228 & Powers — Explosive Ejectameata of Kilauea. 



" His path led by the great volcano of Kilauea. In the night 

 a terrific explosion took place throwing out flame, cinders, and 

 even heavy stones to a great distance, and accompanied from 

 above with intense lightning and heavy thunder. In the morning 

 Keoua and his companions were afraid to proceed and spent the 

 day in trying to appease the goddess of the volcano, whom they 

 supposed they had offended the day before b} r rolling stones into 

 the crater. But on the second night and on the third night also, 

 there were similar eruptions. On the third day they ventured 

 to proceed on their way, but had not advanced far before a more 

 terrible and destructive eruption than any before took place, . . . 



"The company in advance had not proceeded far, before the 

 ground began to shake and rock beneath their feet, and it 

 became quite impossible to stand. Soon a dense cloud of dark- 

 ness was seen to rise out of the crater, and almost at the same 

 instant the thunder began to roar in the heavens and the light- 

 ning to flash. It continued to ascend and spread abroad until 

 the whole region was enveloped, and the light of day was entirely 

 excluded. The darkness was the more terrific, being made 

 visible by an awful glare from streams of red and blue light 

 variously combined, that issued from the pit below, and lit up at 

 intervals by the intense flashes of lightning from above. Soon 

 followed an immense volume of sand and cinders which were 

 thrown in high heaven and came down in a destructive shower 

 for many miles around. Some few persons of the forward 

 company were burned to death by the sand and cinders, and 

 others were seriously injured, all experienced a suffocating 

 sensation upon the lungs, and hastened on with all possible speed. 



"The rear body, which was nearest the volcano at the time of 

 the eruption, seemed to suffer the least injury, and after the 

 earthquake and shower of sand had passed over, hastened 

 forward to escape the dangers which threatened them, and 

 rejoicing in mutual congratulations that they had been pre- 

 served in the mid*t of such imminent peril. But what was their 

 surprise and consternation, when on coming up with their 

 comrades of the center party, they discovered them all to have 



become corpses So much like life they looked, 



that they at first supposed them merely at rest, anu it was not 

 until they came up to them and handled them that they could 

 detect their mistake."* 



The only other account of activity at this time is a tradition, 

 recorded by Hitchcock,f of an extensive lava flow in Puna 

 about L789. Perhaps this flow followed the explosive eruptions 

 in the crater. 



The main trail from Puna to Kau, over which the army 

 marched, is about 3 miles south of Kilauea. They probably 

 make a trip to the crater to visit a temple at TJwekahuna, but 



* Sheldon Dibble, History of the Sandwich Islands, Lahainalnna, 1843, 

 p. 65. 



f Hawaii and its volcanoes, Honolulu 1911, p. 165. 



