Ascent of Manna Loa, 1880. 143 



Notes on an Ascent of Mauna Loa in 1880, About Three Months Before 

 THE Great Eruption of that Year. By W. T. Brigham. 



From the American Journal nf Science, July. iSSS, p. 33. 



On the first of May, 1880, fire was seen in the crater of Pohakn Hanalei'"" (h in 

 Fig. 85), on the snmmit of Manna Loa. Persons who made the ascent saw a fire- 

 fountain much like that observed in 1872, but no overflow followed, and the fires soon 

 disappeared. On the morning of July 26, I left Kilauea for Kapapala. The next 

 morning, while waiting at Stone's ranch for a guide over the trackless beds of aa and 

 clinker on the great mountain, an earthquake occurred at 8:30 a.m. local time. It lasted 

 three seconds, and was accompanied by a loud subterranean noise resembling that of 

 the looms in a cotton mill. The vibration was by no means so noticeable as the noise. 

 Journeying over a grazing land covered with coarse grass, and dotted here and there 

 with blighted koa trees, we reached Ainapo at 1:45 p.m. Although at an elevation of 

 at least 5000 feet, the temperature was at 75°. Late in the afternoon I mounted a fine 

 mule that had been loaned me by a friend, and, with Aliuai for guide, left the ranch. 

 In 1S64, with Mr. Horace Mann, I climbed the mighty dome on foot on the opposite 

 side; but this path was, if possible, worse. The forest had been burned, and the 

 blackened stems of the trees were dismal objects unless covered with the aka/a a 

 gigantic raspberry vine. The soil in these lower regions seems good, but the ground 

 is much broken, and so full of holes that it would be very dangerous to ride out of the 

 trail after dark. Even in the afternoon, vapors ascended from these holes, which 

 often, if not always, communicated with caverns in the ancient lava streams, and as 

 the day waned the vapors became more distinct. I found as the average of several 

 trials, that the temperature was only two or three degrees higher than the outer air. 

 As we ascended, the actual temperature of the vapor in these holes increased, and of 

 course the relative temperature was much higher. I inferred from this that the inner 

 mountain mass was hotter than usual, as I had never observed so great a difference 

 before, and that an eruption was at hand. 



At the upper limit of vegetation we camped, giving our animals the little 

 bundles of hay we had brought for the purpose. The night was cold and on the morn- 

 ing of July 28th, at sunrise, the thermometer marked 52°. We broke camp at five 



'"This name was applied by my guide to the south pit crater of Mokuaweoweo, and I still believe it the 

 correct name. This name was also used by Wilkes in 1841 with the concurrence of Dr. Judd and others. Much 

 juggling has taken place with the names of Hawaiian origin in later times, and this name has been applied to 

 at least three craters on this mountain. The one selected by the survey (on what grounds I do not know) to bear 

 the name on the official map is a cone on the summit some distance from Mokuaweoweo in a northeasterly direc- 

 tion. I may add that in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, xxv, 194. in a paper by J. G. Sawkins, read 

 June 25, 1S55, there occurs this passage; "The crater of Pohakuhanalie is connected with that of Mokuaweoweo, 

 which is much deeper, its walls being nearly perpendicular, and exhibiting 92 layers or beds, uninterrupted by 

 dykes. South of the last named crater there is another, the lava of which was so hot at the time of my visit that we 

 could not walk over it. " [521] 



