ie 
32 Volcanic Character of the Island of Hawaii. 
lava in about two hours, and arrived at a village, whose inhab- 
itants were unwilling to believe that the travellers had not on- 
ly been to Kirauea, but had broken the sulphur banks, eaten 
~ the ohelos, descended to the craters, and broken fragments of 
lava from them, for Pele, they said, was adreadful being, and 
would certainly have avenged the insult. They were howev- 
er convinced by the sight»of the specimens, but said that the 
travellers had escaped because they were foreigners. Pele, 
they said had, only five moons ago, issued from a subterrane- 
an cavern—overflowed the low land of K: ied in- 
to the sea some of the inhabitants, and a huge rock nearly 100 
feet high, which, a little while before, had been separated 
an earthquake from the main pile. They stated that it now 
stands in the sea, nearly a mile from shore, its bottom fixed in 
lava, and its summit rising considerably above the water. 
‘The missionaries thought it probable that the eruption here 
alluded to, arose from “ the body of the lava, which-had fil- 
led Kirauea up to the black: ledge—between 300 and 400 
feet above the liquid lava—that it had, at the time spoken of, 
lage of Kaimn, where they heard from the people, a confirma- 
eye witnesses of the statement as to the-transporta- 
so ; y : . 
tion of the great rock—“ they recapitulated the contest 
hen 
i , they were not inclined to handle them. 
ie missionaries observed the cracks in the ground and in 
the houses, produced by a recent earthquake. « Earthg 3 
“ rally _ exe 
eruption of a volcano.” The path from Kaimu had 
been smooth and pleasant ; but shortly after leaving Kaima- 
li, they passed “ a very rugged tract of lava, nearly four miles 
across. . The lava seemed as if broken to pieces while cool- 
ing ; it had continued to roll on like a stream of e scoria 
or cinders, progress across it was slow and fatiguing.” 
