Topography of Mokuatveoweo. 145 



fresh black lava had issued. At my former visit in 1864 there were two cones in 

 Mokuaweoweo about two hundred feet high near the eastern wall. In 1870, when Mr. 

 Luther Severance ascended the mountain, there were no cones, although the bottom 

 was much broken and sloped from west to east. From his sketch we learn that at f"'"" the 

 wall was ver}^ steep; at c the height was estimated at 1200 feet; at // were sulphur 

 banks smoking, but not violently; r marks the point where the trail from Kapapala 

 ends; c/ the point where Mr. Mann and I came to the crater in 1864; D i.? the small 

 southern crater, and a is where I found the wall tottering in 1880. 



In 1874 the crater was surveyed by Mr. John M. Lydgate, of the Government 

 Survey, and the cones had again formed, two being in the northern lateral crater, and 

 two in the main pit. In 1880 with this survey before me,'"' the changes seemed to be 

 mostly in the outer walls which had crumbled extensively, changing the outline, but 

 not enough to be indicated on a plan so small. In addition, the cross walls E and F 

 were obliterated, and the bottom of the crater was covered with fresh lava. On this, 

 along the edges, was a talus of old lava from the walls, showing plainl}' that an earth- 

 quake had occurred since the eruption of May i. No sulphur banks or steam jets 

 were seen from either c or a and the deposit of liniu, added to the roughness of the 

 lava, deterred me from making the circuit of the. south pit to examine a verj' extensive 

 break on the farther side which looked fresh. Near the break was a black and glisten- 

 ing stream of lava, like that at the bottom of Mokuaweoweo, which extended from 

 the opposite bank as far to the westward as could be seen over the undulating surface. 

 Whence this issued was not easily determined. If it was, as first appeared to be the 

 the case, an overflow from the crater, how could this have been full and j'et have left 

 no fresh lava on the broken walls? Usually when a pit crater fills up and is emptied 

 from beneath, the sinking lava leaves a rim or "Black Ledge;" but there is nothing 

 of the sort here. If the stream flowed into the crater then the wall over which it came 

 has tumbled down and so removed all traces. I finally concluded that it owed its origin 

 to some of the inclined lava jets that spouted out clear of the crater."" 



My guide had seen the fountain of May i, and he assured me that it came up 

 level with the outer walls of the south crater, so that the top was visible as he was 

 lying down some distance from the brink. This would indicate a height of nearly a 

 thousand feet, — not an insignificant jet! 



I was convinced that the eruption of May i was but the avant coiDicr of a greater 

 one, and as the termination of my visit was near, I asked those who were interested 



""For these references see Survey of Mokuaweoweo, p. 159. 



'"'See Survey of Mokuaweoweo by J. M. Lydgate, Fig. 73. 



"°In that I was mistaken, as a subsequent survey found an eruption had taken place from fissures near the 

 brow of the cliff, and a later eruption had flowed into this pit. See Survey of 1886. 



Memoirs b. p. b. Museum, Vol. II, No. 4.— lu. L523] 



