306 



APPENDIX II 



gravel and lava, &c., ejected at various periods from the crater. The 

 steam that now arose from the cracks bespoke our near approach to 

 the summit, and at two p.m., I arrived at its northern extremity, where 

 finding it nearly level, and observing that water was not far distant, I 

 chose that spot for my encampment. As, however, the people were not 

 likely to arrive before the evening, I took a walk round the West 

 side, now the most active part of the volcano, and sat down there, not 

 correctly speaking, to enjoy, but to gaze with wonder and amaze- 

 ment on this terrific sight, which inspired the beholder with a fearful 



pleasure. 



" From the descriptions of former visitors, I judge that Mouna Roa 

 must now be in a state of comparative tranquillity. A lake of liquid 

 fire, in extent about a thirteenth part of the whole crater, was boiling 

 with furious agitation ; not constantly, however, for at one time it appeared 

 cahn and level, the numerous fiery red streaks on its surface alone attesting 

 its state of ebuUition, when again, the red hot lava would dart upwards 

 and boil with terrific grandeur, spouting to a height which, from the 

 distance at which I stood, I calculated to be from forty to seventy feet, 

 when it would dash violently against the black ledge, and then subside 

 agaia for a few moments. Close by the fire was a chimney, above forty 

 feet high, which occasionally discharges its steam, as if all the steam- 

 engines in the world were concentrated in it. This preceded the tranquil 

 state of the lake, which is situated near the South- West, or smaller end 

 of the crater. In the centre of the Great Crater, a second lake of fire, 

 of circular form, but smaller dimensions, was boiliag with equal intensity : 

 the noise was dreadful beyond all description. The people having arrived, 

 Honori last, my tent was pitched twenty yards back from the perpendi- 

 cular wall of the crater ; and as there was an old hut of Ti-leaves on the 

 intermediate bank, only six feet from the extreme verge, my people 

 soon repaired it for their own use. As the sun sunk behind the western 

 flank of Moima Roa, the splendour of the scene increased ; but when 

 the nearly fuU moon rose in a cloudless sky, and shed her silvery brightness 

 on the fiery lake, roaring and boiling in fearful majesty, the spectacle 

 became so commanding, that I lost a fine night for making astronomical 

 observations, by gazing on the volcano, the illumination of which was 

 but little diminished by a thick haze that set in at midnight. 



" On Friday, January the 24th, the air was delightfully clear, and 

 I was enabled to take the bearings of the volcano and adjoining objects 

 with great exactness. To the North of the crater are numerous cracks 

 and fissures in the ground, varying in size, form, and depth, some long, 

 some straight, round, or twisted, from whence steam constantly issued, 

 which in two of them is rapidly condensed, and collects in small basins 

 or wells, one of which is situated at the immediate edge of the crater, 

 and the other four hundred and eighty yards to the North of it. The 

 latter, fifteen inches deep, and three feet in diameter, about thirteen feet 

 North of a very large fissure, according to my thermometer, compared 

 with that at Greenwich and at the Royal Society, and found without 

 error, maintains a temperature of 65°. The same instrument, suspended 



