KILAUEA, HAWATI. lyfe: 
the spangles on the surface that were brightening and disappearing 
with incessant change. 
From these views, which are correct to the letter, we proceed to a 
more minute description of the crater and its lavas. We are not 
responsible for any disappointment they may create, as we could see 
only what was actually before us. Pele was in one of her sober moods. 
Yet we have reason to believe that this is her usual state, and 
assuredly there is a terrible grandeur even in her quiet. ‘The action 
when most roused has been much exaggerated in its character, for 
boiling and overflowing, with occasional detonating explosions, con- 
stitute in every condition its characteristic features; in its greatest 
violence, the cauldrons are more numerous and extensive, the spouting 
cones multiply in number, the explosions are loud and frequent, and 
the sheets of lava at each overflow spread through the whole crater. 
Such a scene over an area seven and a half miles in circuit, must be 
terrific beyond description, although the “sea’’ be no sea; and the 
“waves” but the agitations of violent ebullition and frequent over- 
flowings. 
The accompanying bird’s-eye view of Kilauea, reduced from the 
surveys of the Exxpedition,* shows 
its oblong-ovate form and general 
features, though giving no ade- 
quate idea of its magnitude. The 
longest diameter lies nearly north- 
east and southwest, and is 16,000 
feet in length; the average breadth 
is 7500 feet. The pit includes, 
therefore, an area of nearly four 
square miles,t thus exceeding in 
extent many a city of 150,000 inhabitants. Yet on looking into it 
from above, it is difficult to realize its extent, as there is no object 
within or about it which can serve for comparison. No one would 
imagine that 400 such structures as St. Peter’s at Rome could be 
* The fourth volume of the Narrative of the Exploring Expedition by Captain Wilkes, 
contains several finished sketches of the craters of Hawaii, with valuable descriptions of 
their conditions and operations. The surveys were conducted with great labour, and 
afford important data for determining the extent and character of future changes in these 
volcanic regions. ‘The measurements given above are derived from these surveys. 
{ As nearly as can be ascertained from the map of the crater the area is three and 
two-thirds square miles, or 102,000,000 square feet. 
44 
