212 Ki/auea and Manna Loa. 



nating the whole crater so that lanterns were hardly needed for the parties who visited 

 the "everlasting house of Pele" by night. While the action was distributed over the 

 whole surface of the pool, some of the fountains seemed to have a definite position 

 which they retained for days; such was a vigorous one in the eastern half of the pool 

 which hardly varied its place during the two weeks of our stay at the crater. It was 

 like the "Old Faithful" of previous years, although not in the same place. Under the 

 east bank the floor was at times at a lower level than the general surface of the pool, 

 which seemed to form a rim or dam there, and thus repeat in a measure the process so 

 often seen in Kilauea, and shown especially in Silva's remarkable photograph (PI. L). 

 As seen in Perkins' view of the east end (Fig. 136), two falls of molten lava mark the 

 raised wall, and the reader will bear in mind that much of the surface to the right is 

 red-hot and subject to the breaking up and gushing forth of white-hot lava. By night 

 the scene is by no means so tame as it appears in the photograph, where the red-hot 

 lava is no brighter than the black lava of the walls. Mr. Perkins has caught the 

 effect better than any others whose work I have seen (Figs. 137 and 138), and one 

 can see the bright lava drawn out from the cracks, a process which gives the impression 

 of currents flowing in a definite direction. The light, cloud-like effects are from the 

 brightly illuminated gases, and it will be noted how local the escape of these gases is; 

 not a sign of any such emission over most of the exposed surface. In Mr. Thrum's 

 picture (Fig. 140) a long crack is seen from which the lava seems to flow toward the 

 spectator; and this picture also shows how the action was spread over the whole surface 

 of the pool. In Fig. 141 are seen the tiny watch-fires which are so beautiful a feature 

 of the night view. These are often so small and so constant that they are like lan- 

 terns placed as danger signals. "" 



A view from the northwest bank of Halemaumau, taken at the same visit (as 

 Fig. 136) by Mr. Perkins, shows the shelter hut whence the best views have been 

 obtained a little to the left of the centre of the picture (Fig. 139), and it also shows the 

 irregular outline of the pit and the varying level of its walls. From this it will be 

 seen that the rim where the outlook is built was not at that time undercut, but seems 

 as solid and safe as any part, while the impression given, especially at night, is of an 

 overhanging shelf. Another curious fact is to be seen in this capital picture : while 

 the structure of the rim in the foreground, where it is lowest, gives the impression 

 (and a correct one) that the pool had overflowed here, yet on the much higher part of 

 the rim farther to the left the same formation is found, and certainly the pool could 



'-'The waUs of Haleuiaumau may be shown in these night views, when the illumination from tlie lava is insuf- 

 licient, by a short exposure by daylight, and, leaving the camera undisturbed, repeating the exposure by night. 



[590] 



