66 Kilauea and Manna Loa. 



At daybreak on the 20th of February, we were again startled by a rapid eruption bursting 

 out laterally ou the side of the mountain facing Hilo, and about midway from the base to the summit 

 of the mountain. This lateral crater was equally active with the one on the summit, and in a short 

 time we perceived the molten river flowing from its orifice direct towards Hilo. The action became 

 more and more fierce from hour to hour. Floods of lava poured out of the mountain's side, and the 

 glowing river soon reached the woods at the base of the mountain, a distance of twenty miles. 



Clouds of smoke ascended and hung like a vast canopy over the mountain, or rolled off 

 on the wings of the wind. These clouds assumed various hues, — murky, blue, white, purple or 

 scarlet — as they were more or less illuminated from the fiery abyss below. Sometimes the)- resembled 

 an inverted burning mountain with its apex pointing to the awful orifice over which it hung. Some- 

 times the glowing pillar would shoot up vertically for several degrees, and then describing a graceful 

 curve, sweep off horizontally, like the tail of a comet, further than the eye could reach. The sable 

 atmosphere of Hilo assumed a lurid appearance, and the sun's ra\'S fell upon us with a yellow, sickly 

 light. Clouds of smoke careered over the ocean, carrying with them ashes, cinders, charred leaves, 

 etc., which fell in showers upon the decks of ships approaching our coast. The light was seen more 

 than a hundred miles at sea, and at times the purple tinge was so widely diffused as to appear like 

 the whole firmament on fire. Ashes and capillary vitrifactions called Pele's hair fell thick in our 

 streets and upon the roofs of our houses. And this state of things still continues, for even now while 

 I write, the atmosphere is in the same yellow and dingy condition ; every object looks pale, and 

 sickly showers of vitreous filaments are falling around us, and our children are gathering them. 



As soon as the second eruption broke out I determined to visit it. Dr. Wetmore agreeing to 

 accompany me, we procured four natives to carry our baggage, one of them, Kekai acting as guide. 

 On Monday the 23rd of February-, we all set off and slept in the outskirts of the great forest which 

 separates Hilo from the mountains. Our track was not the one I took in 1843, namely the bed of a 

 river; we attempted to penetrate the thicket at another point, our general course bearing southwest. 

 In ancient days an Indian trail had been beaten through in this direction, but it was now entangled 

 with jungle so that all traces of it were nearly obliterated. However, we plunged into the forest with 

 a long knife, hatchet and clubs, and cut and beat our way at the rate of one and a fifth miles an hour. 

 At night we slept in the bush and listened to the distant roar of the volcano. On Wednesday the 

 25th we gained a little eminence in the woods, from which we could see the lava-stream which was 

 now opposite us on our left, distant six miles. This fiery flood was now half way through the forest, 

 and more than three-fourths of the way from the crater to the shore, sweeping all before it. Appre- 

 hending that it might reach the sea in a day or two, and that the ladies at the station might be 

 alarmed, Dr. Wetmore determined to return. Taking one of the natives and leaving three with me, 

 he retraced his steps while I pushed on through jungle and bog and dell, beating every }ard of my 

 way out of this horrible thicket. On the 26th we emerged from the forest but plunged at once into 

 a dense fog more darkxthan the thicket itself. Pushing up the mountain we encamped for the night 

 on a rough bushy ridge. A little before sunset the fog rolled off, and IMauna Kea and Manna Loa 

 both stood out in grand relief; the former robed in a fleecy mantle almost to its l)ase, and the latter 

 belching out floods of fire from its burning bowels. All night long we could see the glowing fires, 

 and listen to the awful roar of the fearful crater. 



We had now been out four nights, and were within twenty miles of the crater, with the long 

 brilliant river of fusion on our left shining in a line of light down the side of the mountain [see the 

 illustration of the flow of 1SS7] till it entered the woods. We left our mountain aerie on the 27th, 

 determined if possible to reach the seat of action on that day. Taking the pillar of fire and cloud 

 as our mark, and still having the great river of lava on our left, we pushed on over a rough and 

 almost impassable surface — the attraction increasing as the square of the distance decreased. Our 

 intense interest mocked all obstacles. At noon we came upon the confines of a tract of naked .scoriae 

 so intolerably sharp and jagged that our baggage-men could not pass it. Here I ordered a halt ; 



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