A MIDNIGHT VIEW. 
245 
surrounded.* In this state of painful suspense we 
remained till nearly half-past eight, when we were 
happily relieved by his sudden appearance. He 
had descended, and walked along the dark ledge 
of lava on the east side of the crater, till a chasm 
obliged him to ascend. Having with difficulty 
reached the top, he travelled along the southern 
and western sides, till the light of our fire directed 
him to our encampment. The extent of the 
crater, the unevenness of the path, the numerous 
fissures and rugged surface of the lava, and the 
darkness of the night, had prevented his earlier 
arrival. We now partook with cheerfulness of 
our evening repast, and afterwards, amidst the 
whistling of the winds around, and the roaring of 
the furnace beneath, rendered our evening sacri¬ 
fice of praise, and committed ourselves to the 
secure protection of our God. We then spread 
our mats on the ground, but as we were all wet 
through with the rain, against which our hut was 
but an indifferent shelter, we preferred to sit or 
stand round the fire, rather than lie down on the 
ground. Between nine and ten, the dark clouds 
and heavy fog, that since the setting of the sun 
had hung over the volcano, gradually cleared 
away, and the fires of Kirauea, darting their fierce 
light athwart the midnight gloom, unfolded a 
sight terrible and sublime beyond all we had 
yet seen. 
The agitated mass of liquid lava, like a flood of 
melted metal, raged with tumultuous whirl. The 
* A native, who accompanied Mr. Goodrich on a sub¬ 
sequent visit to the volcano, fell into one of these chasms; 
he was severely bruised by the fall, and could only be 
extricated from his perilous situation by a rope lowered 
from the shore. 
