194 



Kilauea and Mauna Loa. 



feet. After we reached this altitude we left the mule and the two exhausted men behind, because 

 the upper part of that side of the summit was mostl}' formed of the aa kind of lava. While the two 

 men pitched the tent, the rest of the party passed on without delaj-. We heard distinctly a surf-like 

 noise that indicated the presence of lava fountains; the pillar of bluish smoke was quite near; and 

 yet no trace of the immediate vicinity of the crater was discernable 



The upmost top of Mauna Loa is almost level, with only a very slight uphill slope to the rim. 

 At once the opposite side of the crater becomes visible ; a few steps more and we were on the brink 

 of a perpendicular precipice and saw the whole crater. What was noticeable in that first moment 

 was the rather considerable amount of snow forming narrow white lines on the opposite crater wall ; 

 and two large lava fountains, the bright reddish yellow color of which made a fine contrast to the 

 blackish crater bottom 



The surface of the lake was crusted over, but rent by a very large number of crevices, through 

 which the glow was slightly visible in the daylight and very bright in the night During my 



Fig. 121. ERUPTION OF IIAUNA LOA, I.S96, AT NIGHT. DR. FRIEDLANDER. 



presence there were two large and one small lava fountains, the former of which played with great 

 regularity and without an\- interruption. We were looking against the longer diameter, which 

 followed the line on which the fountains were playing ; apparently they started from a rather straight 

 crack. Their height was difficult to estimate from our place of observation, as the downward look 

 was too steep : but I do not believe that the largest was more than 50 feet high. A succeeding party, 

 three daj'S later, reported far larger figures : 150 to 200 feet. Kither one of these estimations is very far 

 from the truth, or, the fountains had increased their height in the lapse of three days; the latter 

 supposition seems to me more probable. The color of the fountains was very bright, more yellow 

 than reddish, even in the daylight; after sunset they were almost dazzling, and also the system of 

 cracks was very striking. I succeeded in obtaining lasting evidence which proves that the fountains 

 were not very far from real white-heat. The full moon and the fountains affected the photograph 

 plate almost alike. As the fountains of Mokuaweoweo came out absolutely black in a five second 

 exposure with an F. 6.3 lens on a 26X Seed's plate, I am convinced that a much shorter exposure 



would suffice My picture (Fig. 121) was taken only half an hour after sunset, when the reflected 



[572] 



