THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. 501 



range of cliffs all round, and at the bottom was a wide flat 

 expanse of hardened lava which looked as fresh as if it had only 

 just set. The crater has evidently been formed by the sudden 

 falling in of a vast mass of rock resulting from the fusion and 

 flowing away of the supporting rock below. A succession of 

 secondary smaller cliffs round the margin of the crater-bottom 

 inside mark where this process has been repeated several times, 

 as after the crater has been filled to certain levels, and the 

 lava has hardened, the support has given way over the greater 

 part of the area on successive occasions. 



The smootli surface of the lava within the crater was closely 

 like that traversed on the journey from Hilo. It was cracked 

 by contraction on cooling in all directions, and in all the cracks, 

 at the depth of a foot or so, was seen to be glowing hot. 



The well-known molten lake of Kilauea was at the time of 

 our visit rather to be termed a pond, for a stone could easily be 

 thrown across it. We stood on a low cliff overhanging it on the 

 side from which the wind drifted away the stifling vapours 

 exhaled from it, and threw stones into the pond of melted rock 

 below. A low cliff bounded the expanse nearly all round. At 

 the base of this cliff opposite us, in three places, a violent 

 surging was constantly taking place, the melted rock being- 

 thrown up high above the cliff by violent discharges of gas from 

 below. 



The melted rock was thrown against the base of the cliff 

 in waves which, as they surged against it, made a noise like that 

 of waves of the sea beating similarly against rocks. There 

 seemed no tenacity in the melted lava, it splashed about just 

 like water. As the waves fell back from the bases of the cliffs, 

 pendent coagulations of lava were formed for an instant, and 

 nuns in the glowing cavities like icicles, but were remelted in a 

 moment by the returning waves. 



The waves when thrown up were glowing brightly with heat. 

 The lake, itself, was covered with a thin black scum of coagu- 

 lated lava with red-hot cracks in it, and the whole scum moved 

 slowly round under the influence of the ebullition taking place 

 at one side as described. 



Close by was another, but smaller pond, where, however the 



