344 Henry Woodioard — On Vokanos. 



" When we were near tlie Halemauman, we came to a cone formed 

 of spattered lava and cemented scorise, some 25 feet high, with a 

 bright light at its apex ; this was the first fire we had seen, but we 

 passed by, eager to reach the great lake. This we accomplished 

 after ascending a gradual incline. It was about 800 feet in diameter, 

 and the lava was 50 feet below the cliff on which we stood, covered 

 with a dark crust, which was broken around the edges, and there 

 the blood-red lava was visible, surging against its walls with a dull, 

 sullen sound. The smoke was blown away by the wind, so that we 

 were able to stand on the very verge of the pit, but the heat was so 

 great that we were obliged to hold our hands before our faces. 



" The walls on which we stood, and where we intended to sleep, 

 were thickly covered on the side towards the pit with waving 

 woolly Pele's hair, which we saw forming continually. The drops 

 of lava thrown up drew after them the glass thread, or sometimes 

 two drops spin out a thread a yard long between them, and the 

 ' hair ' thus formed either clings to the rough sides, or is blown over 

 the edge, where it catches on any projecting point. The drops are 

 always black, or a very dark green on the surface, but light green 

 within, porous, and excessively brittle, and the thread is transparent, 

 and when first formed of a yellow or greenish colour. 



" Occasionally a crack would open across the lake, and violent 

 ebullitions commence at various points of its surface. There were 

 two small islands in the lake, which the lava seemed seeking to 

 destroy. The current would often set in towards the banks, and it 

 appeared as if the whole mass was about to be drawn in, as cake 

 after cake broke off from the surface and disappeared, but it would 

 soon cease, and then run towards another point of the wall, and I 

 could not see that it was oftener on one side than another. As a 

 cake of lava parted from the crust, the red lava rose above the crack, 

 running on the surface, and as the crack grew wider, cooling rapidly, 

 and being drawn out much like molasses or candy. 



" Whilst white hot, the lava was as liquid as water, but it rapidly 

 assumed the viscid condition, and then the solid. I threw a stick of 

 dry wood on the surface, which instantly became fixed, after a violent 

 bubbling, and it was ten minutes before any smoke appeared, and it 

 was only when a crack opened under it that it was consumed. The 

 motion was always from the centre, except when the lava was thrown 

 back in spray from the caverns which extended under much of the 

 wall. 



" We laid down in our blankets on the eastern edge, where the 

 walls were highest (and the wind drove away the smoke), and here 

 soon fell asleep. 



" About nine o'clock I got up and moved to the very edge of the 

 pit to view the molten mass to better advantage, and warm myself, 

 as the wind was quite cold. The moon was up and almost full, but 

 her orb was pale beside the fires of Pele. 



" Finding the place quite comfortable, I lay down and went to 

 sleep. At twelve I awoke with a start, and found myself in the 

 midst of a shower of fiery drops, some of which were burning my 

 blanket. I shook myself and jumped back, looking at my watch 



