LETTER XXIX.] 



A WORLD OF FIRE. 



269 



from this centre the fountain rose, solid at its base, which is 

 estimated at 150 feet in diameter, but thinning and frittering 

 as it rose into the air, and falling from the great altitude to 

 which it attained, in fiery spray, which made a very distinct 

 clatter on the fiery surface below. When one jet was about 

 half high, another rose so as to keep up the action without 

 intermission ; and in the lower part of the fountain two subsi- 

 diary curved jets of great volume continually crossed each 

 other. So, " alone in its glory," perennial, self-born, springing 

 up in sparkling light, the fire-fountain played on as the hours 

 went by. 



From the nearer margin of this incandescent lake there was 

 a mighty but deliberate overflow, a " silent tide " of fire, passing 

 to the lower level, glowing under and amidst its crust, with 

 the brightness of metal passing from a surface. In the bank 

 of partially cooled and crusted lava which appears to support 

 the lake, there wore rifts showing the molten lava within. In 

 one place heavy, white vapour blew off in powerful jets from 

 the edge of the lake, and elsewhere there were frequent jets 

 and ebullitions of the same, but there was not a trace of 

 vapour over the burning lake itself. The crusted large area, 

 with its blowing cones, blotches and rifts of fire, was nearly 

 all visible, and from the thickness and quietness of the crust 

 it was obvious that the ocean of lava below was comparatively 

 at rest, but a dark precipice concealed a part of the glowing 

 and highly agitated lake, adding another mystery to its 

 sublimity. 



It is probable that the whole interior of this huge dome is 

 fluid, for the eruptions from this summit crater do not proceed 

 from its filling up and running over, but from the mountain 

 sides being unable to bear the enormous pressure; when they 

 give way, high or low, and bursting, allow the fiery contents to 

 escape. So, in 1855, the mountain side split open, and the 

 lava gushed forth for thirteen months in a stream which ran 

 for 60 miles, and flooded Hawaii for 300 square miles.* 



From the camping ground, immense cracks parallel with 

 the crater, extend for some distance, and the whole of the 

 compact grey stone of the summit is much fissured. These 

 cracks, like the one by which our tent was pitched, contain 

 water resting on ice. It shows the extreme difference of cli- 

 mate on the two sides of Hawaii, that while vegetation straggles 



* Since white men have inhabited the islands, there have been ten 

 recorded eruptions from the craters of Mauna Loa, and one from Hualalai.j 



