The Press., 1915-06-16
INSIDE A VOLCANO
Loo..ing Down Into KiIauea's
 Lake of Boiling Lava.
LIKE A PIT OF LIQUID FIRE.

A Play of Flaming coIors So Dazzling
 In the Darkness of the Vast Crater
 That 1t Terrifes the Spectator-A
 VeritabIe Fountain of Fire.
 According to all the rules of school lgeographies, volcano ought to be lsituated on top of a mountain; it ought to throw out stones and ashes and molten lava; it's crater should be in the Ishape of an inverted cone. and should emit terrifying noises; periodically it Ishould overwhelm village or two. Kilauea, on the island of Hawaii, con- forms to none of these specification It has thrown out neither stones nor ashes since it annihilated the army that
 was marching against Kamehameha, almost hundred and fifty years ago. It retains it's lava within it's own era ter, which is not shaped like an in verted cone. The sides are from 100 to TOO feet high and 7.S5 miles in cir Icumference, and the floor covers 2,G5O
 acres. The volcano seldom makes ter lrifying noises-at least of the kind heard in imagination by q Schcoiboy. lThousands of people descend into the
 crater annually, and not one has ever been injured.
 The walk across the floor of the era ter, about two and one-half miles, Is over d hard lava bed, more or less up
 and down, since lava hardens quickly
 and remains as it flowed, in great ropes
 and ripples. A few yards from shore Lone comes naturally to call the bank
 'shore"-a ragged crack is crossed by d wooden bridge At the time this
 crack opened, large party was in the
 crater. They stayed long because they were delighted with the unusual ac- tivity of the lake and had no idea
 that this activity extended beyond the pit of fire until at last they started to
 go back to the hotel.
 | It was night, and as they approached
 the northern bank of the crater their
 lanterns suddenly revealed q huge fis- sure directly across their path. AL
 ready molten lava was Dubbling up at the bottom. They followed the edge of the crack, keenly conscious. un- doubtedly, as they turned to keep | were on the inner edge. At last they found spot where the lava had split
 unevenly, leaving a projecting ledge oa which it was possible to stand, and so | to jump to the other side. The whole lexperience, with the thought of sink ! ing to the fires beneath or of being overwhelmed by the lava slowly rising in the Assure and the utter helpless
 ness of their situa ton, was enough to test the most fearless.
 Kilauea is really an enormous qui- escent crater with an active inner pit
 This cavity is, perhaps, 1000 feet across, and its precipitous sides lead down to a lake of molten lava several acres in extent, sometimes higher, sometimes lower in the pit This is Halemaumau, which is commonly
 translated (although incorrectly, "the
 house of everlasting fire" It is cer- tainly the house of the goddess Pele. By daylight the lake of fire is a
 greenish yellow, cut with ragged cracks of red that look like pale streaSls
 of stationary lightning across its sur
 face. It is restless, breathing rapidly,
 bubbling up at one point and sinking down at another; throwing up sudden fountains of scarlet molten lava that | play a few minutes and suhside. leav- | ing shimmering mounds that gradually settle to the level surface of the lake, | turning brown and yellow as they sink. AS darkness comes, the colors on the lake grow so intense that they almost hIrr-t ftn4 Nho ic,, ,N4 q. it is blue and purple and orange and green. Blue flames simmer and dart about the edges of the pit, back and forth across the surface of the restless ! mass. Sudden fountains paint blood red the great plume of sulphur smoke that rises constantly.
 Sometimes the spurts of lava are so violent, so exaggerated by the night. that one draws back terrified lest some atom of their molten substance should spatter over the edge of the precipice. Sometimes the whole lake is in motion. Waves of fire toss and battle with each other and dash in clouds of bright yer million spray against the black sides of the pit. Sometimes one of these sides falls in with roar that echoes back and forth, and mighty rocks are swal- lowed in the liquid mass of- fire that closes over them in a whirlpool, like water over sinking ship.
 Again everything is quiet; thick scum forms over the surface of the lake, dead, like the scum on the surface of lonely forest pool. Then it shiv- CTS: Flashes of fire dart from side to side. The center bursts open, and a huge fountain of lava twenty feet thick and fifty feet high streams into the air and plays for several minutes, waves of binding fire flowing out from it, dashing against the sides until the black rocks are starred all over with bits of scarlet. All sensations are submerged in sense of awe. This visioS<of the earth building forces at work is a picture so overpowering that
 S burned into the memory for all Hawaii, Past and Present.