422 W. T. BRIGHAM ON THE VOLCANIC PHENOMENA 



five feet high, with a bright light at its apex. This was the first fire we had seen, but we 

 passed by, eager to reach the great lake. This we reached after ascending a gradual incline. 

 It was about eight hundred feet in diameter, and the lava was fifty feet below the cliff on 

 which we stood, covered with a dark crust which was broken around the edges, and there 

 the blood-red lava was visible, surging against its walls with a dull, sullen sound. The smoke 

 was blown away by the wind so that we were able to stand on the very verge of the pit; 

 but the heat was so great that we were obliged to hold our hands before our faces. 



The walls on which we stood, and where we intended to sleep, were thickly covered on 

 the side towards the pit, with waving wooly Pole's hair, which we saw forming continually. 

 The drops of lava thrown up drew after them the glass thread, or sometimes two drops spin 

 out a thread a yard long between them, and the "hair" thus formed either clings to the 

 rough sides or is blown over the edge where it catches on any projecting point, The drops 

 are always black, or a very dark green on the surface, but light green within, porous and 

 excessively brittle, and the thread is transparent, and when first formed, of a yellow or green- 

 ish color. Occasionally a crack would open across the lake, and violent ebullition commence 

 at various points along its surface. There were two small islands in the lake which the 

 lava seemed seeking to destroy. The current would often set in toward the banks, and it 

 appeared as if the whole lake was about to be drawn in, as cake after cake broke off from 

 the surface and disappeared. But it would soon cease, and then run towards another point 

 of the wall, and I could not see that it was oftener on one side than another. As a cake of 

 lava parted from the crust the red lava rose above the crack, running on the surface, and 

 as the crack grew wider, cooling rapidly, and being drawn out much like molasses candy. 

 While white hot, the lava was as liquid as water, but it rapidly assumed the viscid condition, 

 and then the solid. I threw a stick of dry wood on the surface the instant it became fixed 

 after a violent bubbling, and it was ten minutes before any smoke was made, and it w r as 

 only when a crack opened under it that it was consumed. The motion was always from 

 the centre, except when the lava was thrown back in spray from the caverns which ex- 

 tended under much of the wall. 



We laid down in our blankets on the eastern edge where the walls were highest, and the 

 wind drove away the smoke, and soon fell asleep. About nine o'clock I got up and moved 

 to the very edge of the pit to view the molten mass to better advantage, and warm myself, 

 as the wind was quite cold. The moon was up and almost full, but her orb was pale beside 

 the fires of Pele. Finding the place quite comfortable, I lay down and went to sleep. At 

 twelve I awoke with a start, and found myself in the midst of a shower of fiery drops, some 

 of which were burning my blankets. I shook myself and jumped back, looking at my watch 

 to note the time, for I thought a great eruption at hand, and then stood gazing at the 

 strange scene for some time before I thought of calling my companions The whole surface 

 of the lake had risen several feet and was boiling violently and dashing against the sides, 

 throwing the red-hot spray high over the banks, causing the providential rain of fire which 

 awoke me to see this grand display. There was no noise except the dash and the sullen 

 roar. When I could think of anything else, I called the others, who were asleep several 

 rods from the edge, but only succeeded in awakening the guides, and just then a drop came 

 plump on to a greasy paper we had brought our supper in, and it blazed up so suddenly 

 that one of the kanakas thought a new jet was opening at our feet, and ran off to some 

 distance. Failing to arouse my companions by calling, I threw a handful of small stones at 



