KILAUEA, HAWATI 193 
as they met the sea must have been like the effect from a furnace of 
melted glass plunged beneath water. ‘There was a violent explosion 
and eruption of frarments and steam, which fell around the centre of 
action; and owing to the water which ascended and descended with 
them, the structure became laminated like the alluvium of a river. 
Thus three “Monte Nuovos” instead of one were thrown up ata single 
eruption. The yellow colour of the tufa is owing to the action of the 
steam and water on the ferruginous cinders, reducing some part of 
the iron to a hydrate. 
Since leaving the Sandwich Islands, I learn from the Rev. Mr. 
Coan that the crater has again been gradually filling up. In November, 
1841, there was little action except in the great lake. In February, 
1842, the same condition of things continued, excepting an increased 
state of activity. In July, 1844, Mr. Coan was near when the large 
lake overflowed its margin on every side, spreading out into a vast sea 
of fire, filling the whole southern part of the crater as far as the black 
ledge on either side, and obliterating the outlines of the cauldron. 
Two deep fissures opened, one on either side under the black ledge, 
and nearly encircled the whole southern area. ‘The precipitous sides 
of one were two hundred feet in depth. ‘These fissures soon became 
filled with the flood that was pouring over from the lake; and in one 
place “it fell in a cascade of fifty feet, producing a scene of terrific 
sublimity.” In a letter dated June 25, 1846, Mr. Coan states that 
“the great lake is intensely active most of the time. The repeated 
overflowings have elevated the central parts of the crater 400 or'500 
feet since 1840, so that some points are now more elevated than the 
black ledge.” In a letter by the Rev. Mr. Lyman, written the next 
month to a friend, the crater is described as having the whole interior 
filled, and some parts of the centre to stand 100 to 150 feet above the 
black ledge. The large lake was still the centre of greatest activity. 
It appears then at the last-mentioned date to have been nearly in 
the condition described by Captain Kelly, from the statements of 
Captains Chase and Parker, in 1839, previous to the eruption of 
1840; and we may soon expect to hear of another eruption. 
General conclusions.—We close our remarks on Kilauea for the pre- 
sent by a survey of its general characteristics and its peculiar mode 
of action with special reference to the geological bearing of the facts. 
I. The absence of cinder cones and fragmentary accumulations at 
Kilavea.—It is almost universally the case that the centre of action in 
49 
