| Show 1 I VOLCANO GRAND IGHT OF UE RIV x the attractive of the Is correspondence of the 1 it has been some time since the fickle goddess of hawa has been mentioned in the her freaks are as elfish as when in her teens and her as unbecoming as ever it sue appear to be the greaff attraction in this part of the world the of her admirers becoming greater every year people appear theara to eara littly br expense if only they can get a glimpsy d her ruddy face sulphurous breath or a lockoff her what a parody on human tastes A trip now can be made with alt the ease and comfort that one can reasonably expect quite in contrast to what was ten years ago when you either had to board a schooner a whaleboat or perchance the old kilauea steamer which was quite as unreliable agthe former for it was so that she trat elid on the lee side of the islands to keep out of the wind in those days many hardy and adventurous travel ers visited the volcano despite the indefinite length of the voyage and the ride of thirty five miles which followed the sea voyage over a rough and almost trackless waste or through a dense and tangled forest abw however the scene has greatly changed beaular trips are made by two lines of steamers fitted up ain modern style and elegance the owned by S G wilder co of honolulu is a model vessel in every respect electric lights illumine her brilliant saloon and commodious cabins and staterooms state rooms and electric bells summon the irrepressible john chinaman while you slam along at the rate of ten or twelve miles an hour if some one would only take pity on suffering humanity or that part of us that go down to the sea in ships and render this skimming along a little more endurable I 1 always supposed till quite recently that sea sickness killed but what a shock to my nervous system waa given auw on my last gnp I 1 was told that it often proved fatal I 1 felt quite concerned not that I 1 feared to die not I 1 but you know I 1 had a wife and baby aboard and of for their bakes I 1 would rather live going by the kinaia thirty six hours you at keauhou Keau hou the nearest possible point to the volcano fourteen miles distant you pass in daylight both going or coming all the principal islands of the group except kanai molokai the leper island lanai the island out of which gibson swindled our native saints in and maui on which is the hargest sugar mill in the world owned by claus Sp and towering on the eastern part is the greatest crater in the world whose tall and stately summit pierces the clouds keauhou landing but the end of a lava flow upon whose ragged you jump as the end of ships boat is raised by the incoming swell no one cares to land here those who are making a trip to the volcano beauties are con for their absence a vast expanse 0 blade rock with two cocoa nut trees are Keau hous attractions and for the accommodation of travel ers a lumber house a drink of rain gatei and a horse or buleto muleto ride to the next post after a ride of five miles up a rough ascent in which we raise abon feet we teach the halfway half way house a neat cottage situated just within the timber line where ferns and flowers begin to show their welcome presence A short rest a re freshing lunch and the guide shouts all ready and we hurry into our two wheeled vehicle the two professors in one our lady friend from down in maine and a massachusetts chu state senator in the second and the balance of the party in a third away we whirl behind our fresh horses winding among groves of trees and banks of fern till suddenly we emerge in sight of the volcano booso on the very brink of the crater during the pleasant ride the native boy who rode along with us gathered and threw in our breaks chelos a small fruit like a cherry in appearance strawberries and the most luscious of ground cherries now for a look at pele the hole or pit that contains this wonder of nature is deep and nine miles in circumference cum ference and is in the top afi an extensive table land that gradually subsides toward the north east and west the country on the north is covered with a dense forest of lehua trees that extends to the very brink of the precipice that encircles the black and fearful lake on the south the coun atry is as barren agthe north is luau to the of poisonous gases that are surface by the wind with a short stout stick arid a lantern we started about 4 p m a very gabd h orse path led to the bottom where we began our march in single file across the rough and broken lava following a scarcely per epi ible trail turning here and there over and around twisted masses of matter over seams and from which issued hot sulphurous dewent we went directing our general course towards the south where arose a huge mass of rock irom which ilae hito sua oke circled off over arren on nearing the scene of activity tall chimney like structures stood up on every hand which formed the vent to some subterranean torrent on our left we passed what used to be the new baket now a cold bottomless pit from which madam pelo had escaped to more genial parts of the crater A turn to the and a short walk brought us to the source of what had been a few weeks before a river of fire the lava had flowed from a cone shaped mound close by and although there was none now running out we could plainly seo there was activity yet cantwe get nearer that hole asked one of the party of our native guide yes he quietly replied and immediately turned his course toward the top to our amazement he goes to the very apex and not satisfied with the size of the hole where fire is bursting through he kicks with his heavy boot the thin crust that has cooled over the top and in it falls he quickly steps back to escape the blast of heat that rushes up and insists that we all come up and take a look of a truth we thought familiarity breeds contempt one by one our little party cautiously approached and gazed down into that terrible abyss and heard the rings of those fiery billows as they beat upon their imprisoning But a little further and we are standing on an eminence overlooking the lake what a grand and awful sight below us about fifty yards encircled by a wall of glistening blackness tossed and bubbled a lake of molten fire no smoke no flame nothing but a seething mass of liquid red that lashed the frail bank that surrounded it as if determined to breakthrough and pour itself on the surface below following our guide consoling ourselves that others had gone wai go we felt our eminence and climbed down towards the lake A few minutes later and we were all standing on its very brink now running down its sides as the heat became too intense again climbing to the top as some one would shout at a new display the surface of the lake would raise and fall several feet within a space of five minutes the lava coming so near the top that we could reach it our short sticks dimes quarters and half dollars were stuck fast in the chunks that we fished up just before dark we all climbed back to our bomer fomer resting place and there for four hours watched with subdued emotions this wonderous work of god the darkness only lent enchantment to the scene for we sat sur rounded by a hundred fires that cast their lurid gl ve to fade away uia cEness of a starle and at our feet helow ebbed jarl flowed this mighty thundering fiery monster J F GATES LATE july |
