98 



♦ KNOW^LEDGE ♦ 



[Maech 1, 1889. 



uncapped, domes cracked, hills and ridges of scoria moved, 

 and immense slabs of lava were raised vertically or tilted in 

 every direction." 



In 1859 there was another eruption ; the lava stream 

 r&iched the sea in eight days, running out on the shore at a 

 red heat, having flowed for about thirty miles under the 

 cover of its crusted surface. Loud explosions were heard all 

 night long like the discharge of heavy cannon, and the light 

 was so brilliant that fine print could be read at night thirty- 

 five miles away. 



During the eruption of 1868, the outburst was accom- 

 panied by violent and destructive earthquakes. At the 

 great fissure from which the lava burst, large stones and 

 rocks, some of about 100 tons weight, were thrown into the 

 air. 



In 1880 the movement of the front of the stream was 

 unusually rapid, being sometimes as much as 75 feet an 

 hour. Altogether there have been eight eruptions of Mount 

 Loa since 184.3. 



From the great volcano of Mount Loa we must now turn 

 to the wonderful volcanic plain of Kilauea, situated on its 



great size, and their solid character makes it probable that 

 they were torn by the ascending lava fiom the deep-seated 

 rocks along the conduit of the volcano. It appears to have 

 been a projectile eruption, such as has not been known in 

 more recent times. 



In the sixty-tbree years from 1823 to 1886, there have 

 been at least eight eruptions of Kilauea, four of them of 

 great magnitude. They have been characterised by violent 

 boiling of the lava in the lake, and the rising of numerous 

 cones in and around it, ejecting steam, vapours, and fluid 

 lava. The fountains of lava seldom exceed 50 feet in height, 

 but there have sometimes been as many as fifty cones in 

 various parts of the floor, and the furious action of the boil- 

 ing sea of lava produces an indescribably impressive effect. 

 The cones thrown up are often re-melted by the lava around 

 them ; one large one formed on the lava lake actually floated 

 upon its surface, becoming stranded after the eruption of 1886 

 by the withdrawal of the lava from beneath. The eruption 

 of 1886 lasted only a few hours; the volcano was observed 

 to be ucusually active in the evening of March 6, but by 

 two or three o'clock in the morning the lava had entirely 



View of the Ceateb or Kilauka. 



south-eastei-n slope. It is a depression of about 2J miles 

 long by 2 miles wide, with nearly vertical sides, rising 

 300 to 450 feet above the level of the crater-plain. It 

 appears to have been formed at a time of greater vol- 

 canic activity than at present, as the recorded eruptions 

 have been confined to the' lava lake of Halema'uma'u, about 

 430 feet in diameter, which lies in the great plain near 

 its south-western extremity. Traditions gathered from the 

 natives by the Rev. J. Dibble, nearly fifty years ago, record 

 a great eruption about the year 1789, when the whole 

 plain of Kilauea appears to have been in action, and stones, 

 sand, and scoria were thrown to a gi-eat height, falling in a 

 destructive shower for many miles round. The stones are 

 found forming a deposit of 25 to 30 feet thick over an area 

 extending ten miles or more from the crater. ]SIany are of 



disappeared from the lake. During this short time, how- 

 ever, the pit had been filled to the brim, pouring into an 

 adjoining lake that had been formed by a previous eruption, 

 and melting the intervening bridge of lava. For several 

 days after the eruption immense masses of the surrounding 

 cliff's fell from a height of 200 feet into the lake with a 

 sound like thunder. The lava appeared to make its escape 

 through subterranean channels, as there was no \-isible out- 

 flow. 



The most remarkable feature in the KUauea crater is the 

 frequent and extensive changes of level to which its floor is 

 subject. A lower pit of great extent, which had sunk in a 

 few hours to a depth of 400 feet in the floor, leaving a 

 terrace round the whole crater, was raised again to its former 

 level in 5^ years. In 1840 the subsidence of solid 



