OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 403 



and flows on for a time until it gets clogged up again, and then the same processes are 

 repeated." 1 



In another letter Prof. Haskell writes under date of June 22d, 1859 : — 



" I have just returned from a second visit to the scene of the lava-flood on Mauna Loa. 

 There is one fact which I observed that I desire to communicate to you. The real source 

 of the flow is about four miles above the two craters, which in February seemed to be the 

 source. From this point down to the two craters, a crack in the mountain can be traced 

 nearly all the way. At first it is no more than two inches in width, but gradually increases 

 to about two feet. At the present time heat can be perceived in the crack within a few 

 feet of the highest point. But little lava has issued from this crack above the two craters. 

 During the first quarter of a mile lava has oozed out in different places a few rods apart, to 

 the amount of three or four cubic feet. Below this point there is a stream, now cold of 

 course, a few rods in width. In this flow, therefore, there is no doubt that there is a con- 

 tinuous crack in the side of the mountain for four miles. How much farther this crack 

 extends down the mountain cannot be ascertained, now at least, for the craters are still 

 sending forth immense volumes of sulphurous vapors, and the stream of lava is still flowing 

 below them. This stream, however, is much smaller than it was in February, and is entirely 

 subterranean for the first twenty-five or thirty miles, except that there are a few holes 

 where the running lava can be seen. In some instances this stream is as much as forty 

 feet below the surface. 



"During this trip I went to the top of Mauna Loa. There is no perceptible action in the 

 crater of Mokuaweoweo. The source of the present flow is probably about 11,000 feet 

 above the level of the sea." 2 



On the 30th of December, 1865, a light was discovered on the summit of Mauna 

 Loa which rapidly increased in brilliancy, and the whole upper region of the 

 mountains was bathed in light. The action was wholly confined to the terminal crater of 

 Mokuawe'owe'o, and although it continued for four months no lateral outbreak took place. 

 During this period the intensity of the volcanic fires varied considerably, sometimes being 

 apparently nearly extinct, and again breaking out with such violence as to illuminate the 

 whole island. As it was winter no one ascended the mountain, and we do not know as yet 

 what the condition of the crater may be since this outburst. It is most remarkable that no 

 lateral streams escaped, and it is probable that the crater has been more or less filled, as is 

 the case in Kilauea when no stream escapes from the encircling walls. 



No sympathy was exhibited in Kilauea, and although the fires seemed constantly in- 

 creasing for the last two years, no extraordinary developments took place until some weeks 

 after the summit crater had become extinct. It must not be inferred from this, however, 

 that there is no connection between the two vents. An exactly simultaneous action seldom 

 or never takes place in the adjacent fiery pools of Kilauea although there is an undoubted 

 connection at a probable depth of less than four hundred feet. 3 



History of Kilauea. — At what period in the history of Hawaii, Kilauea first broke forth, 



1 Silliman's Journal, [n. 8.] vol. xxvni., p. 66. President 2 Silliman's Journal, [n. s.] vol. xxviii., p. 284. 

 W. D. Alexander has described this eruption in the " Volcano 3 From letters of Rev. T. Coan to the author. 

 .Supplement to the Pacific Commercial Advertiser," Honolulu, 

 March 26, 1859. 



