Earthquake and Miid Flow, i86j. 109 



Parallel with this great crevasse, coustituting a belt about six hundred feet in width, were a number 

 of smaller ones on each side, diminishing in size with distance from it, from six feet to a few 

 inches. P^rom the larger openings in the former, heavy white columns of hot steam issued, which 

 had a decidedly alkaline smell. Smaller jets of vapor to the number of thirty, rose from the 

 smaller fissures. We could not discover fire in any place, but it is very probable that during 

 dark nights the reflection of the underlying lava should be thrown up, for as the steam did not 

 seem to contain combustible material, it is unlikely that the light seen should have been produced 

 by it. The mean direction of all the fissures was N.E. 9° N., S.W. 9° S., or nearly the direction 

 of a line connecting Kilauea with Waiohiuu and Kahuku. The distance of these fissures from 

 Kilauea is thirteen miles. 



As in this district the earthquake of April 2nd culminated to its greatest intensity, so as even 

 to rend in twain the frame-work of a mountain-side, and hurl down on the plain a portion of its flank, 

 it is necessary to give a short description of the country in order to insure a proper understanding of 

 the disturbance. The locality in question is that comprised between the ranch stations of Messrs. 

 Reed and Richardson, on the east, and Mr. F. S. Lyman on the west, a distance of five miles. 

 The government road connecting these two places runs through a fine grassy plain, which has 

 a very gentle fall towards the sea, its elevation being about 2000 feet. Into this plain project from 

 the slope of Mauna Loa three parallel hills or spurs, each about one mile in length, and from 800 

 to 1800 feet in height. They include two broad valleys between them. The upper portions of 

 these valleys rise with a steep incline towards a ridge which runs at right angles with the spurs, and 

 is covered with a dense pulu forest, which extends far up the gentle slope of the dome of Mauna Loa. 

 In the second one of these valleys — that next to Mr. Lyman's — the so-called mud-flow took place, 

 but very extensive land-slides, confined simply to the loose earth and conglomerate, also occurred 

 in the other valley. 



The ground around Reed and Richardson's station is torn up into numerous small cracks and 

 fissures, running in every direction. Some are large enough to engulf horse and rider, a fact which 

 actually occurred a few days after the earthquake. A large cistern, built in solid masonry and 

 covered with an arched stone roof, was rent to pieces, and the roof entirely broken awaj-. Not a 

 single stone fence is standing; their places are indicated by flat belts of stone on the ground. The 

 dwelling house — a good v^'ooden framed one — exhibits a wrench across its roof, so that the gutters 

 empty themselves in the sitting room ; the cook-house is thrown off its foundation ; other out-buildings 

 are completely overturned ; and of the grass houses, some are smashed down, others greatly inclined. 

 But all these signs of destruction are thrown in the shade by the grandeur of the force which shook 

 off the .side of the pali, burying in a minute thirtj'-one human beings, many hundred head of cattle, 

 and entire flocks of goats, and ending four miles from its beginning in a mighty river of mud. Before 

 reaching this mud-flow from Reed's house, we passed two considerable streams of muddy water, of a 

 reddish-yellow color, emitting a strong odor of clay, such as may be perceived in potteries. Both 

 streams have their origin in the land-slide of the first valley. When we passed them again, two days 

 later, they had nearly disappeared ; they evidently owed their origin to the drainage of the fallen 

 mass. The mud-flow is met with three miles from Reed's. It projects itself from the spurs of the 

 hills two miles down in the plain; begins at once with a thickness of six feet, which, towards the 

 middle, where it forms a small hill, rises to thirty feet ; averages about three-fourths of a mile in 

 width, and contracts towards its end. From this end a long queue of boulders bears witness to the 

 violent action of a torrent which shot out of the mud after it was deposited, and which has since 

 perpetuated itself in a stream of some size, quite muddy, and emitting the above mentioned potter}' 

 odor when we saw it first, on April 20th, but perfectly clear and inodorous when we passed it three 

 days later. A little higher up a koa grove gives still stronger evidence of the strength of the pro- 

 pelling force. The trees first seized are snapped off and prostrate, yet the mud in that place is only 

 a few feet deep. The mass itself is nothing but the loose red soil of the mountain side, with a good 



C487] 



