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.
CHAPTER VI.
Sail for the "Off shore ground." Cruise for Whale. Come to anchor at Payta. Desert the ship. Sufferings in the desert. Reach the human habitations. Are entertained by an old Spaniard, who takes us to St. Augustine, and delivers us up to the Governor. Thrown into a Calaboose. Released by the Captain. Sketch of Peru. Proceed to the Galapagos. Scenes at that group. Rock of Dundas. Sail to the Society Islands. Run upon the Coral Reef. Loose an anchor. Employ natives to dive for it. Proceed to the Coast of Japan. Description of the Dolphin and Flying Fish. A violent storm. Sail for the Sandwich Islands. Touch at Pitcairns. Desert the ship. Ship on board the brig Doll. Arrive at Magdalena. Proceed to Wytohoo. Phosphoretic scene. A heavy storm. Seven men lost. Flee to the boats. The ship runs upon the rocks.
On our return from the volcano, we took on wood, water, and other necessaries for the voyage, and stood for the "Off shore ground," or the Coast of Peru, where we cruised two months with the poorest luck. Sick at heart, we put into Payta, one of the ports of Peru.
The poor success which had attended us, caused the greatest dissatisfaction among the crew, yet none attributed it to the officers of the ship. Myself and two others concluded to try our luck in another way; together we formed a plan to leave the ship, secrete ourselves in the woods until her departure, we would then return to the shore, and see what chance would favor us with.