86 tCilauea a)id Mauna I. 



oa. 



as if the whole lake was about to be drawn in as cake after cake broke off from the 

 surface and disappeared. But it would soon cease, and then run toward another point 

 of the wall, and I could not see that it was oftener on one side than another. As a 

 crack opened, the red lava rose above the crack, running on the surface, and as the 

 crack grew wider, cooling rapidh*, and being drawn out niucli like molasses candy. 

 While white-hot, the lava was liquid as water, but it rapidly assumed the viscid con- 

 dition, and then the solid. I threw a stick of dry wood on the surface the instant it 

 became fixed after a violent bubbling, and it was ten minutes before any smoke was 

 made, and it was only when a crack opened under it that it was consumed. The motion 

 was always from the centre, except when the lava was thrown back in spraj- from the 

 caverns which extended under much of the wall. 



We laid down in our blankets on the eastern edge where the wall was highest, 

 and the wind drove away the smoke, and soon fell asleep. About nine o'clock I got 

 up and moved to the very edge of the pit to view the molten mass to better advantage, 

 and warm myself, as the wind from Mauna Loa towering ten thousand feet above us 

 was quite cold. The moon was up and almost full, but her orb was pale beside the 

 fires of Pele. Finding the place quite comfortable, I lay down and went to sleep. 

 At twelve I awoke with a start, and found mj'self in the midst of a shower of fiery 

 drops, some of which were burning mj- blankets. I shook mj'self and jumped back, 

 looking at vay watch to note the time, for I thought a great eruption at hand, and then 

 stood gazing at the strange scene for some time before I thought of calling my com- 

 panions. The whole surface had risen several feet and was boiling violently and 

 dashing against the sides, throwing the red-hot spray high over the banks and causing 

 the providential rain of fire which awoke me to see this grand display. There was no 

 noise except the dash and the sullen roar. When I could think of anything else, 

 I called the others, who were asleep several rods from the edge, but onlj' succeeded in 

 awakening the guides, and just then a drop came plump on to a greas}- paper in which 

 we had brought our supper, and it blazed up so suddenly that one of the kanakas 

 thought that a new jet was opening at our feet, and ran off to some distance. Failing 

 to arouse my companions by calling, I threw a handful of small stones at them but 

 without effect, and I had to climb down and shake them roughly. When they had got 

 to the edge the action had greatly diminished, and in a few minutes more the dark 

 crust again covered the central portion, and we all went to sleep. 



I was glad to see such distinct flames, as it liad been denied that they exist in 

 Kilauea. The}' burst from the surface, and were in tongues or wide sheets a foot long 

 and of a bluish-green color, quite distinct from the lava even when white-hot ; they 



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