The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1899-09-16
HAWAII WITH The LIDI0FF

the cnnp nave generally started from
the volcano House, whence the trip to.
| the summit may be made in two DAVIS
Lately a German Alpinist has assembled:
the mountain on its shorter western slope
ana proved the practicabiIity of riding to-
the last stretch of the slope. This route,
wall ADD greatly to the number of visit;
tors' II the present eruption does not put
new iace on that side of the mountain.
| starting from the Volcano House. the'
trall winds at the edge of the timber.
! II IS, nigh enough for, the air to be chillvi
ana unIaVorable for much vegetation. and
the lava Is too new to afford more than
the smallest pockets, Of, thin soil in which,
scanty terms may sprout and play their
part IN adding hur1lus to prepare for
sturdier growths. At the timber Inc
tnere is nothing but fern and ohelo ber
res the sweet and hardy fruit which the
o." myths consecrated, to Pele as the god
eess OF the hires of the mountain. For a
| rev mlles@th trail not to be distinguish
| ed by eyes less keen than those of 7ono
OF the very few Hawaiians comnetent tn
serve as guide on this infreauent ex-
piQratlon, continues at the edge of tho
tlmoer, such as it is. After leaving this:
poor shelter there is nowhere enough
snaoe TO cover mouse. Even the grass
vanisnes: only here and there is it nos
! eio1e 10 ma few [stunted spears pocket :.
| ca away in chinks and GRANTEES me- .,
teaspoontul of lava dust has found a
| teiuse from the searching, wind Tboi
l1 OH see1nS like ragged screen tho
! sun comes nearer and scorches the sLin
WIN more than July fervor while the;
oo ouy - esnlverlng in more than De-,
cemper frost. 1t is the first hardshir lei
TINS trip; 1t is also the last to mass a,.,o W.
- would be hard to devise a more savora
lrlal Tor the skin than to be scorohad
ana baked by fervid sun rays and IN
tot instant ms to be wrapped in a. wet blan-!!
/ -
mountain, often to the comnlete o In rne
| ton of the trail. y ~ 49, ooecur-
l., 1here is only one relief IN tho ,,,,s,
ava. NO ferns grow on these 49,, ~ ~
lsiopeS; the ohelo. berry has given m ~ -
nalu struggle; even the stunted era..j
e enaa, 70 De found; but one plant is hardy;
tha ST. - pear the frost, the sweep of'
~. -. Wlno' the dearth of soil. II saan ~.
20 grow On the bare lava flow.ii+ se;aas
,us mower spike like guidepost in ~,
Moste' " mas cluster of leaves ~. =;
s. i4sien IKE water falling over rocks This
.ne SILVER sword 1t is as much tho
anG!1,o; Hover in Hawaii as The
or tho h;ol ~ switzerland. It grows only
~ tie i1Sn levels, and to come hack viii
= Lunch OF its silNery leaves mea ne -, 49,
81 eainolng and rock. scrambling Tba
auNer sword is lily with inconsn,c,,.n,s
noWers, all its beauty. being in ne 49,,
a eiiu slender leaves which are like frosted
| U0cOn6 rihhCpc
SO light that the merest puff sets tha,s
ligatlng like gossamer. ''e'''
! : ne Trail is hard and rough Tbaro :.
ene cholce OF one lava or the other sn5
o.e IS passable only through comma rjso,,
WI Win the other, which is SO much wnrs'.
~ nem the clouds lift and it, is possible to
eTstInfne the prospect the pnida vi, -
OUT dark streaks on the mountajn sin,,os
:.Au ewes the, history Of each so far az
: ~ known, for these are the tracl. 80
Turner eruptions. All this lava. rests ~
o ane siopes q the mountain. The stones
aie COMPOSED apparently, for the most
part, OF upheaved material thrust m Nv
sna thaa force OF the volcanic powers
t ano mere IS some elected material on
s.ie Upper slopes. On these slopes the
1nelted lava, breaking out at some wal
Spot III the mountainside, has, flowed ill.,.
q torrent and also like torrent has rim
ocwn nil along the lines Of the least ra-
ss.ance. Inese lava rivers have cooled
IN Two forms of widely varying annear-
ahce. one IS smooth as to its surface
.Wlssted IN places like rope and present,
ms many queer shapes at the edpe or
the stream. This is the pahoehoe. . Ha-
wallan name which seems to have been
' .aken up by biologists to describe SINH
lar lava wherever found. The other forn,.
the aa lava, is an indiscriminate hear ~
angular blocks thrown around so that
IL is rarely possible to make natb
across such q field. The pahoehoa
crackles under foot as though one were
walking on sugar, but field Of aa will
CUT the SHOES of man or the hoofs off
,,s,.t.s ~ very snort order. It is not I'M
mut1lated through being lost in this lava
usual to find wild scrub cattle. friehtfullv
/ In the ascent Of Mauna Loa If is nos,
slble to keep to the more trayersahIa
lava almost to the summit At Intervals
IN, Inc strea am 1s Interrupted by the difficult
I = 4
fortunately rare. Tie last thousand feet
OF altitude lie entirely in block lava and
are very. difficult to pass It is bitter
colo; each block. of lava Is as cold as a
block of iron would be under the same
: exposure and the hands are numbed, by
! the nope or finding . me assistance ror
/ the painful climb. The air at $1,000 feet
is so thin that 1t hardly supports life.
Here the mountain sickness comes to
weaken the frame just at the time when
all Its forces are needed. There is no ap-
parent Incentive to put forth the last re-
serve of strength, there Is no goal in
sight, nothing but a jagged wilderness, Of
great blocks In disorder. The faint slope
OF the mountain continues as it has been
from the very sea, no more than an easy
grade. 1t Is In vain that the eye fixes a
limit beyond which the crater must lie.
When that limit has been reached the
same scene lies still ahead and the thin
coil Of smoke rises still just out of reach
Approached from whatever side it may
be the actual crater comes as a surprise.
One draws back as though Just caught IN
lime from topping over precipice. It is
altogether negative. In the heart Of the
summit waste Of gigantic blocks the bot
tom has dropped out. The mountainee.
discovers 1t by coming around the corner
Of lava block. and finding himself on
the edge Of sheer descent Of 500 feet.
Standing in a snow bank he looks down
on a lake just below him in which rocks
are melted and flow like water.
This is the crater of Mokuaweoweo. It
is a hole in the ground nearly ten miles
around, not quite two miles in breadth
and a little less than four miles in length.
When the crater is active the crust Of
the lava floor meIts irregularly and lakes
Of fire appear, from which cracks radiate
in every direction. In the fire lakes fire
fountains are Internationally at play.
Some have been measured by the officers
of the Hawaiian survey and have been
found to spout 200 feet into the air. Even
when the crater Is active it is feasible to
descend to the lava level and to advance
some distance in the direction of the
spouting jets This Is not SO dangerous a
feat as 1t may seem, for the heat Of the
surface is such that the soles Of ones
boots would be burned of long before
there was any risk of dropping through
the crust Yet there Is nothing to be.
gained by such foolhardy exploration,
since the. better view Of the fountains is
had from the solid, margin. Mokuaweo-
fweo much resembles Kilauea. They are
sof approximately the same dimensions,
the lower crater being about two hundred
acres the larger. Neither has ever filled
with lava and overalowed over the rim,
Long before such g thing has happened
the mountain has given way at a lower
level. and by the discharge OF the lava