Description of the Volcano of Kilauea, at Hawaii.
Every preparation having been previously made, we left the harbor
shortly after sunrise. The uncommon beauty of the morning proved a true
omen of the delightful weather with which we were favored during the
whole of our absence. The rich coloring of Mounakea in the early sun,
never called forth higher or more general admiration. The brightness
of the sky, the purity of the air, the freshness, sweetness, and
cheerfulness of all nature, excited a buoyancy of spirit favorable to
the accomplishment of the walk of forty miles, which lay between us and
the object of our journey.
* * * * *
For the first four miles the country was open and uneven, and
beautifully sprinkled with clumps, groves, and single trees of the
bread fruit, pandanus, and candle tree. We then came to a wood,
four miles in width, the outskirts of which exhibited a rich and
delightful foliage. It was composed principally of the candle tree,
whose whitish leaves and blossoms afforded a fine contrast to the
dark green of the various parasitical plants which hung in luxuriant
festoons and pendants from their very tops to the ground, forming
thick and deeply shaded bowers round their trunks. The interior was
far less interesting, presenting nothing but an impenetrable thicket,
on both sides of the path. This was excessively rough and fatiguing,
consisting entirely of loose and pointed pieces of lava, which from
their irregularity and sharpness, not only cut and tore our shoes, but
constantly endangered our feet and ankles. The high brake, ginger, &c.,
which border and overhung the path, were filled with the rain of the
night, and added greatly, from their wetness, to the unpleasantness
of the walk. An hour and a half, however, saw us safely through, and
refreshing ourselves in the charming groves with which the wood was
here again bordered. The whole of the way from this place to within a
short distance of the volcano, is very much of one character. The path,
formed of black lava, so smooth in some places as to endanger falling,
and still showing the configuration of the molten stream as it had
rolled down the gradual descent of the mountain, leads midway through
a strip of open uncultivated country, from three to five miles wide,
skirted on both sides by a ragged and stinted wood, and covered with
fern, grass, and low shrubs, principally a species of the whortleberry.
The fruit of this, of the size of a small gooseberry, and of a bright
yellow color, tinged on one side with red, was very abundant, and
though of insipid taste, refreshing from its juice. There are no houses
near the path, but the thatch of a cottage was occasionally observed
peeping from the edge of the wood; and here and there the white smoke
of a kindling fire curled above the thick foliage of the trees. Far
on the right and west, Mounaloa and Mounakea were distinctly visible;
and at an equal distance, on the left, and east, the ocean, with its
horizon--from the height at which we viewed it, mingling with the sky.
We dined thirteen miles from the bay, under a large candle tree, on a
bed of brake, collected and spread by a party of people who had been
waiting by the wayside to see the "_alii nui mai Perekania mai_,"
the great chief from Britain. About two miles farther we came to the
houses erected for our lodgings the first night. Thinking it, however,
too early to lie for the day, after witnessing a dance performed by a
company from the neighboring settlements, we hastened on, intending to
sleep at the next houses, ten miles distant; but night overtaking us
before we reached them, just as darkness set in we turned aside a few
rods to the ruins of two huts, the sticks only of which remaining. The
natives, however, soon covered them with fern, the leaves of the Kukui,
&c., a quantity of which they also spread upon the ground, before
spreading the mats which were to be our beds.
Our arrival and encampment produced quite a picturesque and lively
scene; for the islanders, who are not fond of such forced marches as we
had made during the day, were more anxious for repose than ourselves,
and proceeded with great alacrity to make preparations for the night.
The darkness, as it gathered round us, rendered more gloomy by a
heavily clouded sky, made the novelty of our situation still more
striking.
Behind the huts, in the distance, an uplifted torch of the blazing
_kukuinut_ here and there indistinctly revealed the figures and costume
of many, spreading their couches under the bushes in the open air; the
more curious of our dusky companions, both male and female, meanwhile
pressing in numbers round our circle, as if anxious to "_catch the
manners living as they rose_."
A large fire of brush wood, at some distance in front, exhibited the
objects of the foreground in still stronger _lights and shadows_.
Groups of both sexes, and all ages, were seated or standing round the
fire, wrapped up from the chillness of the evening air, in their large
_kiheis_ or mantles, of white, black, green, yellow, and red.
Some smoking, some throwing in, and others snatching from the embers,
a fish or potato, or other article of food; some giving a loud halloo,
in answer to the call of a straggler just arriving; others wholly taken
up with the proceedings of the sailors cooking our suppers, and all
chattering with the volubility of so many magpies.
