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  Jaggav 
  — 
  Lava 
  Flow 
  from 
  Mauna 
  Loa, 
  1916. 
  

  

  moraine 
  of 
  half-burnt 
  coke 
  ; 
  but 
  where 
  fresh 
  coke 
  is 
  a 
  hard, 
  

   bright, 
  silver 
  grey, 
  the 
  cooling 
  lava 
  was 
  the 
  sheer 
  negation 
  of 
  

   color. 
  Coal 
  black, 
  soot 
  black, 
  charcoal 
  black, 
  all 
  connote 
  shades 
  

   or 
  qualifications 
  which 
  the 
  lava 
  did 
  not 
  have. 
  It 
  was 
  as 
  lacklus- 
  

   ter 
  as 
  soot, 
  but 
  without 
  the 
  same 
  soft 
  depths 
  of 
  obscurity 
  ; 
  it 
  

   was 
  as 
  friable 
  as 
  charcoal, 
  but 
  without 
  the 
  shining 
  grain 
  ; 
  it 
  was 
  

   as 
  hard 
  and 
  brittle 
  as 
  coke, 
  but 
  without 
  the 
  tough 
  cohesiveness 
  

   and 
  definite 
  structure 
  ; 
  nowhere 
  had 
  it 
  a 
  suspicion 
  of 
  the 
  irides- 
  

   cence 
  seen 
  in 
  coal. 
  

  

  Fractures 
  and 
  fissures 
  showed 
  the 
  interior 
  mass 
  to 
  be 
  glowing 
  

   hot, 
  but 
  the 
  brightest 
  surfaces, 
  seen 
  at 
  midnight, 
  never 
  approached 
  

   the 
  sparkling 
  incandescence 
  of 
  a 
  blacksmith's 
  welding 
  heat, 
  to 
  

   say 
  nothing 
  of 
  the 
  intense 
  radiance 
  of 
  molten 
  iron. 
  The 
  shades 
  

   toned 
  down 
  from 
  a 
  cherry 
  red, 
  where 
  freshly 
  exposed, 
  to 
  dull 
  

   maroon, 
  fading 
  imperceptibly 
  into 
  black. 
  

  

  The 
  mechanism 
  of 
  the 
  onward 
  creep 
  was 
  complex 
  and 
  curious. 
  

   As 
  the 
  foremost 
  faces 
  of 
  the 
  coming 
  cliff 
  cooled 
  dead 
  black, 
  appar- 
  

   ently 
  the 
  contraction 
  tended 
  to 
  split 
  off 
  fragments 
  from 
  the 
  hot 
  

   masses 
  behind. 
  A 
  narrow 
  vertical 
  fissure 
  would 
  open 
  behind 
  an 
  

   outcropping, 
  deepen 
  gradually 
  and 
  widen 
  at 
  the 
  top 
  until, 
  pushed 
  

   outward 
  from 
  behind, 
  a 
  section 
  of 
  the 
  face 
  would 
  tilt 
  forward 
  

   until 
  it 
  lost 
  its 
  balance, 
  or 
  its 
  adhesion 
  at 
  the 
  base 
  was 
  overcome, 
  

   and 
  go 
  crashing 
  down 
  the 
  declivity. 
  These 
  fragments 
  might 
  be 
  

   tens 
  of 
  tons 
  (milliers) 
  in 
  weight 
  or 
  no 
  bigger 
  than 
  a 
  coal 
  hod. 
  By 
  

   watching 
  the 
  growth 
  of 
  the 
  fissures, 
  one 
  could 
  predict 
  the 
  next 
  

   fall 
  ten 
  or 
  fifteen 
  minutes 
  in 
  advance. 
  

  

  Wherever 
  the 
  cleavage 
  took 
  place, 
  the 
  newly 
  exposed 
  surface 
  

   glowed 
  a 
  bright 
  cherry-red, 
  and 
  at 
  first, 
  after 
  each 
  fracture, 
  we 
  

   looked 
  closely 
  for 
  jets 
  of 
  molten 
  lava 
  from 
  the 
  core 
  within, 
  or 
  at 
  

   least 
  for 
  some 
  appearance 
  of 
  tumescence 
  such 
  as 
  one 
  would 
  expect 
  

   to 
  denote 
  the 
  urge 
  of 
  liquid 
  pressure 
  behind, 
  but 
  at 
  no 
  time 
  was 
  

   there 
  the 
  slightest 
  suggestion 
  of 
  viscous 
  or 
  even 
  malleable 
  con- 
  

   sistency. 
  On 
  the 
  contrary, 
  the 
  fractures 
  were 
  alwa}^s 
  sharp, 
  hard 
  

   and 
  clean. 
  Usually 
  they 
  were 
  succeeded 
  at 
  intervals 
  of 
  a 
  minute 
  

   or 
  more 
  by 
  small 
  rapid 
  avalanches 
  of 
  glowing 
  dust, 
  pulverized 
  so 
  

   fine 
  by 
  the 
  stresses 
  of 
  contraction 
  and 
  rupture 
  that 
  they 
  trickled 
  

   with 
  the 
  smooth 
  swiftness 
  of 
  rivulets 
  of 
  fire, 
  but 
  the 
  likeness 
  was 
  

   never 
  deceiving 
  for 
  more 
  than 
  a 
  moment 
  : 
  they 
  fell 
  with 
  a 
  crystal- 
  

   line, 
  tinkling 
  sound, 
  like 
  a 
  cascade 
  of 
  shivered 
  glass. 
  Whatever 
  

   note 
  might 
  for 
  a 
  passage 
  of 
  time 
  be 
  in 
  the 
  ascendant, 
  this 
  tinkling 
  

   accompaniment 
  of 
  fairy 
  bells 
  never 
  was 
  absent 
  and, 
  in 
  moments 
  

   of 
  comparative 
  quiet, 
  it 
  was 
  the 
  dominant 
  characteristic 
  of 
  the 
  

   orchestration. 
  

  

  As 
  the 
  larger 
  fragments 
  were 
  nudged 
  forward 
  down 
  the 
  slope, 
  

   they 
  formed, 
  as 
  it 
  were, 
  a 
  revetment 
  fringing 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  the 
  

   levee 
  behind 
  them, 
  so 
  that 
  the 
  flow 
  — 
  I 
  revert 
  to 
  the 
  inadequate 
  

   accepted 
  term 
  — 
  was 
  constantly 
  obliged 
  in 
  its 
  descent 
  to 
  climb 
  up 
  

   over 
  its 
  own 
  disjecta 
  membra. 
  It 
  did 
  not 
  fumble 
  them 
  along 
  

   before 
  it 
  ; 
  it 
  buried 
  and 
  surmounted 
  them. 
  Though 
  the 
  appear- 
  

   ance 
  was 
  that 
  of 
  a 
  moraine, 
  the 
  action, 
  as 
  I 
  thought 
  I 
  understood 
  

  

  