The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-02-15
TOURISTS
PLEASED
Enjoy the Trip to
the Volcano
House.


ship Company staunch steamer XII
nau, we spent the afternoon skirtine
the shores of the various islands of
| the Hawaiian group and admiring
their rugged outlines. Crossing the
! channel in the night, we arrived about
Hawaii, the giant of the group. From
| this time until l p. IN. we sailed along
the windward side of the island. The
vista that opened before us on this
voyage viii never be effaced from oul
memories.
The entire distance to Hilo, barring
| a few miles of rugged mountain seem
cry, was one entire mass of cane fields
here and there with settlements around
the sugar factories, which are a nee
essary adjunct to the cane plantations.
The shore the entire distance Is pro-
tected by a natural seawall 800 to 500
feet in height. Over this wall the
plantation owners dump their sugar by
means of wire cables and other con-
trivances directly into the vessels that
carry their products to the eastern
cities. The snow-capped summit of
lofty Mauna Kea was plainly visible
to the naked eye, presenting a pleasing
contrast to the tropical fields below.
Arriving at Hilo, we spent the after
noon very pleasantly in drives around
the city, the most interesting being a
visit to a plantation near by, where,
through the courtesy of Mr.. Scott, the
manager. we We're shown through a
modern sugar factory and saw all the
processes of manufacturing, from the
cane to the finished product. We were
also shown the methods adopted for
loading the sugar on the vessels.
Leaving HiIo by train in the morn
ing, we passed for twenty miles
through cane fields and banana farms.
Our party We're all much interested in
watching the Japanese, both men and
women, at work in the cane fields. At
the end OF the railroad we took stages
and passed for a distance of nine miles
through Jungle of rank tropical vege
tation, with an abundance of ferns
OF all sizes. As we neared the end of
our drive the vegetation became some
what less tropical on account of higher
elevation, but none the less attractive.
Arriving at the Volcano House a scene
was spread before us that can never
be forgotten. To the south lay miles
upon miles of solid lava, where not
sign of vegetation, barring an occa-
sional scrubby fern, which had OBJ
tanned a foothold in some of the crew
ices, was to be seen. This entire field
was dormant except for occasional
masses of steam which issued from
the crevices. At a distance of about
three miles was the crater of Hale
maunau,' with a dense mass of steam
rising from its mouth. To the west of
us the lofty SUBMITS of Mauna Loa and
Mauna Kea presented a beautiful
background to the picture. On our
arrival at the Volcano House we were
taken in hand by Mine Host Lycurgus
and his affable nephew, Demosthenes,
who is the resident manager. The
elder Lycurgus came the entire dis
tance from Honolulu with us. During
our stay these gentlemen have spared
no spains to make things pleasant. Their
tables have been loaded with all the
deIicacies of the season, most of the
food being raised in the immediate vi
cinity. Among other deHcacies we were
fed on pie made from the ohelo berry,
which grows in great profusiOn all
around the hotel. This pie would tempt
the palate of any epicure. The table
decorations consisted of wreaths made
of wild roses and nasturtiums, with
vases of easter lilies, which were very
attractive.
AS fitting wind-up to our splendid
entertainment, our host prepared ma
tive feast or luau, it's principal feature
being a pig roasted by the natives by
means of hot rocks and ii leaves. This
supplemented by shortcake made from
wild thimble berries, etc, constituted
a feast fit for the gods, anu gave the
host still warmer place in the hearts
of his guests.
The morning after our arrival we
visited the large crater. The distance
is about three miles, and can he made
either on foot or on horseback. In go
ing to the crater we followed trail
down the mountain until we had de-
scended about LOO feet, and then
commenced to cross the barren field
of lava. Every foot of the trip was
very interesting, as we beheld the lava
cracked and broken into all sorts OF
fantastic shapes by the cooling proc
ess, showing here and there immense
assures and again pyramids or cones
of all forms and shapes. Then we real
lied for the moment the immense nat
wonderful results. After crossing over
this formation for two miles or more
we came to the crater proper. Here
we looked down into a steamy caul-
drOn, 700 feet deep, surrounded by per
pendicular walls of solid volcanic rock.
This crater has been active at various
times lately, notably in 1881 and 1898.
We could only wish it was active now,
but have every reason to be more than
satisfied with what we saw. Further
on we were shown Madam Pele 5
Reception Room. which consisted Of
a cave IN the lava, where we followed
our guide for 200 or 300 feet under
the surface Afterward we saw the
''Devil's Kitchen where it was hot
enough. as few seconds was suffi-
cient for stay inside. Then we Wis
tied a portion of the lava field. where
constant blasts of hot steam are issu-
ing from the surface. Here we scorch-
ed our souvenir postal cards by the
natural fire. During all this time we
were constantly reminded of Dante 3