Kilauea as Seen by Dr. Hillebrand. 



107 



a short time in the south lake Halemaumau. White vapors of steam issued from the floor in a hun- 

 dred places, but of those stifling sulphurous and acid gases, formerly so overpowering in the neigh- 

 borhood of the lakes and o\ens, only the faintest trace was perceived here and there. 



The heat was nowhere so great that we could not keep our footing for a minute or more, 

 although in many places it would forbid the touch of the bare hand. The great south lake Hale- 

 maumau is transformed into a vast pit, more than five hundred feet deep, the solid eastern wall pro- 

 jecting far over the hollow below, while the remaining sides are falling off with a sharp inclination, 

 and consist of a confused mass of rough aa. More than two-thirds of the old floor of Kilauea has 

 caved in, and sunk from one hundred to three hundred feet below the level of the remaining floor. 



Fig. 69. KILAUEA AFTER THE ERUPTION OF 1868. 



The depression embraces the whole western half, and infringes in a semicircular line on a 

 considerable portion of the other half. This is greatest in the northern, and rather gradual and 

 gentle in its southern portion. Entering on the depressed floor from the southern lake, it was some 

 time before we became fully aware of its existence, and it was only on our return from the northwest 

 corner, where it is deepest, that there presented itself through the mist in which we were enveloped, a 

 high wall of three hundred feet, grotesque and fanciful in outline. At first we were quite bewildered, 

 fancying that we beheld the great outer wall of the crater. On nearer approach we soon satisfied 

 ourselves that this singular wall represented the line of demarcation of a great depression in the floor 

 of the crater — a fact that surprised us the more, as a bird's eye view from above had altogether failed 

 to apprise us of its existence. As we had been informed that the principal activity of the crater 

 before the great earthquake had been in the northwest corner, we proceeded in that direction on 



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