The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1898-08-05
A VOLCANO THAT
IS NATURALIZED
The Present Doings in the Pit Where
PeIe Once Abode.
PROPlTIATORY SACRIFICES.
They arc still Cast Into the Crater Of
KiIauea by the Native Hawaiians.
Sudden Revelation Of the Vol
canic Spectacle.

So far II had been necessary TO take
! the volcano for granted. The ticket lot
the trip called for visit 10 Kilauea, ana
the man In Honolulu who sold II had
spoken OF the volcano as an eAl5uhB
| geographical and geological fact. Even
/ the signboard Of the hotel read "Nolcaho
/ House" so there must be such a thihs
! in the neighDorhood. Yet there was not
the faintest vestige of the boiling lakes
OF flame and the crash Of nature In not
test commissions which were written
about. page after page, by people VINO
| had seen Kilauea and given IL Il pun
| I'm the visitors book at which the IaIS'-
Ter had glanced before going to Ded the
night before. -
thirty odd miles of staging steadily up
the mountain. There had been q slsht
Of dense Jungle where guavas grew along
/ tho roadside where every great trunk
seemed 10 serve as a botanical hotel TOT
a lodging population Of ferns and or
chids. where the ferns themselves We're
! trees ten and twenty feet high. just
| out Of Hilo the road began IN the cane
fields where every breath OF the trade
wind showers a sitting haze Of golden
brown pollen. better 10 look at than 10
breathe Then II sed into the clammy
dampness OF the Jungle, spiced WIFE me
doors Of the wild ginger and score OF
blooms known hitherto only by learned
names I'm dollhouse setting. How me
senses reel where choice eXotics are the
wavside weedsi Here was a group OF
cabins with queer red daubs training
snakewise above the door and probably
conveying interesting Asiatic informa-
ton homes Of the small Japs, whom one
passes staggering along the way ana
making clear that the future Of Hawaii
If not American would be surely Japa-
nese More mOdestly set In hooks OF the
forest richer in local color, here ana
there was grass house OF the naive
Hawaiian. Then came the lands where
fortunes are looked for in the cultiva-
ton OF coffee The planters come 70 meet
the volcano stage FOR II carries their
mail. At every stop before each OF these
trim little orchards OF fifty or hundred
acres the planter bids you Took al those
Cherries did YOU ever zee anything
fner?" and you learn that there Is
stage OF the coffee when II is a cherry
or from his pocket he brings out a hand
full Of something that has the coffee
shape but the silvery drab OF a gentle
Ouakeress and as he talks about the
bean I'm the parchment skin you come
10 know that coffee has its own history
before II comes even to be roasted ana
the history begins very prettly lnoeel
on both sides OF the road with the cream
and red Of the cherries and the two
shades Of green on the leaves. Ana All
these young planters speak so confident
" Of the estates they are building up IN
the finest and most wholesome climate
I'm the world that you try to forget the
sad history Of those other young plant
ers who were just as confident IN Ceylon
! Until they mot their troubles.
THE JUNGLE AGAIN.
Beyond the coffee the road plunges
again into the jungle. but you begin TO
notice that YOU can see further along the
vistas. and that the ferns are getting less
treelike and the brake is becoming more
bushy. Soon you pass out Of the forest
and find yourself on barrcns Of brake
and gaunt strcaks Of bare rock and the
driver points his whiplash at IT ana says
Lava and you begin 70 wonder That
YOU can discern nothing OF the volcano
which you have travelled thousands OF
miles 10 see. And that lava. too-it looks
like any other wayside rock; surely no.
body but a mincralogist could see any
difference. Now that YOU are high up on
the fern barrens you can see the eternal
SHOWS Of Mauna kca, which looks so out
Of place within the torrid zone; you can
see the crest OF Mauna Loa. and possibly
YOU struggle TO be glib about the pro-
nunciation Of the summit crater OF Mo-
kuaweoweo. which the guidebook spells
for you and leaves you without assist
ance I'm getting finished when once You
have started 20 speak about II. And
when the sun goes down behind the great
mountain the eye can see nothing aheaf
but a smooth and barren slope with MOTH
ing TO Indicate that YOU are within five
miles Of "the giant hidden forces Of ma
ture," "the central fires Of the EARTH"
odd. isn't IL how the old pharses Of the
schoolbooks cling I'm the memory Ask
the driver where is Kilauea and he am
swers why that's where I'm a taking
YER" and the disappointment continues.
Now YOU feel at intervals upon your
checks a breath Of warm and clammy
vapor with the reek of birthstone, and
there SIS some comfort I'm knowing that
the stories Of volcanoes hcreabouts have
at least that much Of foundation I'm
the dark of the evening the stage draws
up at the Volcano House and even he
fore the question is put Peter Lee an
swers it by saying.
"You can't see the volcano AZ night.
cause there's a wapor there every
night"
II is rather unsatisfactory 10 know
that a great volcano IS within thirty
yards and yet invisible. The trouble IS
that everybody has hammered into his
mind In early school days an ideal vol
cano a smooth and pointed cone. a shaft
Of smoke. and monstrous cloud filling
half the sky: Nesuvius IN fact. Now
Kilauea does not rear its head an inch
above the surface. u is a place where
for many square miles the bottom has
dropped out Of things and has sunk 800
feet. No wonder that IL is vain 20 look
for Il on the road But both our newly
naturalized volcanoes on Mauna Loa.
Kilauea on the slope and Mokuaweoweo
on the summit are greater than Nesu-
vius or Aetna and when they are boil
ing their enormous lakes OF flaming lava
they seem 10 be doing something bigger
than coughing up ashes and pumice and
such light stuff and making a sulphur
Gus fuss about Il, which is about the
limit OF the powers OF the italian craters.
THE EVASIVE CRATER.
With earliest dawn you look out Of
your window and still the evasive crater
is hiding itself and the mighty forces
OF nature keep themselves hidden. The
view is a stretch of dun mountain slope.
not a tree in sight. not a single precipice
or crag nor yet a boulder large enough
10 attract the gaZe-a smooth slope on
fern and low bush. Before the Volcano
House is a garden. with flowers Of
America of the temperate zone. y
hundred feet away the hedge of roses
noises az the edge of a lake OF white
fog. For miles the eye traces the shore
of that white and motionless lake There
is surely Peter Lees "wapOr" and some
T. 81 q