ERUPTION OF THE HAWAIIAN VOLCANOES. 577 



sable by the encroachments of the sea), several minor land-slicles were observed on the hills ; 

 most houses were injured more or less ; no stone wall remained anywhere. All the people 

 from near the beach had taken refuge on higher lands near the upper road. My profes- 

 sional services were called for by many people who had been injured by the great oceanic 

 earthquake waves. The great wave rose to a height of twenty-five feet, and according to 

 reliable information, portions of the coast-line have subsided considerably. In some places 

 coco-nut trees formerly out of water are now a foot deep in the sea. Every village along 

 the coast of Ka-u and part of Puna has been swept away. The whole population of Waio- 

 hinu I found encamped on a high hill to the east among the ferns. From two to three 

 hundred people had lived there for two weeks under the scanty shelter of huts made of 

 mats, fern and ki-leaves, and could not find it in their hearts to return to their houses and 

 fields. Their crops, which before had already suffered from long-continued drought, were 

 being invaded by the cattle, no fences remaining to protect them. It is much to be feared 

 that the calamity of a famine will visit the smitten district in addition to the disasters 

 suffered already. 



" Of the damage done to the village of Waiohinu, other witnesses have given ample 

 information. The hill forming the west side of the amphitheatre on which the village is 

 located, has experienced a considerable land-slide. Less than five minutes' walk from Waio- 

 hinu a crack of eight feet in width has dislocated the Kona road to the extent of its width. 

 This fissure has a direction nearly south to north, tending towards the summit of Mauna 

 Loa. It is filled up with stones disgorged from it during the movement ; the dislocation 

 seems to be owing to a folding or kinking of the land on one side, for the fissure does not 

 extend very far in either direction." 



We now come to Kahuku. (See map on page 583.) 



" Here the lava burst forth, April 7th, through an enormous fissure of nearly three miles 

 in length, and ran in a few hours over a distance of twelve miles, from a height of 3,800 

 feet, — the highest point of the fissure, — to the sea, in which it caused a projection of more 

 than half a mile. The upper portion of the stream is continuous ; in its middle course, 

 where it runs over the flat land, dotted with small hills, around and below the site of Captain 

 Brown's former residence, it divides itself into several branches which leave a number of 

 islands between them, and either unite again in the great pahoehoe stream which ran down 

 to the sea, or end abruptly, mostly as aa. On following the old Kona road the traveller is 

 obliged, first, to pass around the tail end of an aa stream, then to cross two aa streams, and 

 at last the pahoehoe. From a prominent hill near Captain Brown's house the scene can be 

 best surveyed. On the islands between the several streams, many cattle and horses found 

 refuge, most of which were saved after the cessation of the flow. On one hill stands a 

 house which contained three poor sick men. When they became aware of the approach of 

 the lava they attempted to escape, but not having strength enough left, they returned to 

 their house, expecting death. The lava, however, only surrounded them, and as there were 

 some provisions and water in the house, they kept themselves alive until it cooled, and succor 

 was afforded them. The eruption must have ceased either on Saturday or Sunday night, 

 the 11th or 12th of April. The accounts do not agree. About the exact time of the outr 

 break also there is some obscurity. The great fissure having been formed, in all probability 

 on April 2d, the final breaking through of the lava seems to have begun almost without 

 noise. Captain Brown only became aware of it by the sight of fire approaching toward his 



MEMOIRS B03T. SOC. NAT. HIST. Vol. I, Pt. 4. 145 



