Year: 1876

One days ride inland from Hilo, in
the Hawaiian Islands, is the great vol
cano of Kilauea. The ascent to it is al
most imperceptible, being but 1000 feet
in thirty miles. 1t is sufficient, how
ever, to furnish fine outlook over vast
stretch of uncultivated country, which
may in the ages to come, under the in
fuence of the atmospheric action, dis
solving the lava to earth, become one of
the garden spots of the globe. The vol
cano itself, when in eruption at night,
furnishes magnificent pyrotechnic dis
play. A wide surface of the heavens is
lighted up as if by the fires of the Judg-
ment Day, while from the crater there is
a constant spouting up of streams of fire
and huge masses of red, burning, melted
lava. Amid the darkness the scene is
both majestic and sublime, and cannot
fail to inspire one with awe at the won
derful works of Nature.


The crater is q, large hole in the
ground, about six hundred feet deep and
quarter of a mile in diameter. The
sides are almost vertical, and the brim is
covered with trees. The country around
is full of cracks, caves, and seams, from
which steam and sulphur fumes issue
necessarily as if over boiling lake.
The Volcano House, hotel for the con-
venience of visitors, stands almost on
the edge of this, and a couple of hun
dred yards walk brings one to. the de-
scent. This is almost a thousand feet,
nearly straight down, over rickety old
stairway of loose pieces of trees and
limbs, made into some sort of irregular
steps. Still there is little danger if one
is careful. The crater is three miles in
diameter, and surrounded by a steep
wall of lava and earth about thousand
feet in height. A walk of half mile
leads on to a recent outflow of lava, over
which one plods for couple of miles.
The entire bed of lava is almost as black
as charcoal. 1t is broken up into every
imaginable form, and is as brittle as
glass, so that it is constantly breaking
beneath ones feet, and often cracks like
ice on a lake when one is walking over
it. In some places the lava is formed
into coils like tarred rope; in others il
looks like sticks of molasses candy sand.
wiched into every conceivable figure;
elsewhere it appears like long cables
drawn out till they snapped into ter
thousand pieces; and often it is as
smooth and glossy as seals back. One
walks over it with constant tremor, a!
well he may, for often as the foot wa
raised the piece of lava stepped upor
would fall and leave a deep hole, show
ing into some awful cave or subterranea1
cavern.


There are two boiling lakes, Kilauea
nui and Halemommon, within a space O
half mile long and half that width
and sunk from fifty to three hundred
feet below the general surface of thu
cooled lava. Kilauea-nui is one thou
sand five hundred feet long and eigh
hundred feet wide, and is one moltel
mass of melted lava constantly burning
at white heat. All around its edges ar
jets of boiling red lava constantly spout
ing up from fifty to sixty feet. Some
times they form into fountains of fire
and six of them at a time have beel
known to form perfect arch of fire un
broken for forty minutes. Sitting on tn
border of this awful and natural hell OF
earth one can see huge masses of tn
lava beneath, undermined by the fire
breaking off and falling with splasl
into the burning cauldron, which sool
transforms it into liquid heat. Th
streams of lava are constantly spoutin
into the air, and thus this mighty moltel
mass has been seething and boiling 70
unknown ages, and may continue it
fiery work for unknown ages yet to come


The edges of these lakes are fringe
with what appear to be natural furnace
or ovens, with small apertures on th
surface, and caverns of boiling lava be
meath. In some places there are larg
cakes of lava glowing with fire between
and in other places the lava is so hot q
to destroy the soles on peoples shoe
and scorch their feet. Near this is ais
bank of sulphur covering a couple {
acres and full of seams whence issu
steam, making the fumes not only suff
eating, but so binding that one has
close his eyes and hasten across as rapid


as possible. Probably no one would ev,
care to enter this literal hell more ths
once.