1860. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



335 



the bay we passed three sugar plantations, owned 

 and worked by Chinamen, all in successful opera- 

 tion, makina; excellent sugar. On reaching the 

 village of Hilo, once my place of residence, I 

 found striking changes, twenty-seven years hav- 

 ing elapsed since I left. These consisted in build- 

 ings ; a fine meeting-house, school-house, stores, 

 shops and dwelling-houses; in good roads; in 

 gardens and fruit trees ; in an increase of ships, 

 chiefly whale-ships, visiting the harbor. I did not 

 see that increase of industry among the native 

 Hawaiians that I desired to witness. There was 

 some improvement in their style of building, but 

 there did not seem to be much agricultural im- 

 provement. The whale-ships, of which there v,-ere 

 some sixteen in the bay while I was there, obtain 

 wood, water and a fevi^ recruits, such as oranges, 

 melons and a few vegetables, but their main re- 

 cruits they seek at other ports. 



From Hilo we took our way to Kau, the south- 

 ern district of the island by way of Kilanea, the 

 active volcano of Hawaii. The distance from Hi- 

 lo to Kilanea, the volcano, is about 38 miles. And 

 such a road i Scarcely an acre of arable land did 

 we see after leaving Hilo. The whole covmtry 

 had, at a remote period of time, been overflown 

 .with iava over which lay our road, not alwaf s vis- 

 ible, though for the most part oin* horses succeed- 

 ed in picking their way. At Olaa, about mid- 

 way from the bay to the crater, thci e seemed to 

 be a little oasis in this wilderness of pahoehoe, or 

 fields of lava slabs. Here was a small village, with 

 a native or grass meeting-house. I think some 

 kalo, such as grows on dry land, is found here, 

 and perhaps a few potatoes, though a plow could 

 not bo used. I was glad to find a plenty of fine 

 guavas, and several orange trees, some of which 

 were loaded with ripe fruit. Leaving this village, 

 we pushed on to the house where those who visit 

 the crater lodge over night. Here we staid, 

 though the accommodations were primitive 

 enough, the house being a grass one, and poor at 

 that, minus of furniture and beds ; a fire kindled 

 in the middle of (he room to give us two smoke 

 to one fire. However, we mustered the tea-kettle 

 which is used for travellers, both here and at Kil- 

 anea, and having made a cup of tea, we covered 

 ourselves as decently as we could and got a little 

 sleep ; rose early and pushed on for Kilanea. Till 

 within two or three miles the way was gradually 

 ascending as it had been from Byron's Bay, and 

 rough. We then reached a plain of coarse sand, 

 over which our beasts galloped and soon brought 

 us to the far-famed crater of Kilanea. Of this let 

 me tell your readers something. 



At an early hour in the day we reached the 

 northern bank of Kilanea, from which we so over- 

 looked the crater that we could see all below at a 

 single glance. As we were in need of water for 

 washing and breakfast, our guide, a son of Rev. 

 D. B. Lyman, of Hilo, led us to the pools of wa- 

 ter near by caused by the steam which was con- 

 stantly ascending from the fires in the pit through 

 chasms in the bank. The steam and vapor were 

 immediately condensed into drops of water by 

 cool mountain air, and dropped into little basins 

 formed by the lava. The water had collected in- 

 to small pools, deep enough to allow of being 

 dipped out with a cup, and was so warm that we 

 could scarcely bear our hand in it. The steam 

 and vapor were also uncomfortably warm, nearly 



taking away one's breath, so to speak. On be- 

 coming cool, we found the water sweet, and we 

 used it for our drink. But for this provision of 

 nature, it would be much more inconvenient for 

 travellers to remain at Kilanea long enough to in- 

 vestigate the wonders of the place. 



We next visited the sulphur banks at the north- 

 west corner of the crater. A good path led us 

 there over a tract of decomposed lava, on which 

 grew ohelo bushes, a species of whortleberries 

 which, in the days of Hawaiian superstition, fur- 

 nished offerings to Pele, the goddess of the volca- 

 no. The banks were some thirty feet high, and 

 perhaps four hundred feet long and seventy-five 

 feet broad. The ground was rent by fissures 

 through which the smoke and vapor were contin- 

 ually ascending. We could hear the roaring of 

 the fires beneath, and the vapor ascending through 

 the fissure^ was too hot to be endured. The banks 

 were covered with sulphur, and some of the crys- 

 tallized specimens which adhered to the rocks 

 were beautiful. We found specimens of sulphate 

 of ammonia. Salts are sometimes gathered here 

 in considerable quantities, and used for medicine. 

 Strong, but dirty. 



We then descended into the crater of Kilanea 

 from the south side, not without difl[iculty, for the 

 banks are steep. There had been a great deal of 

 travel, so that the path was well defined, and we 

 reached it in safety, and paused on the edge of 

 this fearful pit, one thousand feet deep on this 

 northern side. The north part of the crater had 

 the appearance of a lake three miles square frozen 

 over, thawed in part, and the huge cakes of ice 

 driven by the wind till quieted by another cold 

 night. The whole area had been a mass of melt- 

 ed lava which had been boiled and dashed vio- 

 lently against the sides of the crater, which are 

 here per])endicular. Li cooling they had left huge 

 slabs of lava, some lying flat, others edgewise, and 

 some piled on each other. Over these we v>-alked 

 with caution, as there were many fearful crevices, 

 some so wide that we leaped them with difficul- 

 ty, and very deep. After walking about two 

 miles we reached a lake or chaldron in vigorous 

 action. It was sunken some twenty feet, I judge, 

 below the bottom of the crater. We stood on 

 the ledge above, and for two hours watched the 

 playing of the fearful element below. At one 

 time there were three fountains playing near the 

 outer edge of the lake boiling with intense heat, 

 and throwing their jets high in air, like the surf 

 breaking on the shore. Then, again, nearer the 

 crater of the lake, a bubble would rise to the top 

 or surface of the crater and break. Then another 

 and another, till it became a spot, say a rod 

 square, of boiUng lava throwing its jets higher 

 and higher, and increasing in size, till quite a 

 large area would lioil and roar and throw its an- 

 gry waves on every side, and to the height of 

 perha])s fifty feet. Then it would subside gradu- 

 ally, till in a few minutes all would be quiet. At 

 another time the whole area seemed to be in mo- 

 tion, and moving in several directions, meeting, 

 overlapping each other, till, opening in some par- 

 ticular place, huge cakes of hardened lava would 

 be sucked in and disappear, as would a sheet 

 of paper in a furnace of fire. The sight was 

 grand and fearful, and Ave left with admiration of 

 the dread power which kindled and sustained 

 these fearful internal fires. No thoughtful man 



