The Hawaiian gazette., 1906-12-28
FINE DISPLAY OF FIRE IN KILAUEA CRATER
MSMSNaEaR1 900 nsasTsNsRsas


which marked the home Of Pele-th
Goddess OF the Avernian gate.
Several OF the party went 10 tn
crater at once. could not 60 will
them. The report they brought bacl
was all but unanimous regarding tn,
beauty OF the scene. A woman. tn,
inevitable kicker dissented. She said
THAT volcano is a bigger fraud thar
the Southern Cross" Fooled by Grim
soned postal cards she had, perhaps
gone to see lakes and floods and tor.
rental outbursts OF molten rock: his.
sing, aerial bombs OF red-hot Stag and
all that sort OF thing. She reminded
me of a woman who, inflamed by
circus posters went to the menagerie
to see the Mighty Monarch Of the
Jungle, the Majestic, the Ferocious and
the All-destroying Rhnoceros and was
halted before a cage where a fat, warty
beast with loose skin and piggish eyes,
hugely interesting but not up to the
showbllls. yawned rudely in her face.
THAT plain thingl" she exclaimed in
dignantly and then to the ticket-seller:
Say, you old fraud, give me back my
money"
What the rest of the party admired
in the volcano was translucent crust
of lava. nearly covering the bottom Of
the pit, continually streaked, crinkled
and broken by underlying fires. Pierre
ing this crust were small cones
themselves miniature volcanoes-from
which Devils rockets were now and
then discharged. Out of the sides of the
crater steam sometimes burst or a cas-
cade of fluid rock 1t was bright and
busy laboratory of Internal alchemists.
Every moment there was some new ex-
pertinent tried which ended in smoke
or flame. Now and again the clouds
above would redden as If the Evil
Spirit of the depths had turned his
searchlight on the skies.
on the Sunday night following, a
week ago, the whole sunken floor of
Kilauea became like lake of fire. But
it had not risen much.
My own visit to the edge of the pit
was made on fine morning. Our party
rode horses, as is usual in the seven
mile journey to and from Kilauea, the
starting point being the Volcano House
where Pele's nephew, Demosthenes Ly-
curgus, looks after the creature-com.
forts of his aunt's guests-this time
with the help of his brother George.
Viewed from the hotel there were sure
signs of great heat at Kilauea. Smoke
had disappeared and Overt the abyss hung
a blue, gaseous vapor. Getting nearer,
one saw over the hot spot" where
coffee is made and corn popped, a for
bidding simmer of superheated air;
and off among the heaps of firebrcks
which reveal the site Of a previous
crater-for these pits change their To-
cations sometimes-steam was pouring
out as If from a giants cauldron near
the surface
Then to the brink. The abyss was
flecked with light and tapestried with
shadows, and away down on the floor
of the awesome place there was some
thing moving. 1t looked like a snake
made of rainbows, sinuous, hesitating,
and intent to charm and then destroy.
What one really saw was a winding
brook of lava, touched by interloping
sunshine which mingled its tints of
pearl and gold and jasper with the red
of malignant fires. Suddenly the scene
changed. The brook was gone but near
by pool slowly formed which might
have been a footbath for a tired Satan,
come home from far adventures "a
pool which creamed and mantled at the
touch of air and then began to re-
fleet the light of nearby cone which,
as we looked cracked wide apart, !
showed what seemed to be a filling of
Goals and then grew black.
We saw dark cave in the volcanoes
floor and another in the lower walls.
out of which, at long intervals, came
mi oh rln 10 o.,
within had just been widely swung. |
Yellow smears of sulphur appeared on
the sides and we all wondered why the
heat which had fused the very rib
rocks of the globe had not caused it to
ignite.
From the crater came at all times,
the noise of geologic travail. Stony |
structures seemed to creak and moan
and loose, heavy things to fall from
heights. superstitious mind might
hear the mutter of buried voices, the
'hoked respiration of dying men, the
struggles of brutes. How easily ons
nay learn on the shelving edge of XII
auea how the theological hell came to
De invented Those old Jewish patri-
lrchs who, knowing nothing of the
avs of nature, explained her phenom-
ma by their own fears, made up all
orts of Nightmares, among them a
Iell for the souls of people they did
lot agree with on questions of their
ay. This hell must have been pattern
d on some volcano they had seen and
card and dreamed of; for their stories
bout the place of everlasting torment,
'here the fire Is not quenched are
ull of volcanic imagery. And those
Mysterious voices of the pit. Did not ,
hey prove the presence there of peo- |
lie in distress, bad people, of course, ,
Who had scoffed in life at Jewish patri- :
rchs, old, bearded men with desert !;
MADNESS in their brains?
Was the volcano trip worth while? .
'pon that point our travelling party
'as pretty well agreed. Every day of =,
he seven held some new pleasure.
here was comfort of table and domi,
lie all the way, despite little rain
nd more than little mistlness; crisp :
Ir and sharp appetites on the high J.,
Inds; the fascinating visit to Pele's
fountain home; the run back along n
range coast with stop-off at Cap
lin Cooks monument and carriage
de through Kona. one who misses
nat journey loses one of the best
lngs the Territory has to offer.