BURNING CHASM OF PONAHOHOA.

117

them to his ears, after which she reclined her head on a pillow by his side. Till this time we had maintained our gravity; but happening to look that way, and seeing the three heads all in a row, and the pig's black ears standing up in the middle, we involuntarily burst into a laugh. This disconcerted them a little. The hog lifted up his nose and grunted; and the host inquired the reason of our laughter. We told him the occasion of it. He said his sisters had a great attachment for the hog, having fed it from the hand ever since it was a few days old, and did not like to have it sleep with the other hogs out in the cold; adding, that if it were to be put out, it would make such a noise all night at the door, that no one in the house would be able to sleep.

31st. Soon after sun-rise the people of the place were collected around our house. Mr. Ellis requested them to sit down in front, and after singing a hymn, preached to them a short and plain discourse. Mr. Thurston concluded the service with prayer. The people were evidently interested, and made many inquiries.

After breakfast, three of our number went to visit the places where we had seen the columns of smoke rising yesterday. After travelling about five miles, over a country fertile and considerably cultivated, we came to Ponahohoa. It was a bed of ancient lava, the surface of which was decomposed; and, in many places, shrubs and trees had grown to a considerable height.

As we approached the places whence the smoke issued, we passed over a number of fissures and chasms, from two inches to six feet in width. The whole mass of rocks had evidently been rent by some violent convulsion of the earth, at no very distant period; and when we came in sight of the ascending columns of smoke and vapour, we beheld immediately before us a valley, or hollow, about half a mile across, formed by the sinking down of the whole surface of ancient lava, to a depth of

fifty feet below its original level. Its superficies was intersected by fissures in every direction; and along the centre of the hollow, two large chasms, of irregular form and breadth, were seen stretching from the mountain towards the sea, in a south-and-by-west direction, and extending either way, as far as the eye could reach. The principal one was, in some places, so narrow, that we could step over it; but in others it was ten or twelve feet across. It was from these wider portions, that the smoke and vapours arose. As we descended into this valley, the ground sounded hollow, and, in several places, the lava cracked under our feet. Towards the centre, it was so hot, that we could not stand more than a minute in the same place. As we drew near one of the apertures, that emitted smoke and vapour, our guide stopped, and endeavoured to dissuade us from proceeding any further, assuring us he durst not venture nearer, for fear of Pele, the deity of the volcano. We told him there was no Pele, of which he need be afraid; but that if he did not wish to accompany us, he might go back to the bushes at the edge of the valley, and await our return. He immediately retraced his steps, and we proceeded on, passing as near some of the smoking fissures, as the heat and sulphureous vapour would admit. We looked down into several, but it was only in three or four that we could see any bottom. The depth of these appeared to be about fifty or sixty feet, and the bottoms were composed of loose fragments of rocks, and large stones, that had fallen in from the top or sides of the chasm. Most of them appeared to be red hot, and we thought we saw flames in one; but the smoke was generally so dense, and the heat so great, that we could not look long, nor see very distinctly the bottom of any of them. Our legs, hands, and faces, were nearly scorched with the heat. Into one of the small fissure we put our thermometer, which had stood at 84°; it instantly rose to 118°, and probably would

BURNING CHASM OF PONAHOHOA.

119

have risen much higher, could we have held it longer there.

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 considerable quantity of lava had been recently vomited. The lava had been thrown, in detached pieces, to a considerable distance in every direction, and, from both sides of the opening, had flowed down in a number of small 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 appearance of the shrubs, partially overflowed, and broken down, convinced us the lava had been thrown out only a few days before. It was of a different kind from the ancient bed, of which the whole valley was composed, being of a jet black colour, and bright variegated lustre, brittle and porous; while the ancient lava was of a grey or reddish colour, compact, 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 quantity of lava had been thrown out, and from which a volume of smoke had continually issued, we could stand several minutes together without inconvenience. We, at first, attributed this to the subterraneous fire having become extinct beneath; but the greater thickness of the crust of ancient lava at that place, afterwards appeared to us the most probably cause, as the volumes of smoke and vapour, which constantly ascended, indicated the vigorous action of fire below. Mr. Ellis took a drawing of this place, and when we had collected as many specimens of the lava as we could conveniently carry back to our lodgings, we

returned to our guide, whom we found waiting at the spot where we first entered the hollow.

As he was a resident in Kapapala, and owned a small garden near, we endeavoured to learn from him something of the history of the phenomenon before us. He told us, that the two large chasms were formed about eleven moons ago, that nothing else had been visible, till nearly two moons back, when a slight earthquake was experienced at Kapapala, and the next time he came by, the ground had fallen in, forming the hollow that we saw, which also appeared full of fissures. About three weeks ago,

as he was going to his plantations, he saw a small flame issuing from the apertures, and a quantity of smoking lava all round; the branches of the trees that stood near were also broken and burnt, and several of them still smoking.

Having gratified our curiosity, we prepared to leave this infant volcano; for such to us it appeared. Although the surface, at least, of the whole country around, had a volcanic origin, it seems to have remained undisturbed a number of years, perhaps ages. The lava is decomposed to a considerable depth, and is mingled with prolific soil, fertile in vegetation, and profitable to its proprietors; and we felt a sort of melancholy interest in witnessing the first exhibitions of returning action, after so long a repose in this mighty agent, whose irresistible energies will probably, at no very remote period, spread desolation over a district now smiling in verdure, repaying the toils, and gladdening the heart of the industrious cultivator.

Ponahohoa, the place we had visited, is situated in the district of Kapapala, in the north-east part of the division of Kau, and is, as near as we could judge, from ten to twelve miles from the sea-shore, and about twenty miles from the great volcano at the foot of Mouna Roa.

The road, by which we returned, lay through a number of fields of mountain taro, which appears to

LEAVE KAPAPALA FOR THE VOLCANO. 121

be cultivated here more extensively than the sweetpotatoe. We also passed several hills, whose broad base and irregular tops showed them originally to have been craters. They must be very ancient, as they were covered with shrubs and trees. From them must have come the then molten, but now indurated flood, over which we were travelling. Several small columns of smoke were seen rising near them, from recently made fissures. About 2 P. M. we

reached our lodgings, and dismissed the man, who had showed us the way, with a remuneration for his trouble.

Mr. Harwood, who had arrived during our absence, informed us, that on reaching Kaaraara, last night, he took up his lodgings with Maruae, the chief of the place, by whom he had been hospitably entertained. Mauae, and his two companions, who had also slept at Kaaraara, arrived with him; but nothing had been heard of Makoa, or our baggage, and we began to suspect he would not follow us, even so far as he had promised.

CHAPTER VI.

Leave Kapapala for the volcano-Lodge in a cavern.-Reflection from the volcano by night.Volcanic sand.-Superstition of the natives with respect to the ohelo.-Description of the great crater of Kirauea, and traditions and superstitions connected with it.-The "little Kirauea."-Ancient heiau on the summit of a precipice.-Mouna Roa.—Probable structure of the island.

BETWEEN three and four o'clock in the afternoon, a party of travellers, consisting of four men and one woman, entered the house where we were, and sat down to rest. We soon learned, that they belong