The Hawaiian gazette., 1897-09-21

would be greatly benefited; and sun
| flashing signals could usually be made
to the summit of Haleakala and thence
| to other localities. may remark that
one Sunday morning Captain Sinner
son of the steamship Mauna Loa tried
to flash up to me from Punaluu. How
ever, l was not on that side of the
mountain. To reach there would have
been obliged to leave my camp at an
early hour with the thermometer far
below the freezing point.
My descent into the crater was made
on the northwest side. 1t was a tedi-
GUS operation and one had to tread
warily on the loose boulders that are
often inclined to roll down and crush
the intruder on his way. AS soon as
reached near the centre of the great pit
the clouds began to pour in on all sides
over the lips of the crater. In few
minutes l was enveloped in dense
mist, and any further observation was
rendered impracticable. During the
prevailing dry clear weather with a
cloudless sky smoke" is only evident
in two places in the crater, one near
the centre and in the other in the
southwest corner from the base of a
yellowish cliff where there are appar-
emily extensive deposits of sulphur.
When, however, the sky is clouded,
and especially when the air is moist,
white vapour may be seen arising from
the greater part of the surface of the
crater. The change is a little startling.
the true explanation being that large
nf tho orrn1und ir
visible in cloudy murky weather 1t is,
therefore, possible that the accounts of
two observers may vary greatly as to
the crater's condition, and yet no diff
ference in the condition actually exist.
This especially applies to the district
on the south and southwest borders
of the crater stretching about a mile
to the southwark In cloudy weather
white vapour arises from many places
in this area. In the bright clear wealth
er that prevails the visitor may see
nothing and even walk unwittingly
over numerous cracks and assures
whence the invisible vapour is being
discharged. l took the temperature of
several OF these assures. In those
where the vapour WIS only seen in
cloudy weather the temperature was
about 104 deg. When the smoke" is
always visible the temperature is far
higher, $50 deg. and over Many of
these cracks and assures exhibit evil
dence of having originally giving pas
sage to vapours at very high temper
ature. The red glaze that coats their
sides could never have been produced
by the comparatively cool vapors now
discharged from them. | should judge
that the subterranean heat is now
more actively displayed in the district
extending a mile to the south of the
big crater than in the crater itself. A
very large amount of vapour is dis
charged from the borders of a small
crater lying near Pohaku Hanalei, and
this is probably the smoke sometimes
observed from the Kona coast. One
may expect that the next eruption will
occur on this, the south-south-west
slope of the mountain. / visited many
of the miniature cones and small era
tiers near the large crater. Reference
may here be made to a landslip that
took place on the northeast side of the
crater during my stay. A tract about
200 yards long and 100 yards wide fell
into the crater, producing a large
amount of brown smoke l visited the
locality, and from my tour of the era
ter's circumference it became evident
that these landslips are not infrequent
and have been important factors in
the enlargement of the crateral cavity.
Traces of numerous camps are to be
found on the east side, at one of them
found the remains of quarter of
beef and tongue still sweet, but much
dried up. Near by half-full of rust
coloured water was a water-canteen
cased in canvas with the letters D. H.
ii. painted on it. 1t has since proved
to be the property of Mr.. Howard
Hitchcock of Hilo who was up there
with Mr.. Julian Monsarrat's party in
April, 1896. Things keep well on this
mountain top and l was uncertain
whether three months or a year had
elapsed since the party had Toasted
there.
Curlously enough, insects of various
descriptions are common on the sum-
init. One species of butterfly common
at the coast is not at all infrequent.
The butterflies were more often to be
found dead than alive, and those fiying
about were in half-drowsy condition
and easily caught. There were flies of
different kinds, the house-fly and the
blue-bottle fly proving great nuisance
in my tent. Besides these there were
moths, bees, gnats, and an occasional
dead dragon-fiy; whilst bugs and other
insects were collected as they fed upon
the bodies of the dead butterflies.
These insects were more common when
the wind was southerly, and no doubt
they had been brought up to this alb
solutely sterile region by the wind.
Evidently most if not all of the butter
flies and moths soon die and probably
the other insects too. The whole mat
ter is however very suggestive and
shows how readily insects (even the
paraslt1cal bug) may find their way
into the upper air-currents.
During the last few days of nv stay
on the summit found myself getting
sensibly weaker which l attributed
partly to want of sleep and partly to
lack of appetite. The kerosene had got
mixed with the biscuit on the way I'D
and the sugar was in the same condi-
ton. Fancy also gave the same favour
to the bacon and rice and l swallowed
my food like so much sawdust NV
face was like that of a coal-heayer.
washing being rather risky at that al
titude. On the last day, however,
made myself little respectable and
awaited the arrival of the relieving
party. When, therefore, on the even
ing of August Both 1 heard the sound
of voices and the clatter Of Loreo.., -.