ng her an
offering of the ohelo-berries that grow in the neighborhood. Whenever
an eruption took place, great quantities of hogs and other articles of
property were thrown into the lava stream in order to appease her
anger.

In 1824, Kapiolani, the daughter of a great chief of Hilo, having been
converted to Christianity by the missionaries, determined to break the
spell of the native belief in Pele. In spite of the strenuous
opposition of her friends and even of her husband, she made a journey
of about 150 miles, mostly on foot, from Kealakekua to Hilo, visiting
the great crater of Kilauea on her way, in order to defy the wrath of
Pele, and to prove that no such being existed.

On approaching the volcano, she met the priestess of Pele, who warned
her not to go near the crater and predicted her death if she violated
the tabus of the goddess.

"Who are you?" demanded Kapiolani.

"One in whom the goddess dwells," she replied.

In answer to a pretended letter of Pele, Kapiolani quoted passages
from the Bible until the priestess was silenced. Kapiolani then went
forward to the crater, where Mr. Goodrich, one of the missionaries,
met her. A hut was built for her on the eastern brink of the crater,
and here she passed the night.

The next morning she and her company of about eighty persons descended
over 500 feet to the "Black Ledge." There, in full view of the grand
and terrific action of the inner crater, she ate the berries
consecrated to Pele, and threw stones into the burning lake, saying:
"Jehovah is my God. He kindled these fires. I fear not Pele. If I
perish by her anger, then you may fear Pele; but if I trust in
Jehovah, and he preserve me when breaking her tabus, then you must
fear and serve him alone...."

It is needless to say that she was not harmed, and this act did much
to destroy the superstitious dread in which the heathen goddess was
held by the ignorant and credulous natives.

The history of Hawaiian volcanic eruptions tells no such tales of
horror as regards the loss of life and property as may be read in the
accounts of other great volcanoes of the globe. This, however, is
simply because the region is less populated, and their tremendous
manifestations of power have lacked material to destroy. There have
been fatal catastrophes, and ruin has been wrought which seems slight
only in comparison with the greater disasters of a similar nature.

In 1855 an eruption of Mauna Loa occurred. The lava flo