22 THE VOLCANO OF KILAUEA. 
moving men, not reflecting that the forms must have been 
gigantic at such a distance from us. In ancient times the 
bodies of the chiefs who worshipped Pélé were committed 
to this pit. 
As we were sitting on the brink, a shrill shriek broke 
through the night air. We could see the black walls of the 
erater all around us, and between us and the pathway leading 
out, a line of watchfires, and I was quite as much impress- 
ed as my natives with the direful stories they had been 
telling me. The shriek was repeated, and it was evidently 
the utterance of a human being in great agony. Lighting 
the lantern we had brought for any emergency, we went 
slowly towards the place, until the shriek was uttered at 
our very feet. We hastily examined the cracks and call- 
ed, but there was no answer, and all was still. We looked 
everywhere, finding no one, and turned to go back, think- 
ing some poor kanaka, venturing down in the dark, 
had fallen into some crack, and at last died. 
We had gone but a few rods when the shriek was repeat- 
ed. The natives clung to me in mortal terror, but I in- 
sisted on going back, and -placing the lantern on a rock, 
we sat down to await developments ; it seemed as though 
the question, “are there any spirits present?” was quite 
superfluous. We sat more than five minutes in silence, 
and I could feel the poor fellows tremble as they sat close 
up tome. Then the shriek was repeated, but we saw the 
spirit that made it,—a jet of steam—and my boys were 
encou 
The saline lakes were close to‘ the surface, and I could 
- put my stick into the melted mass. It was strange to see 
how soon the lava cooled on the surface. As soon as it 
had ceased bubbling, I threw a small perfectly dry stick 
of wood into it, and it was more than fifteen minutes be- 
fore it smoked much. 
