The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1898-08-05


TO condense the vapor which settles down
at nigntfall and to drip II drop by drop
into q bucket in the shade so that II
may be a trihe less warm for tuorist
and horse
Beyond the CORA, the surface Is more
rent and torn and twisted and jagged.
The lava Is not undar'oOt: almost every
little crack in the field Is edged with
crust Of dirty yellow from tie brimstone
deposit; as You stop across rift swell
tering gust ~ sulphur and fused chem
icals stings the eyes and chokes the
breathing. To the suns heat In that
hreathless depth the earth IS surely now
contributing from its own hot store. You
step from the path 10 a tuning chimney
projecting from a glazed surface Inc
moments glance down that shaft SHOWS
a trembling chasm Of hot and sulphur
coated rock. The guide puts his STICK
into q rift in the lava or drives il any
where through the CLASSY crust ana
brings II out ablaze after Just touching
the fervent heat over which you are
walking with no more than five or SIX
inches OF Stag between. OF course II ;
hot as you draw near the SHAFT WHEREBY
the earth makes 2 safety valve FOR us
pent-up forces AT work far below IN the
centre Of the globe. IL IS all very well
TO reassure oneself with the statement
r.
the party have ceased to wander OF Tor
little lateral trips OF exploration and arc
seemingly content 10 let Albert pioneer
this part OF the path II that Is 10 be
called a path which is merely hot rock
and a string OF guide stones.
LIMBO AND GEHENNA.
There IL q throb and a culver and \
fever dancing in the air ahead, ana seen
through II the encircling cliff in the dis
1 lou e In
quite certain that the lava underfoot is
shaking. but there Is a tremble unmis-
taxable and n erumoling below. There IS
more sulphur In the heated air. the air
IS hotter than II has been. Suddenly
we are standing AZ the baked verge OF
q deeper abyss within the pit. a place OF
evil vapOrs Of metals reduced 20 steam
that sears and scorchos. a place Of dread
subterranean noises. and Albert an
nounces "Halema Jmau.' 1t IS then
that one may notice a little bit Of green
dropping into the inferno Of swirling va
pOrs. perhaps a twig OF ohelo such as
pagan Hawaii dropped into Peles home
Of terror Any way you CHANGED TO see
Albert put such a twig into the pocket
OF his blouse far away back In that dis
tant world where the soil was cool and
green things grew. long before you came
into this place Of torments. this limbo
and Gehenns and place Of burnings. Well.
what II he did? II you were a Hawaiian.
and no longer ago than in your grand
fathers time. even I'm your own fathers
boyh0od. this Peie was q goddess capa-
be OF much harm unless properly pla-
Gated. you might yourself somehow feel
Il best 10 be on the safe side and toss
over your own little sprig Of ohelo. OF
course such demon as Pele could I'M
press only Wild savages. but II is not the
fsae trrna hof "a
salt and broken mirrors and that sort OF
thing.
Guide Albert and Peter Lee and all
who know the crater tell OF IFS three
conditions II IS most commonly quies-
cent. which means that the lava level IN
the Halema'uma'u is al a standstill, and
that much Of ~ Is scummed over with
dark Stag. one or more open places snow
the incandescencc. and these spots are
known as the lakes of fire. When from
these lakes arise fountain Jets and sprays
Of fluid lava and the crater Is boiling
60 IS said 20 be active a greater stage
OF activity Us when the Halema una u
fills anI bOils over and the lava runs
out upon the crater floor Of Kilauea. that
IS an eruption. All these are various
stages Of magnificent displays of tre.
the despair alike OF brush and pen 10
describe.
A RARE STAGE.
Rut there is another and a different
stage of the active crater which Is very
rare indeed. and attracts all those who
can reach the spot I'm time. That Is
when some physics Of the earth's forces
causes an the pitful OF melted and fam
ing metal to be sucked back into tho
globe which has been striving 10 shoot
n forth Such n thing happens only al
rare intervals They say that when DC
happcns II be- q sure sign thar there VIII
be an outburst of activity at the Mokua.
yyoOweO crater on the distant summit or
the mountain mp among the SHOWS. lhls
wears eruption Of that pit of IRE WAS
preceded by an emptying or Halema
uma'u I'm the Kiiauea crater.
OF course the mathematician was at
work He was happy at the chance To
triangulate the downward abyss and 10
announce that the bottom Of the pit or
which the swrling vapors gave now ana
then a glimpse was 9h feet below the
hot rock on which We stood But u was
NOT the number Of feet which took the
breath. II was the general stupendous-
ness Of Il an. the colossal scale or ma
trro's operations. the bitterness of the
spectators perched IN fear upon a rock
once II was possible 90 see through the
heat and the smother the floor or me
nit itself and the mouth of the chute
through which the lava rs fed from tuFn-
aces below
And then YOU 60 back 10 the corral
and mount the waiting horse. for Albert
does know how. and back YOU 20 TO the
Volcano House TO cat more bowls OF
oholo berries with cream and sugar
New York sun