246 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES* 
lively flame that danced over its undulating sur¬ 
face, tinged with sulphureous blue, or glowing 
with mineral red, cast a broad glare of dazzling 
light on the indented sides of the insulated craters, 
whose roaring mouths, amidst rising flames, and 
eddying streams of fire, shot up, at frequent inter¬ 
vals, with very loud detonations, spherical masses 
of fusing lava, or bright ignited stones. 
The dark bold outline of the perpendicular and 
jutting rocks around, formed a striking contrast 
with the luminous lake below, whose vivid rays, 
thrown on the rugged promontories, and reflected 
by the overhanging clouds, combined to complete 
the awful grandeur of the imposing scene. We 
sat gazing at the magnificent phenomena for 
several hours, when we laid ourselves down on 
our mats, in order to observe more leisurely their 
varying aspect; for, although we had travelled 
upwards of twenty miles since the morning, and 
were both weary and cold, we felt but little dis¬ 
position to sleep. This disinclination was probably 
increased by our proximity to the yawning gulf, 
and our conviction that the detachment of a frag¬ 
ment from beneath the overhanging pile on which 
we were reclining, or the slightest concussion of 
the earth, which every thing around indicated to 
be no unfrequent occurrence, would perhaps pre¬ 
cipitate us, amidst the horrid crash of falling rocks, 
into the burning lake immediate before us. 
The natives, who probably viewed the scene 
with thoughts and feelings somewhat different 
from ours, seemed, however, equally interested. 
They sat most of the night talking of the achieve¬ 
ments of Pele, and regarding with a superstitious 
fear, at which we were not surprised, the brilliant 
exhibition. They considered it the primeval abode 