By daylight the next morning we were on the road again.
At nine o'clock we passed the last houses put up for our accommodation
on the way; and at eleven o'clock had arrived within three miles of the
object of our curiosity.
For the last hour the scenery had become more interesting; our path was
skirted, occasionally, with groves and clusters of trees, and fringed
with a greater variety of vegetation. Here also the smoke from the
volcano was first discovered, settling in light fleecy clouds to the
southwest.
Our resting place at this time was a delightful spot, commanding a
full view of the wide extent of country over which we had traveled,
and beyond and around it, the ocean, which, from the vast and
almost undistinguished extent of its horizon, seemed literally an
"illimitable sea."
The smooth greensward, under the shade of a majestic acacia, almost
encircled by thickets of a younger growth, afforded a refreshing couch
on which to take our luncheon. Here we saw the first bed of strawberry
vines, but without finding any fruit. We tarried but a few moments, and
then hurried on to the grand object before us.
The nearer we approached, the more heavy the columns of smoke appeared,
and roused to intenseness our curiosity to behold their origin. Under
the influence of this excitement, we hastened forward with rapid steps,
regardless of the heat of a noonday sun, and the fatigue of a walk of
thirty-six miles, already accomplished.
A few minutes before twelve o'clock, we came suddenly on the brink of a
precipice, one hundred and fifty or two hundred feet high, covered with
shrubbery and trees. Descending this by a path almost perpendicular,
we crossed a plain half a mile in width, enclosed, except in the
direction we were going, by the cliff behind us, and found ourselves
a second time on the top of a precipice four hundred feet high, also
covered with bushes and trees. This, like the former, swept off to
the right and left, enclosing in a semi-circular form, a level space
about a quarter of a mile broad; immediately beyond which lay the
tremendous abyss of our search, emitting volumes of vapor and smoke;
and laboring and groaning as if in inexpressible agony from the raging
of the conflicting elements within its bosom. We stood but a moment
to take this first distant glance. Then hastily descended the almost
perpendicular height, and crossed the plain to the very brink of the
crater.
There are scenes, to which description, and even painting can do no
justice, and in conveying any adequate impression of which they must
ever fail. Of such, an elegant traveler rightly says, "the height,
the depth, the length, the breadth, the combined aspect, may all be
correctly given, but the mind of the reader will remain untouched
by the emotions of admiration and sublimity which the eye-witness
experiences." That which here burst on our sight was emphatically of
this kind, and to behold it without singular and deep emotion, would
demand a familiarity with the more terrible phenomena of nature which
few have the opportunity of acquiring. Standing at an elevation of one
thousand five hundred feet, we looked into a black and horrid gulf, not
less than eight miles in circumference, so directly beneath us that,
in appearance, we might by a single leap have plunged into its lowest
depth. The hideous immensity itself, independent of the many frightful
images which it embraced, almost caused an involuntary closing of the
eyes against it. But when to the sight is added the appalling effect of
the various unnatural and fearful noises, the muttering and sighing,
the groaning and blowing, the every agonized struggling of the mighty
action within--as a whole it is too horrible! And for the first moment
I felt like one of my friends, who on reaching the brink, recoiled and
covered his face, exclaiming, "_call it weakness, or what you please,
but I cannot look again_."
It was sufficient employment for the afternoon simply to sit and gaze
on the scene, and though some of our party strolled about, and one or
two descended a short distance into the crater, the most of our number
deferred all investigation until the next morning.
From what I have already said, you will perceive that this
volcano differs in one respect from most others of which we have
accounts. The crater instead of being the truncated top of a
mountain, distinguishable in every direction at a distance, is an
immense chasm in an upland country, near the base of the mountain
Monnaloa--approached not by ascending a cone, but by descending two
vast terraces; and not visible from any point at a greater distance
than half a mile, a circumstance, which, no doubt, from the suddenness
of the arrival, adds much to the effect of a first look from the brink.
