J. D. Dana — History of the 3ft. Loa Summit Crater. 31 



Hilo, or about 26 miles long ; in 7f months, June 28, within 5 

 miles ; in 8J months, July 18, about 2 miles ; and August 10, 

 9 months after the outflow began, it stopped within three- 

 fourths of a mile of Hilo. On June 30th, the movement, just 

 beyond the Hilo tufa hills (the Halai Hills) was, as stated by 

 Mr. D. H. Hitchcock, about 75 feet an hour. 



In a communication to the Commercial Advertiser for jSTovem- 

 ber 20th,* the formation of the aa or clinker fields is described 

 as follows by Judge Hitchcock. " The whole broad front of 

 the then sluggish stream was a mass of solidified lava twelve 

 to thirty feet in height, moving slowly along by breaking and 

 bearing onward the crusted covering ; along the whole line of its 

 advance it was one crash of rolling, sliding, tumbling, red-hot 

 rock, no liquid rock being in sight ; there were no explosions, 

 but a tremendous roaring, like ten thousand blast furnances all 

 at work at once. The rough blocks lie piled together in the 

 wildest qonfusion, many as large as ordinary houses. They 

 [clinker-fields] form only when the movement is slow." 



1882. — In this year (the month not stated) Capt. C. E. But- 

 ton made his visit to the summit (Report, page 139). He 

 found u no volcanic action whatever," " not even a wisp of 

 steam issuing from any point ;" and he makes no mention of 

 any cinder cone at the bottom. 



February, 1883. — Prof. C. H. Hitchcock was at the summit 

 on the 15th, and found no activity. " A snow squall struck 

 us, and the entire floor of the crater was white with snow." 



1885.— In April, 1885, Eev. E. P. Baker visited the crater 

 and descended to its bottom. It was all quiet. In September 

 and October of 1885, Pev. J. M. Alexander made a survey of 

 the summit crater, for the Government survey, as described on 

 a following page. At the summit around the crater, for a 

 breadth of a fourth of a mile he observed many blocks from 

 50 pounds to a ton in weight of a "solid, flinty lava." The 

 bottom of the crater was mainly flat with fresh lavas, and had 

 two cones in it as represented on the map, the southwestern 

 140 feet high and smoking ; steam was rising from numerous 

 cracks but no fires were visible. 



1887, January and February. — In December, 1886, earth- 

 quakes began to be frequent in southwestern Hawaii, and in 

 increasing numbers and violence ; by the 12th of January they 

 averaged three a day. Between 2 h 12' A. M. of Jan. 17 and 

 4 h a. M. of the 18th, 314 shocks were counted in Kahuku by 

 Mr. George Jones, 67 between the latter date and midnight, 

 and 3 the following day. In Hilea, ten miles west, 618 were 

 counted between 2 a. m. of the 16th and 7 P. M. of the 18th. 



* Hitchcock, ibid., xxii, 228. Commercial Advertiser. 



