L. L. Van Slyke—Kilauea after the Eruption of 1886. 97 
thing. Fumes of sulphur dioxide were coming up in abund- 
ance, but being on the windward side I was not greatly an- 
noyed by them. | 
Leaving this place, I went back some distance toward ‘‘ New 
Lake,” and then made a detour in the direction of ‘“ Hale- 
ma’uma’u §.K.” From near this point I went again toward 
the center of Halema’uma’u over a route, probably, quite near 
‘“ Hmerson’s descent of March 29th.” This led to a second well 
or deep hole where molten lava was visible. This well was 
nearly round, with a diameter of perhaps 20 or 30 feet, and a 
depth of about 100 feet. At one point the edge could be safely 
approached, but as it was on the leeward side, the fumes of sul- 
phur dioxide could be endured only for a few seconds at a time. 
Like the other well, the sides were perpendicular. At the 
bottom was a cone having an opening at the top perhaps 10 feet 
across, and inside liquid lava was boiling with intense violence, 
every few seconds throwing up a jet of lava, the spray of which 
came to the mouth of the well, almost into my face. The drops 
of lava thrown to the mouth of the well had cooled enough to 
become hardened and black when they reached the level on 
which I was standing. This place was quite noisy, the noise 
resembling that of violently swashing waters. 
Besides the deep holes just described, there was, as men- 
tioned above, a “lake” of liquid lava. It was situated imme- 
diately beneath the west wall, or that of ‘‘Halema’uma’u W ” 
It was in the bottom of the deep trough formed by the west 
wall and the cone-like hill of loose rocks. It extended from 
the “Smoke Jet” a distance of 400 feet approximately. The 
best point for observing it was near “ Halema’uma’u A,” 
although this was 1,200 feet distant or farther. It was too 
dangerous to attempt to get a view of the lake from ‘“ Hale- 
mauma’'u W ” or any portion of the wall in that neighborhood, 
for the edge of the precipice was mostly of loose stones and a 
slight giving way of the embankment would precipitate one 
150 feet below into the lake. It was possible to get down to 
the edge of the lake, but very hazardous. The lava first 
appeared just under ‘‘ Halema’uma’u W ” and extended south 
along the west wall a short distance. Gradually the lava over- 
flowed until the lake was extended to ““Smoke Jet,” although 
this latter part was a few feet below the rest. From the fact 
that one part of the lake is elevated above the other, the lake 
has been spoken of as two lakes. 
On the occasion of my first visit, I took my station at 
“ Halema’uma’u A” about noon to watch the lake. When I 
first saw it, the entire surface was hardened and black, the only 
sign of volcanic activity being little steam jets here and there. 
After watching about an hour, I saw some liquid lava burst 
