Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1907-10-30
THE INTERNAL REGIONS
A TRIP TO THE VOLCANO AND THE
CITY OF HILO.
Mr.. Edwords Tells About a Trip To Hilo
on The Island Of Hawaii and a Visit
to the Volcano Near By.

| HllO, RI. L., Oct. %. Il have been
TO the Internal Regions and back
That is have been about as close to
them as l care to go. L might say in
this connection that it is one of the
most beautiful and interesting trips L
ever expect TO take. The little inter-
island steamer Kinau is not such
boat as | would choose to ride in
were | in the least addicted to sea-
sickness. but as l am never troubled
with NAL de mere l enjoyed every
minute of it, even when the waves
| from the storm tossed sea were en-
crusting the tops of the smokestacks
with salt.
The coast of the island of Hawaii.
largest of the group. and the one OH
| which is located the volcano, is a
precipitous bluff, rising more than
thousand feet sheer from the sea-
Over this cliff tumble hundreds of
wondrously beautiful waterfalls,
some of them reaching clear to the
ocean, but most of them shimmering
away to mist before they touch the
water below.
Rounding into the harbor of Hilo
the steamer stopped in water so clear
that we could see the fish on the bot
tom l20 feet below. We had to make
our landing in small boats and light
ers, as the steamer could not get close
to the shore, and this was the only
part of the voyage that was at all
dangerous. Once ON shore the charm
of Honolulu was forgotten in the
greater charm of Hilo. The little
village nestles so closely in the dense
tropical foliage of vine and palm that
it can scarcely be seen. 1t is just
such place as one could lie in and
dream his life awav with never an
effort at support. Fruit of all sorts
and flavors abound and is to be had
for the taking. l entered little
store ard wanted 20 buy some bananas
and was looked upon with suspicion
by the proprietor who asked why L
did not pick them from the trees if
I wanted them.
But it is of the volcano that
started to write. The trouble with
this country is that there is so much
to tell about that ones pen goes wan
dering off into all sorts of tangents.
We went to the volcano in stage
driven by an old time California stage
driver, and he regaled US for the en-
tire thirty miles with tales of early
California stage driving days. When
we reached the Volcano House it was
dark, and except for the glow coming
from the pit of the crater two miles
away we could not tell that anything
unusual was around us, except for the
fact that the ground was in constant
tremble. But when morning came
and looked out of my window, / felt
that / must be mighty close to the
jumping off place, for in every direc-
ton little Jets of steam were coming
from the ground while in the distance
rose the smoke of the volcano.
Near the hotels were lot OF little
houses, and if one wanted hot sui
phur bath all he had to do was to go
in one of them and Nature would do
the rest He got it fresh from the
lower regions. party of us tramped
across the lava bed to the mouth of
the crater, and it was considerably
hotter under foot than over head
The ground in some places was so hot
| that we had 20 walk fast in order to
keep our feet from getting scorched.
| In one place the guide took us down
| into hole in the lava and it was SO
hot that we had to keep moving to
prevent the heat from taking Oft the
soles of our shoes.
The volcano was not active at the
time of our visit, consequently we
not only went to the edge of the
crater but went down inside short
distance. There we could see the
vast lake of fire, boiling and bubbl-
| ing, all the world like pictures in
Dante's Inferno. Pieces of wood
thrown down into the pit would catch
| fire and blaze up. while the awful
cauldron continually boiled and emit
ted Jets of sulphurous steam. Some
idea of what this volcano is may be
obtained when l tell you that its
crater is mile across, and the old
crater, which is filled with molten
lava when it is in activity, is four
miles across.
Back at the hotel we listened to
stories of people who had lived there
when the volcano was spouting fire,
and sending streams of lava down to-
the sea. We saw strands of hair from
the goddess Pele, a peculiar hair-like
substance which forms near the mouth
of the crater, and heard of the strange
rites of natives who throw cherished
things into the volcano to propitiate
the goddess, Notwithstanding the fact
that they are all supposed to be good
Christians now. We inscribed our
names in the register, added our mite
of sentiment to the gems of thought
which had been inscribed by the
thousands who had preceded as. and
are now back at Hilo enjoying most
delightful time under the shade of a
bamboo tree.