BY H. I. JENSEN. 653 



heard of only one case where the spectators had to run to escape, 

 and that occurred near the crater. 



The present eruption is remarkable for its poorness in tuffs and 

 ashes. Some fragmentary material exists in the active cone 

 itself, and scoriaceous cinders to a depth of several feet cover 

 miles of country south and south-west of it; but this material was 

 thrown out in the earl} r stages of the eruption, when liquid lava 

 was also shot up from the crater to a great height, and fell in 

 splashes, many hundred pounds in weight, as much as half-a-niile 

 from the crater. The liquidity and heat of the lava were such 

 that it did not become cold, and form bombs in the air, but 

 landed with a splash, and spread out on the rocks like cow manure 

 in a field. Most of the scoriaceous cinders erupted at first have 

 since become covered with lava. 



The cone has a slope of about 33°, and is built up of alternate 

 beds of red scoriaceous cinders, and scoriaceous lava. It is about 

 one-third of a mile in diameter at the base, and about 330 feet 

 high. The crater appears to be about 200 yards wide at the top, 

 and the inner walls are vertical or slightly overhanging, so that 

 the width of the crater is about the same below. At a depth of 

 about 200 feet in the crater is seen a lake of seething, red-hot 

 lava with occasional white streaks and flashes, showing that it is 

 white-hot at a depth. The lava enters the crater from the south- 

 west, rising diagonally upwards, and flows out by two vents, one 

 in the north and the other in the north-east wall. The north- 

 easterly outflowing stream, of which I had a good view in my ascent, 

 was probably 30 yards wide, and flowed like a river rushing over a 

 cataract. The northern stream is drawn downwards with a vortex 

 motion. The lava in the crater was in continuous violent 

 ebullition and motion Loud rumbles were heard intermittently 

 in the heart of the mountain, accompanied by the emission of 

 immense puffs of vapour. Huge clouds of vapour charged with 

 gases were constantly rising from the crater, and from the vent 

 hole about half-a-mile north-east of the crater. 



An obstacle composed of stone greatly impedes the progress of 

 the lava. In portions of the coastal area, as at Toapaipai, where 