It is probable that it was originally a cone, but assumed its present
aspect, it may be centuries ago, from the falling in of the whole
summit. Of this, the precipices we descended, which entirely encircle
the crater in circumferences, of fifteen and twenty miles, give strong
evidence. They have unquestionably been formed by the sinking of the
mountain, whose foundations had been undermined by the devouring flames
beneath. In the same manner one half of the present depth of the crater
has at no very remote period been formed. About midway from the top a
ledge of lava, in some places only a few feet, but in others many rods
wide, extends entirely round, at least as far as an examination has
been made; forming a kind of gallery--to which you can descend, in two
or three places, and walk, as far as the smoke, settling at the south
end, will permit. This offset bears incontestible marks of having once
been the level of the fiery flood, now boiling in the bottom of the
crater. A subduction of lava, by some subterraneous channel, has since
taken place, and sunk the abyss many hundred feet to its present depth.
The gulf below contains probably not less than sixty--fifty-six have
been counted--smaller conical craters, many of which are in constant
action. The tops and sides of two or three of these are covered with
sulphur, of mingled shades of yellow and green, with this exception,
the ledge and every thing below it are of a dismal black. The upper
cliffs, on the northern and western sides, are perfectly perpendicular,
and of a red color, everywhere exhibiting the scarred marks of former
powerful ignition. Those on the eastern side are less precipitous,
and consist of entire banks of sulphur, of a delicate and beautiful
yellow. The south end is wholly obscured by smoke, which fills that
part of the crater, and spreads widely over the surrounding horizon. As
the darkness of night gathered round us, new and powerful effect was
given to the scene. Fire after fire, which the glare of mid-day had
entirely concealed, began to glimmer on the eye with the first shades
of evening, and as the darkness increased, appeared in such rapid
succession, as forcibly to remind me of the hasty lighting of the lamps
of a city on the sudden approach of a gloomy night. Two or three of the
small craters nearest to us were in full action, every moment casting
out stones and ashes, and lava, with heavy detonations, while the
irritated flames accompanying them, glared widely over the surrounding
obscurity, against the sides of the ledge and upper cliffs, richly
illuminating the volumes of smoke at the south end, and occasionally
casting a bright reflection on the bosom of a passing cloud. The great
seat of action, however, seemed to be at the southern and western
end, where an exhibition of ever-varying fire-works was presented,
surpassing in beauty and sublimity all that the ingenuity of art ever
devised. Rivers of fire were seen rolling in splendid corruscation
among the laboring craters, and on one side a whole lake, whose surface
constantly flashed and sparkled with the agitation of contending
currents.
Expressions of admiration and astonishment burst momentarily from our
lips, and though greatly fatigued it was near midnight before we gave
ourselves rest, often interrupted during the night, to gaze on the
sight with renewed wonder and surprise.
As I laid myself down on my mat--fancying that the very ground which
was my pillow shook beneath my head--the silent musings of my mind
were:--"Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord, God Almighty! greatly
art thou to be feared, thou King of saints!"
The next morning we prepared for a descent into the crater.
One of the few places where this is practicable was within a rod of
the hut where we lodged. For the first four hundred feet the path was
steep, and from the looseness of the stones and rocks on both sides,
required caution in every movement. A slight touch was sufficient to
detach these and send them bounding downwards hundreds of feet to the
imminent danger of any one near them. The remaining distance of about
the same number of feet, was gradual and safe, the path having turned
into the bed of an old channel of lava, which ran off in an inclined
plain, until it met the ledge before described more than a quarter
of a mile west of the place where we began the descent. Previous to
our descent we had provided ourselves with long canes and poles, by
which we might test the soundness of any spot before stepping on it,
and immediately on reaching the ledge, we found the wisdom of the
precaution. This offset is formed wholly of scoria and lava, mostly
burned to a cinder and everywhere intersected by deep crevices and
chasms, from many of which light smoke and vapor were emitted, and from
others a scalding steam.
The general surface is a black, glossy incrustation, retaining
perfectly the innumerably diversified tortuous configurations of the
lava, as it originally cooled, and so brittle as to crack and break
under us like ice, while the hollow reverberations of our footsteps
beneath, sufficiently assured us of the unsubstantial character of the
whole mass.
In some places by thrusting our stick down with force, large pieces
would break through, disclosing deep fissures, and holes apparently
without bottom. These, however, were generally too small to appear
dangerous. The width of this ledge is constantly diminishing in a
greater or less degree, by the falling of large masses from its
edges into the crater; and it is not improbable that in some future
convulsion, the whole structure may yet be plunged into the abyss below.
