Summit of Mauna Loa. 

 Temperature of boiling water. 



SANDWICH ISLANDS 



Summit of Mauna Loa. 



267 



Christmas-day set in quite stormy, with snow 

 and a gale from the south-west; it was very cold, 

 and the only way we had of keeping warm was to 

 wrap ourselves up with blankets and furs. We had 

 just wood enough to heat a little chocolate. 



The small instruments having arrived, I began 

 some of the observations. 



While the rest were employed in making our 

 tents as tight as possible, in the one Dr. Judd and 

 myself occupied we discovered a great deposit of 

 moisture, which, on examination, was found to be 

 caused by steam issuing through a crack in the 

 lava. On placing a thermometer in it, it rose to 

 68. The tent was forty feet from the edge of the 

 precipice of the crater, and it was not surprising 

 that the steam should find its way up from the 

 fires beneath. As it somewhat annoyed us, we 

 pounded and filled the seam full of broken pieces 

 of lava. This circumstance led to the discovery of 

 a small piece of moss, the only living thing, either 

 animal or vegetable, that was found within six 

 miles distance, or within four thousand feet of the 

 height of the terminal crater. This moss was here 

 nourished by the steam that escaped, which sup- 

 plied it with warmth and moisture. 



This day we made many experiments on the 

 temperature of boiling water: the mean of the 

 observations gave the boiling temperature at 188, 

 being five hundred and sixty feet to each degree 

 of temperature. At the volcano of Kilauea, I had 

 found it less than five hundred and fifty feet to 

 each degree; while the result of careful experi- 

 ments at the Sunday Station gave five hundred 

 and fifty-five feet to the degree, and at the Recruit- 

 ing Station, five hundred and fifty-eight feet. 



We also employed ourselves in building a high 

 stone wall around a space large enough to contain 

 the houses and tents, when they should all arrive, 

 having found the necessity of it to protect ourselves 

 from the violent winds. Besides this, each tent 

 was to be surrounded by a separate wall, up as 

 high as the eaves, when completed. 



Some of the boxes now began to make their 

 appearance, by the aid of the sailors from the ship; 

 but the provisions had not arrived, and the allow- 

 ance was again reduced. Most of the men were 

 reported as without shoes, having worn out those 

 they left the ship with ; and being barefooted, 

 could not move over the sharp vitreous lava. 

 Many of them were likewise said to be ill with the 

 mountain-sickness. Wood was brought up, and 

 water sent down to the lower station, in exchange. 



The wind had been fresh throughout the day; 

 but towards night it began to increase, and by 

 eight o'clock we had another violent gale from the 

 south-west. I do not think I ever passed such a 

 night : it blew a perfect hurricane for several 

 hours, causing an incessant slamming, banging, and 

 flapping of the tents, as though hundreds of per- 

 sons were beating them with clubs. These noises, 

 added to the howling of the wind over the crater, 

 rendered the hours of darkness truly awful. 



The two other tents were blown down, but mine 

 stood firm. The men lay under the fallen tents, 

 and were made far more comfortable after the 

 accident. It was impossible to stand against the 

 gusts; and we watched all night, for no one could 

 sleep. The thermometer fell to 17 inside the 

 tent; and water in the bags, under my pillow, 

 froze. About three o'clock, the wind began to 



moderate; and at sunrise, we found the tempera- 

 ture at 20. 



From the news received on the 25th, respecting 

 the condition of the men, I determined to see them 

 myself. Dr. Judd and I therefore set out on the 

 morning of the 26th ; and when about two miles 

 from the summit, we met Lieutenant Alden, Dr. 

 Pickering, and Mr. Eld, who were coming up to 

 see me, to report the condition of the men. The 

 account they gave of them was any thing but 

 cheering. On the arrival of Lieutenant Alden, I 

 had directed that he should take an intermediate 

 post between Lieutenant Budd's Recruiting Sta- 

 tion and the summit crater, in order that the men 

 belonging to one station might be able to bring up 

 their loads and return before night. This, Lieu- 

 tenant Alden informed me, he had done: his sta- 

 tion was at the height of eleven thousand eight 

 hundred feet. 



I now saw more strongly the necessity of my 

 going down, in order to ascertain the exact situa- 

 tion of things, give the men encouragement, and 

 renew the spirit with which they had left the ship, 

 as volunteers. I have always found that sailors 

 are easily encouraged ; and by putting a light heart 

 and cheerful face upon the times, they quickly re- 

 assume their good spirit; and this I found to be the 

 case in the present instance. 



We parted; Lieutenant Alden, Dr. Pickering, 

 and Mr. Eld going up to the terminal crater, while 

 Dr. Judd and myself continued to descend for about 

 four miles. There we found a large number of 

 men in a temporary tent, lying on the panels of the 

 portable houses : some of them were suffering from 

 mountain-sickness, others vomiting; some had at- 

 tacks of diarrhoea, others had not got over their forced 

 march, and showed me their bleeding feet and shoe- 

 less condition; all were looking half-savage, with 

 overgrown beards, dirty and ragged clothes, so 

 totally different from their trim and neat appear- 

 ance on board ship, that I was shocked at the 

 change produced in so short a time. 



Whilst Dr. Judd administered to the sick, I 

 spoke to those who were well, and succeeded in 

 animating them : they all assured me they were 

 " good pluck," and such I afterwards found them. 

 They set about mending their shoes and making 

 sandals; and by the next day, many were trans- 

 porting small loads up the mountain side. 



At about four o'clock we reached the Recruiting 

 Station, having encountered the boxes and various 

 articles, together with pieces of the portable house, 

 strewed along the way. These had been left by the 

 natives, who deserted en masse when those who had 

 left me the first night came down giving exagge- 

 rated accounts of the cold, and other difficulties of 

 the journey. I found Lieutenant Budd quite well, 

 and only a few of the men that were with him sick: 

 they had little or no provisions. 



The difference of temperature between the alti- 

 tude of fourteen thousand and nine thousand feet 

 was very apparent : we could now enjoy sitting in 

 the open air without feeling cold; it was as if we 

 had passed at once from winter to spring. Although, 

 ten days before, I had looked upon this spot as 

 particularly barren, being destitute of vegetation 

 and without water, yet, by comparison with the 

 upper station which we had just left, every thing 

 now appeared comfortable. It had been chosen, 

 as I have said before, for a very remarkable cave, 



