42 Kilauea and Manna Lna. 



three or four hundred feet lower. It was evident that the crater had l)een recently filled with liquid 

 lava up to this black Iedp;e, and had, by some subterranean canal, emptied itself into the sea, or 

 inundated the low laud on the shore. Between nine and ten [in the evening], the dark clouds and 

 heavy fog that since the setting of the sun had hung over the volcano, gradually cleared away. The 

 agitated mass of liquid lava, like a flood of molten metal, raged with tumultuous whirl. The lively 

 flame that danced over its undulating surface tinged with sulphurous blue, or glowing with mineral 

 red, cast a broad glare of dazzling light on the indented sides of the insulated craters whose bellow- 

 ing mouths, amidst rising flames, shot up at frequent intervals with loudest detonations, spherical 



masses of fusing lava, or bright ignited stones In passing along the eastern side of the crater, 



we entered several small craters that had been in vigorous action but a short period before, marks of 

 very recent fusion presenting themselves on every side. Their size and height was various, and 

 manj' which from the top had appeared insignificant as mole hills, we now found to be twelve or twentj' 

 feet high. The outsides were composed of bright shining lava, heaped up in piles of most singular 

 form. The lava on the inside was of a light or dark-red color with a glazed surface, and in several 

 places, where the heat had evidently been intense, we saw a deposit of small and beautifully white 

 crystals In the neighborhood we saw several large rocks of a dark gray color weighing prob- 

 ably from one to four or five tons, which although they did not bear any marks of fire, must have 

 been ejedled from the great crater during some violent eruption, as the surrounding rocks in every 

 direcflion presented a very different appearance. They were hard, and exhibited, when fradlured, a 

 glimmering and uneven surface. As we traveled on from this spot, we unexpecftedly came upon 

 another deep crater, nearly half as large as the former. The native name of it is Kilauea iki or 

 lyittle Kilauea [see the surveys of Kilauea in 1865]. It is separated from the large crater by an 

 isthmus nearly one hundred yards wide. Its sides were covered with trees or shrubs, but the bottom 

 was filled with lava, either fluid or scarcely cold, and probably supplied by the great crater, as the 

 trees on its sides showed that it had remained many years in a state of quiescence.-" 



The next year Kilauea is described as follows:" 



From the time we arrived within two miles of the crater, we had the smoke arising from it 

 directly in our faces, attended with a sulphureous stench. The wind was very strong and brought 

 along with it fine particles of sand so that I found it necessary to draw my hat as close as possible, 

 over my eyes in order to preserve them, carrying m3' head at the same time pretty low. The travelling 

 was also difficult from the sand which covered the smooth stones on which we had before 

 1824 walked. Into this sand our feet sunk six or eight inches at every step. We however 



sometimes found the sand sufiiciently hard and compact to bear us up We reached 



several large crevices from which smoke was issuing at a distance of five miles from the crater. 

 Continuing to advance toward the crater our attention was arrested by a hissing noise like that of 

 the blowing of a furnace, except that it was irregular, the noise being sometimes very low, and then 

 again exceedingly loud. The smoke in which we were now enveloped became so dense that we 



could see only a small distance before us We had made the volcano at the southwest end, and 



we now proceeded round the eastern side hoping to be soon freed from the steam or smoke, which 



being condensed by the wind, was falling upon us like rain At the distance of two hundred 



and fifty or three hundred feet below us was a level platform which appeared to have been formed by 

 the falling in of the wall of the crater. This platform, I believe, extends nearly around the whole 

 of the crater which is supposed to be nearly six miles in circumference. I had little difiiculty in 

 descending to this platform. From the side where I descended it extends nearly fifteen rods towards 

 the centre of the crater, where there is another descent of two hundred and fifty or three hundred feet. 



I 



™Ellis, Tour of Hawaii, p. 224. 



"The writer has been permitted to extract this account from the unpublished journal of Edward Loomis, who 

 was connected with the American Mission, and visited the volcano on June 16, 1.S24. He approached the crater from 

 Kau on the southwest. [420] 



