
where, in the inky blaclSness of the
lower basin, there sprung UP in glori-
GUS, sparkling light, self-born, a mighty
fountain of clear molten lava, The an
cient walls that encircle the pit on our
side fell perpendicularly about five
hundred feet, while on the opposite, or
western, side they ran down nearer
eight hundred, to where the plateau
formed a floor to the crater broken
down again to form the pitt The gen.
eral shape of the central crater Mo-
kuaweoweo, was an irregular ellipse,
rather more than three-quarters of a
mile through the shorter axis by about
a mile and quarter
Looking straight across and below us
at a distance in an air line of possibly
three-quarters Of a mile, there rose
from a cone located near the southwest
corner of the lower basin a magnificent
fountain of liquid lava, about seventy
five feet in diameter that sent its vol
ume of brilliant. sparkling molten mat
ter to a height estimated at five hum
bred feet in compact and powerful
jet. The axis of this gigantic fountain
was somewhat inclined toward us, so
that the descending cascade fell clear
and distinct from the upward shooting
Jet, and formed one continuous fall Of
liquid metal, surprisingly beautiful to
gaze upon. Behind this fiery fountain
a dark incline of debris, partly thrown
upby the outbreak and partly formed
by masses falling from the wall against
which it rested, reared itself against
the steep side Of the crater, and stood
OUT DOluIy III lIlc lulellSts llSiI IL tiiV
| incandescent fountain. On the left,
| with its base nearly reached by the IL
quid streams flowing, out from the lake
| into which the cascade fell, was anoth-
er long pile of debris that reached to
| the level of the plateau / should say
| here that the sides of this plateau
| looked to be about one hundred feet
deep to where they met the edge of the
lower basin. The basin itself occupied
about one third of the space bounded
by the ancient walls of the crater
Flowing down the sides of the sym
metrical cone that the falling stream Of
lava was rapidly forming were many
bright rivers of liquid light that,
spreading as they flowed away, and
crossing and recrossing in a tangle of
bright lines, formed a lake of rivulets
that, ever widening, mingling, spread
ing and interlacing, presented a unique
and beautiful appearance. On the ex-
treme right hand verge of this lower ba-
sin detached pools of fire showed that
| while a dark crust was forming on the
! surface beneath the entire area of the
| basin was overflowed by the melted
lava.
we watched steadily the grand foun-
tain playing before us,and called fire.
quently to each other to note when
some tall jet, rising far above the head
of the main stream, would carry with
1t immense masses of white-hot glow
| ing rock, that as they fell and struck
upon the black surface of the cooling
lava burst like meteors in summer
sky.
AS soon as we had reached the sum-
NIT level of the mountain we. heard the
muffied roar of the long pent-up gases
as they rushed out of the opening that
their force had rent in the basins solid
bed. And now that we were In full
view of the grand display, our ears were
filed with the mighty sound, as OF
heavy surf booming in upon leve
shore, while ever and anon mingled
crash and break of sound would call te
mind the heavy rush of ponderous
waves against the rocky cliffs that girt
Hawaii.
Toward our left the party wall thai
shut in the crater of Pohaku Hanalei
stretched across from cliff to cliff at a
lower elevation than the other bounda-
! TleS TO MOkudWeOWeO. Il lolii eiiS " oi>
en- appearance Of the angle formed by
this party wall and the main cliff or
the southeast side, we judged that with
a little nerve one might reach the pla-
teau, and thence, by means of the
| heaped- up pile of debris spoken of be-
fore, get down to the level of the lower
basin. A plan was arranged to attempt
it the next morning, but it was not car
ried out Looking along the rugged
outline of the crater's edge toward oul
right, we noticed vast lava flow that
would cut us off from exploring in thai
direction.
Following on the sky line of the beet.
ling cliff to where it joined the wal
that bounded the southwest side of the
crater, we saw, framed as it were BY
the eastern and western WALL the un
even outline of Mauna Kea. Clear anG
cold looked that distant mountain peak
but not as clear as was the bright ligh
of the lava stream below, nor as cold a!
was the wind that eddied around thu
crater's edge.
| At night the jet looked loftier, ant
gazing intently into the fiery column
with good glass that we had, we coult
see the limpid, sparkling upward je
rising with tremendous force from on
an incandescent lake. Following Ill
| M1 hTnAa e g