On the Volcanic Character of the Island of Hawaii. 259 



the contests of Pele, the goddess of volcanoes, with opposing 

 powers, the physical conflict of fire and water, and of the va- 

 rious elemental agents ; and certainly these fables are recom- 

 mended to a poetical imagination, by much that is splendid 

 and grand. 



Whenever the natives spoke of those gods of fire, it was as 

 " dreadful beings." They reside in all the volcanoes, but 

 chiefly in that of Kirauea. They never travelled on journeys 

 of mercy, but always on those of wrath. Earthquakes, thun- 

 der and lightning announced their approach : sacrifices were 

 made to appease their anger. Hundreds of hogs, both cooked 

 and living, were thrown into the craters, when they threatened 

 an eruption; and during an inundation, multitudes were 

 thrown into the rolling torrent of lava, to stay its progress. 



When these infernal gods were enraged, " they filled Ki- 

 rauea with lava, and spouted it out ; or taking a subterraneous 

 passage, marched to some one of their houses (craters) in the 

 neighbourhood, and thence came down upon the delinquents, 

 with all their dreadful scourges." 



On the 2d of August, the provisions of the party being ex- 

 hausted, they prepared for an immediate return ; but they en- 

 deavoured previously to ascertain in the best manner they 

 could, the size of the crater. They estimated it at 5 miles, or 

 5\ in circumference; but the more accurate measurement of 

 Mr. Goodrich, mentioned in his letter, makes it 7i. The 

 depth of the crater, they estimated at 700 or 800 feet; but 

 Mr. Goodrich fixes it at more than 1000. 



The travellers " threw down several large stones, which, 

 after several seconds, struck on the sides, and then bounded 

 to the bottom, where they were lost in the lava. Some of 

 them were as large as they could lift ; yet, when they reached 

 the bottom they appeared like pebbles, and they were obliged 

 to watch their course very steadily to perceive them at all. 



The party separated into two divisions ; one pursued the 

 path along the edge of the crater, towards the sea-shore. 

 The path was in many places dangerous, lying along narrow 

 ridges, with fearful precipices on each side; or across deep 

 chasms and hollows, that required the utmost care to avoid 

 falling into them, and where a fall would have been certain 

 death, as several of the chasms seemed narrowest at the sur- 

 face. In one place they passed along for a considerable di- 

 stance under a high precipice, where the impending rocks 

 towered some hundred feet above them on their left, and the 

 appalling flood of lava rolled almost beneath on the right. On 

 this side they descended to small craters on the declivity, and 

 also to the black ledge ; where they collected a number of 



2 K 2 beautiful 



