^^5^0 WELD — MAUNA LOA. 167 



I Started early in the morning of Nov. 15, with three natives, to the 

 new craters on Mauna Loa. After walking a couple of miles over 

 grass-country, we entered a wood, and commenced the ascent. In 

 about two hours we began to emerge from the wood, and by 9 a.m. 

 we were fairly upon the lava. It was an old lava-stream, with various 

 SY^ecies of Fj)acris, a red whortle-berry, and similar plants growing in 

 Its crevices. Our course this morning had diverged a little to°the 

 north and then to the south of west, but now we made right for the 

 upper crater on the rounded back of Mauna Loa, bearing about west. 

 Before us lay a vast wilderness. On either hand belts of wood that 

 had escaped comparatively recent eruptions struggled yet a Httle 

 higher up the mountain-side. We passed several large caverns, 

 once the ducts of molten lava, and formed of the cooled upper crust 

 of the lava-current,— and heaps of stones, erected to mark a place 

 where a horse and, if I understood rightly, some natives had perished. 

 About fifty years ago, indeed, half a native army were smothered by 

 an eruption of ashes from Kilauea. Proceeding onwards over lava 

 and loose porous stones, like pumice, only harder and somewhat 

 heavier, we arrived at about 11 a.m. at a few bushes and koa-trees, 

 a httle oasis of coarse grass, an old hut, and a deep pool of delicious 

 water in a cave. Here the old track to the north-west side of the 

 island turns northward, passing between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. 

 VVe halted here to refresh ourselves for a few moments, and then 

 pursued our upward course over the bare lava. At about 3 p.m., 

 however, the guide, disappointed in his expectations of finding water 

 m a cavern, altered his plan, and, instead of keeping his westerly 

 course for the upper crater, turned to the right (north-west) to find 

 water at a spot some miles below the lower one. The consequence 

 was that we left a comparatively smooth tract of old lava and toiled 

 mile after mile over loose sharp stones and scorise, of every size 

 and shape, and piled in the wildest confusion. Shortly before sun- 

 set we found a little water amongst a few solitary stunted bushes, 

 and then, turning westward, shaped our course directly for the lower 

 crater of the two which were sending out dense volumes of smoke 

 above us. We lay down for the night on a little patch of half-vitrified 

 ashes : I estimated that we were now about 9000 feet above the sea. 

 1 he next morning we started before sunrise. Having found a few dry 

 sticks, I endeavoured to make some tea, but the water boiled away 

 without attammg sufficient heat to eifect my object, owing, I suppose, 

 to the height. Our way lay mile after mile over loose, light scoria- 

 boulders, yeasty-looking basins and tortuous folds and waves of solid- 

 itied lava, caverns whence the hot lava had flowed away, hillocks 

 generally of small stones burnt to a deep orange-red, and here and 

 there httle smooth spaces covered with ashes : altogether, dark and 

 dreary in colour, without a hving thing or a green blade to vivify its 

 , o^-o ^?^l^^* . "^^^^ morning we passed the site of the eruption of 

 18o2. The view thence of the opposite mountain of Mauna Kea was 

 most glorious. The old conical craters on its summit covered with 

 newly fallen snow,— its huge outline shadowy and dim,— the clouds 

 ot smoke that rose round its base from the valley down which the 



