"The bank of the lake down near where the lava came against it was red hot, and so you may imagine if you can a mass of liquid fire rolling and surging against a solid one. One of the lakes was much more agitated than the other, and the liquid lava seemed to break upon its sides very much like a sea upon a rocky shore. Owing to the half-plastic condition of the lava, it could not break into surf and spray like the waves of the ocean, but it made a dull roar, something like that of the Pacific on the beach near San Francisco just after the subsidence of a storm.
VIEW ON A LAVA FIELD.
"The surface of the lava changes its height from time to time. The guide said it occasionally rose until it overflowed the sides of the basin enclosing the lakes, and formed streams that spread out over the level area of the great crater. Sometimes it sank so that it was fully four hundred feet from the edge of the rim down to the lava; but whether it was high or low, there was never a time when it was wholly inactive.
"The guide called our attention to cones which had formed on the rim of the lake; they were caused by the cooling of the lava around vent-holes, and as successive jets of lava were thrown up and cooled they had formed cones fifteen or twenty feet high, and some of them as much as thirty feet. When the height became so great that the lava sought an outlet elsewhere, it generally left a hole in the top of the cone. We looked down some of these holes and saw the seething mass of lava threatening each moment to rise and destroy the very frail foundation where we were standing. The guide said there was little real danger, as the lava had receded since the cones were formed. I observed that the crust where we stood was not more than a foot or so in thickness; and as the lava is very brittle, the spot was certainly not a safe one. Besides, the fumes that rose from the vent-holes were absolutely stifling; and though the sight was a fascinating one, it was impossible to remain there long, owing to the difficulty of breathing.
HAWAIIAN WARRIORS OF A CENTURY AGO.