Proceedings of the Polytechnic Association. 775 



The Great Fissure near the Puna Road. 



In Kapapala we were told that fire had l)een seen several nights in 

 a southeast direction and that natives had reported liowing lava there. 

 We rode over on the morning of April 20, At a distance of five 

 miles from Mr. Reed's dwelling, where the Puna road turns off from 

 the Kilauea road, heavy clouds of white vapor were seen to issue 

 from the bnsh, which sparsely covered the ])alu)ehoe tnakai of the 

 road. Half an hour's ride brought us up to the place, but we were 

 obliged to leave our horses some distance before reaching the spot on 

 account of fissures. After having crossed a number of them, heading 

 for the heaviest cloud of vapor, we at last came to a deep crevasse in 

 the ijalioehoe at least twentv-four feet in width, no bottom visible. 

 It narrowed and widened out in places, but nowhere was less than 

 eight feet wide. Its length we estimated at 400 feet. Parallel 

 with this great crevasse, constituting a belt about 600 feet 

 in width, were a number of smaller ones on each side, diminishing 

 in size with distance from it, from six feet to a few inches. From 

 the larger openings in the former heavy white columns of hot steam 

 issued, which had a decidedly alkaline smell. Smaller jets of vapor, 

 to the number of thirty, rose from the smaller fissures. We could 

 not discover fire in an}^ place, but it is very probable that during 

 dark nights the reflex of the underWing lava should be thrown up, 

 for as the steam did not seem to contain combustible material it is 

 unlikely that the light seen should have been produced by it. The 

 mean direction of all the fissures was northeast nine degrees north, 

 southwest nine degrees south, or nearly the direction of a line 

 connecting Kilauea with Waiohinu and Kahuku. The distance of 

 these fissures from Kilauea is thirteen miles. 



Kapapala. 



As in this district the earthquake of April 2 culminated to its 

 greatest intensity, so as even to rend in twain the framework of a 

 mountain side and hurl down on the plain a portion of its flank, it is 

 necessary to give a short description of the country in order to insure 

 a proper understanding of the disturbance. The locality in question 

 is that comprised between the ranch station of Messrs. Reed and 

 Richardson, on the east, and Mr. F. Lyman, on the west, a distance 

 of five miles. The government road connecting these two places runs 

 through a fine grassy plain, which has a very gentle .fall towards the 

 sea, its elevation being about 2,000. feet. Into. this plain project from 



