240 HAWAII. 



on the face and eyes, that made it necessary to retreat almost imme- 

 diately a few paces backward. The more distant and darker part of 

 the lake appeared little less glowing. The noise, which has been 

 represented by former visiters as so terrific, and the absence of 

 which I have before remarked, was so trifling during this visit, that 

 it was not even regarded by them in conversation. In this place Dr. 

 Pickering says they remained some ten minutes, but truly remarks, 

 " It may have been more or less ; for, to look on the tottering banks, 

 seemingly so inadequate to hold a fluid like this, to see it glowing 

 with almost a white heat, just above the surface, and the current 

 directing itself towards them, and to reflect upon the falling in that 

 had occurred the evening before; added to which, Judd's Lake 

 might, by a change of its overflow to a contrary direction, have cut 

 off" all retreat; it was indeed no place to take note of time." 



That variety of lava which is destitute of a vitreous crust, is found 

 on the black ledge alone, and none of it was observed in the lower 

 pit. Noises of all kinds were carefully attended to, and if not heard, 

 were expected and referred to the crater itself: these sometimes 

 proceed from the rolling down of small pieces of lava on the black 

 ledge, making a pattering kind of noise, by no means pleasant. 



Dr. Pickering found a new route of descent into the crater, and one 

 that he deemed the most easily accomplished. This was on the 

 southeast side, near the sulphur-bank. 



While in the crater on the black ledge at night, there is often a 

 deceptive appearance of a rising storm, from the darkness produced 

 by the overhanging cloud. 



The old crevices have been found to be the only ones that give out 

 steam. 



Though volcanic action is and has been so rife in this group of 

 islands, and so many appearances of it are to be seen on the surface, 

 both in the crater shape, and also that of lava crevices and jets, yet 

 there are but few that ought to claim the name of volcanoes. Those 

 that attract most attention are Mauna Loa, Kilauea, and Hualalai, as 

 being in present action, and the great crater of Haleakala. These 

 have already been described sufficiently in the foregoing pages. 



Cone-craters, or hills of scoriaceous lava, are found throughout the 

 group, sometimes on the sides of the larger mountains, at others 

 isolated near the coast. Many of these are composed of fragments of 

 lava and sand. They are likewise to be seen in the terminal craters 

 of Mauna Loa and Haleakala, and do not appear to have ever dis- 