Leaving the sulphur banks on the western side behind us, we directed
our course along the northern part to the western cliff. As we advanced
these became more and more perpendicular, until they presented nothing
but the bare and upright face of an immense wall, from eight to
ten hundred feet high, on whose surface huge stones and rocks hung
apparently so loosely as to threaten falling at the agitation of a
breath. In many places a white curling vapor issued from the sides and
summit of the precipice, and in two or three streams of clay-colored
lava, like some waterfall extending almost from the top to the bottom,
had cooled evidently at a very recent period. At almost every step,
something new attracted our attention, and by stopping sometimes to
look up, not without a feeling of apprehension, at the enormous masses
above our heads, at others to gain by a cautious approach to the brink
of the gulf, a nearer glance at the equally frightful depth below; at
one time turning aside to ascertain the heat of a column of steam and
at another to secure some unique or beautiful specimen, we occupied
more than two hours in proceeding the same number of miles.
At that distance from our entrance on the ledge we came to a spot on
the western side, where it widened many hundred feet and terminated
next the crater, not as in most other places, perpendicularly, but
in an immense heap of broken slabs and blocks of lava, loosely piled
together, as they had fallen in some convulsion of the mountain, and
jutting off to the bottom in a frightful mass of ruin. Here we had
been informed the descent into the depths of the crater could be most
easily made, but being without a guide we were entirely at a loss
what course to take, until we unexpectedly descried the gentlemen who
had preceded us re-ascending. They dissuaded us most strenuously from
proceeding further, but their lively representations of the difficulty
and dangers of the way only strengthened our resolution to go down,
and knowing that the crater had been crossed at this end, we hastened
on, notwithstanding the refusal of the guide to return with us.
The descent was as perilous as it had been represented, but by
proceeding with great caution, testing well the safety of every step
before committing our weight to it, and often stopping to select the
course which seemed least hazardous, in the space of about twenty
minutes, by a zigzag way, we reached the bottom without any accident
of greater amount than a few scratches on the hands from the sharpness
and roughness of the lava, by which we had occasionally been obliged to
support ourselves. When we were about half way down we were encouraged
to persevere in our undertaking, by meeting a native who had descended
on the opposite side and passed over. It was only however from the
renewed assurance it gave of the practicability of the attempt, for
besides being greatly fatigued, he was much cut and bruised from a
fall; said the bottom was "ino-ino loaka wahi O debelo!"--"excessively
bad the place of the devil!"--and could be prevailed on to return with
us only by the promise of a large reward.
It is difficult to say whether sensations of admiration or of terror
predominated, on reaching the bottom of this tremendous spot. As I
looked up at the gigantic wall, which on every side rose to the very
clouds, I felt oppressed to a most unpleasant degree, by a sense of
confinement.
Either from the influence of imagination, or from the actual effect of
the immense power of a noonday sun beating directly on us, in addition
to the heated and sulphureous atmosphere of the volcano itself, I for
some moments experienced an agitation of spirits, and difficulty of
respiration, that made me cast a look of wishful anxiety towards our
little hut, which, at an elevation of near fifteen hundred feet seemed
only like a bird's nest on the opposite cliff. These emotions, however,
soon passed off, and we began with great spirit and activity, the
enterprise before us. I can compare the general aspect of the bottom
of the crater, to nothing that will give a livelier image of it to
the mind than the appearance of a lake would present, if the ice with
which it was covered in the winter was suddenly broken up by a heavy
storm, and as suddenly frozen again, while large slabs and blocks were
still toppling and dashing and heaping against each other with the
motion of the waves. Just so rough and distorted was the black mass
under our feet, only a hundred fold more terrific, independently of
the innumerable cracks, fissures, deep chasms and holes, from which
sulphureous vapor, steam and smoke were exhaled, with a degree of heat
that testified to the near vicinity of fire.
We had not proceeded far, before our path was intersected by a chasm at
least thirty feet wide, and of greater depth than we could ascertain,
at the nearest distance we dare approach. The only alternative was
to return or follow its course until it terminated or became narrow
enough to be crossed. We chose the latter, but soon met an equally
formidable obstacle, in a current of smoke, so highly impregnated with
a suffocating gas as not to allow of respiration. What a situation for
a group of half a dozen men, totally unaware of the extent of peril to
which they might be exposed! The lava on which we stood was in many
places so hot, that we could not hold for a moment in our hands the
pieces which we knocked off for specimens.
