TONAIIOHOA. 
221 
After walking along the middle of the hollow 
for nearly a mile, we came to a place where the 
chasm was about three feet across, at its upper 
edge, though apparently much wider below, and 
about forty feet in length ; and from which a 
large quantity of lava had been recently vomited. 
It had been thrown in detached semifluid pieces 
to a considerable distance in every direction, and 
from both sides of the opening had flowed down 
in a number of smaller streams. 
The appearance of the tufts of long grass 
through which it had run ; the scorched leaves 
still remaining on one side of a tree, while the 
other side was reduced to charcoal, and the 
strings of lava hanging from some of the branches 
like stalactites; together with the fresh appear¬ 
ance of the shrubs, partially overflowed, and 
broken down,—convinced us that the lava had 
been thrown out only a few days before. It was 
highly scoriaceous, of a different kind from the 
ancient bed of which the whole valley was com¬ 
posed, being of a jet-black colour, and bright 
variegated lustre, brittle, and porous; while the 
ancient lava was of a gray or reddish colour, com¬ 
pact, and broken with difficulty. We found the 
heat to vary considerably in different parts of the 
surface ; and, at one of the places, where a quan¬ 
tity of lava had been thrown out, and from which 
a volume of smoke continually issued, we could 
stand several minutes together, without incon¬ 
venience. We at first attributed this to the sub¬ 
terranean fires having become extinct beneath, but 
the greater thickness of the crust of ancient lava, 
at that place, afterwards appeared to us the most 
probable cause, as the volumes of smoke and 
vapour, which constantly ascended, indicated the 
