THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
169 
About twenty months after the date of our visit, in the afternoon of the 4th May, 1877, a jet 
of lava was thrown up to the height of one hundred feet, and afterwards other jets, to the 
number of fifty, came into play. When, on the next day, an observing party ventured to 
descend into the vast crater, they found that, on the dark-coloured plain which forms its floor, 
a mound had been thrown up, 1400 feet in diameter and 700 feet in height. 
The dimensions of the crater of Mauna Loa are not less extraordinary. It is 11,000 
feet long, 8000 feet wide, about six miles in circumference, and has an average depth of 800 
feet; the bottom is rent by awful chasms which no human being will ever fathom. The 
record of the eruptions of Mauna Loa shows that there have been eight since the year 1823, 
the last having occurred in April, 1868. 
A “ Volcano House,” or hotel, has been built close to the crater of Kilauea for the 
accommodation of travellers, but the great want is a tolerably good read. The present road 
or track from Hilo passes over very rough ground, and is for long distances merely a 
succession of deep holes worn by the horses’ feet. Several excursion parties from the 
“ Challenger ” started for Kilauea on horseback. I attempted to accomplish the distance on 
foot, but when about half-way I had to renounce the project, partly from fatigue caused by 
the heat of the weather and the bad state of the roads, partly on account of thirst, which 
exceeded anything I had experienced during former pedestrian tours. For the last ten miles 
there was not the smallest rill or pool of water whereat to refresh oneself, and I was glad 
to gather a few drops from the holes trodden by horses hoofs. The track was at times 
scarcely visible among the tall grass, and I would have lost my way but for the help of an 
islander, who guided me to a place known as Hawelu’s Flalfway House. I had to content 
myself with a distant view of the fires of Mauna Loa; but the mishap procured me the 
unwonted experience of passing a night in a Hawaiian hut. The dwellings of the natives 
are well protected from the rain by a solid thatch ; the walls, however, are a mere lattice-work 
of sticks. It was like sleeping in a large bird-cage. The stars twinkled through the chinks, 
and the deliciously fresh night-air entered in cooling streams. On my return to Hilo, I 
was accompanied during part of my way by a native, who conducted me to his hut, and 
introduced me to his smiling spouse. 
“ With dispatchful looks in haste 
She turned, on hospitable thoughts intent 
What choice to choose for delicacy best.” 
Soon was produced that “abundance” with which they deemed it 
a stranger, and my kind hosts 
“ Prepared 
For dinner savoury fruits, of taste to please 
True appetite,” 
“fit to honour and receive” 
oranges, pine-apples, and bananas being included in the repast. The day was intensely hot, and 
never did fruit taste sweeter, deriving additional zest from the spirit in which it was offered. 
Leaving my generous friends, I resumed my journey over the fields of lava, wondering at the 
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