On one side lay a gulf of unfathomable depth, on the other an
inaccessible pile of ruins, and immediately in front an oppressive and
deadly vapor. While hesitating what to do, we perceived the smoke to be
swept occasionally, by an eddy of the air, in a direction opposite to
that in which it most of the time settled. And watching an opportunity,
when our way was thus made clear, we held our breath and ran as rapidly
as the dangerous character of the path would permit, until we had
gained a place beyond its ordinary course. We here unexpectedly found
ourselves also delivered from the other impediment to our progress; for
the chasm abruptly ran off in a direction far from that we wished to
pursue. Our escape from the vapor however was that which we considered
the most important: and so great was our impression of the danger to
which we had been exposed from it, that when we saw our way to the
opposite side open, without any special obstacle before us, we felt
disposed formally to return thanks to Almighty God for our deliverance.
But before this was proposed most of our number had gone forward so far
as to be out of call; and for the time the external adoration of the
Creator, from the midst of one of the most horrible of his works, was
reluctantly waived.
At an inconsiderable distance from us was one of the largest of the
conical craters, whose laborious action had so greatly impressed
our minds during the night; and we hastened to a nearer examination
of it; so prodigious an engine I never expect again to behold. On
reaching its base, we judged it to be one hundred and fifty feet
high, a huge irregularly shapen, inverted funnel of lava covered with
clefts, orifices, and tunnels, from which bodies of steam escaped with
deafening explosion, while pale flames, ashes, stones, and lava, were
propelled with equal force and noise from its ragged and yawning mouth.
The whole formed so singularly terrific an object, that in order to
secure a hasty sketch of it, I permitted the other gentlemen to go a
few yards nearer than I did, while I occupied myself with my pencil.
One of the company with his servant ascended the cone several feet, but
found the heat too great to remain longer than to detach with their
sticks, a piece or two of recent lava, burning hot. So highly was our
admiration excited by the scene, that we forgot the danger to which
we might be exposed should any change take place in the currents of
destructive gas--which exists to a greater or less degree in every
part of the crater--until one of the gentlemen, after two or three
intimations of the propriety of an immediate departure, warned us
in a most decided tone, not only as a friend, but as a professional
gentleman, of the peril of our situation, assuring us, that three
inspirations of the air by which we might be surrounded, would prove
fatal to every one of us. We felt the truth of the assertion, and
notwithstanding the desire we had of visiting a similar cone covered
with a beautiful incrustation of sulphur, at the distance from us, of
a few hundred yards only, we hastily took the speediest course from so
dangerous a spot. The ascent to the ledge was not less difficult and
frightful than the descent had been, and for the last few yards was
almost perpendicular. But we all succeeded in safely gaining its top,
not far from the path by which we had in the morning descended the
upper cliff.
We reached the hut about two o'clock, nearly exhausted from fatigue,
thirst and hunger, and had immediate reason to congratulate ourselves,
on a most narrow escape from suffering and extreme danger, if not
from death. For, on turning round, we perceived the whole chasm to be
filling with thick sulphureous smoke; and within half an hour, it was
so completely choked with it, that not an object below us was visible.
Even where we were, in the unconfined region above, the air became so
oppressive as to make us think seriously of a precipitate retreat.
This continued to be the case for the greater part of the afternoon.
A dead calm took place, both within and without the crater, and from
the diminution of noise, and the various signs of action, the volcano
itself seemed to be resting from its labors.
One of the company, during a morning ramble, had gathered two large
buckets of fine strawberries, which made a delightful dessert at our
dinner. The mountains of Hawaii are the only parts of the island on
which this delicious fruit is found. A large red raspberry is also
abundant on them; but even when fully ripe, it has a rough acid taste
similar to that of an unripe blackberry. The flavor of the strawberry,
however, is as fine as that of the same fruit in America.
Towards evening the smoke again rolled off to the south, before a fresh
breeze, and every thing assumed its ordinary aspect. At this time we
succeeded in getting sufficient data to calculate the height of the
upper cliff; and made it nine hundred feet. If this be correct, it is
judged that the height of the ledge cannot be less than six hundred
feet; making the whole depth of the crater that which I have stated
in the preceding pages, fifteen hundred feet. On similar grounds, the
circumference of the crater at its bottom has been estimated at a
distance of from five to seven miles; and at its top from eight to ten
miles.
