Kilaitca hi iS8o. 



135 



in 1865, while siirveyiug Kilauea. The scene was familiar. Five times had I come 

 to the crater at night on \\\y way from Hilo, and almost as mauj? times when journey- 

 ing from Kau, but the wonder of the view never dulled, and tonight the fires far away 

 to the southwest were very brilliant, brighter, perhaps, than I had seen them before. 

 On the morning of the 25th, we descended into the crater by the usual path 

 leading under Waldron's Ledge. The temperature on the upper bank was 58° Fahr., 

 and the steam from the many cracks parallel with the crater-walls seemed more 



Fig. 79. KILAUEA IN iSSo. CHAS. FURNKAUX. 



abundant than usual. The massive walls had been much broken, and huge fragments 



of ancient lava had been tumbled down in the path, making the descent much easier, 



and also indicating more clearly than I had ever seen before, the way in which this 



vast crater has attained its present proportions. The original walls may have been 



of small extent, but the jar of earthquakes cracks the not firmly united layers of lava 



which compose the bounding walls, and finally throws down to the floor blocks of lava 



in size proportioned to the strength or frequency of the shocks ; then the next period 



of activity in the lava-supply sends over the floor streams of lava which float or melt 



these blocks, thus clearing awa}' the talus. It is diflicult to understand how the lavas 



raise and float the much more compact old lava, but I have seen it done more than 



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