Greatly to our regret we found it would be necessary to set off on our
return early the next morning; all the provisions of the natives being
entirely expended. We could have passed a week here with undiminished
interest, and wished to remain at least one day longer to visit the
sulphur banks, which abound with beautiful chrystalizations, and to
make some researches on the summit. We would have been glad also to
have added to the variety of specimens already collected, especially
of the volcanic sponge, and capillary volcanic glass, not found on the
side of the crater where we encamped; but it was impossible; and we
made preparations for an early departure. Just as these were completed,
in the edge of the evening, another party from the same ship,
consisting of about a dozen midshipmen arrived, with whom we shared our
lodgings for the night.
The splendid illuminations of the preceding evening were again lighted
up with the closing of the day; and after enjoying their beauty for two
or three hours with renewed delight, we early sought a repose which the
fatigue of the morning had rendered most desirable. The chattering of
the islanders around our cabins, and the occasional sound of voices in
protracted conversation among our own number, had however, scarcely
ceased long enough to admit of sound sleep, when the volcano again
began roaring, and laboring with redoubled activity. The confusion
of noises was prodigiously great. In addition to all we had before
heard, there was an angry muttering from the very bowels of the abyss,
accompanied at intervals by what appeared the desperate effort of
some gigantic power struggling for deliverance. These sounds were not
fixed or confined to one place, but rolled from one end of the crater
to the other; sometimes seeming to be immediately under us--when a
terrible tremor of the ground on which we lay, took place--and then
again rushing to the farthest end with incalculable velocity. The whole
air was filled with tumult; and those most soundly asleep were quickly
roused by it to thorough wakefulness. Lord Byron springing up in his
cot exclaiming, "We shall certainly have an eruption; such power must
burst through every thing!" He had barely ceased speaking, when a dense
column of heavy black smoke was seen rising from the crater, directly
in front of us, the subterranean struggle ceased, and immediately after
flames burst from a large cone, near which we had been in the morning,
and which then appeared to have been long inactive. Red hot stones,
cinders, and ashes, were also propelled to a great height with immense
violence; and shortly after the molten lava came boiling up, and flowed
down the sides of the cone, and over the surrounding scoria, in two
beautiful curved streams, glittering with indescribable brilliance.
At the same time a whole lake of fire opened in a more distant part.
This could not have been less than two miles in circumference, and
its action was more horribly sublime than any thing I ever imagined
to exist, even in the ideal visions of unearthly things. Its surface
had all the agitation of an ocean; billow after billow tossed its
monstrous bosom in the air, and occasionally those from different
directions burst with such violence, as in the concussion to dash the
fiery spray, seemingly, forty and fifty feet high. It was at once the
most splendidly beautiful, and dreadfully fearful of spectacles, and
irresistibly turned the thoughts to that lake of fire, from whence we
are told, the smoke of torment shall ascend for ever and ever.
No work of Him who laid the foundations of the earth, and who by his
almighty power still supports them, ever brought to my mind the more
awful revelations of his Word with such overwhelming impression. Truly,
"_With God is terrible Majesty!_" Let all the nations say unto God,
"_How terrible art thou in thy works_."
Under the name of Pele, this volcano was one of the most distinguished,
and most feared of the former gods of Hawaii. Its terrific features,
are well suited to the character and abode of an unpropitious demon;
and few works in nature, would be more likely to impose thoughts of
terror on the ignorant and superstitious, and from their destructive
ravages lead to sacrifices of propitiation and peace. It is now rapidly
losing its power over the minds of the people. Not one of the large
number of our company, seemed to be at all apprehensive of it as a
supernatural being.
After an almost sleepless night, we early turned our faces homeward,
not without many a "lingering look behind," even at the very entrance
of our path. It was precisely six o'clock when the last of our party
left the brink.
Never was there a more delightful morning. The atmosphere was perfectly
clear, and the air, with the thermometer at 56 degrees Fahrenheit,
fine and bracing. A splendid assemblage of strong and beautifully
contrasted colors glowed around us. The bed of the crater still covered
with the broad shadow of the eastern banks was of jetty blackness. The
reflection of the early sun, added a deeper redness to the western
cliffs; those opposite were of a bright yellow, while the body of smoke
rising between them, hung in a white drapery of pearly whiteness,
against the deep azure of the southern sky. Mounaloa and Mounakea, in
full view in the west, were richly clothed in purple; and the long
line of intervening forest, the level over which we were passing, and
the precipice by which it is encircled, thickly covered with trees and
shrubbery, exhibited an equally bright and lively green.
[Illustration]