arently calcined sides of the
great crater before us, the fissures which intersected the surface of
the plain on which we were standing, the long banks of sulphur on the
opposite side of the abyss, the vigorous action of the numerous small
craters on its borders, the dense columns of vapor and smoke that rose
at the north and west end of the plain, together with the ridge of steep
rocks by which it was surrounded, rising probably in some places 300
or 400 feet in perpendicular height, presented an immense volcanic
panorama, the effect of which was greatly augmented by the constant
roaring of the vast furnaces below."

MAUNA LOA IN ERUPTION

Of the two great craters of Mauna Loa, the summit one has frequently
in modern times overflowed its crest and poured its molten streams in
glowing rivers over the land. This has rarely been the case with the
lower and incessantly active crater of Kilauea, whose lava, when in
excess, appears to escape by subterranean channels to the sea. We append
descriptions of some of the more recent examples of Mauna Loa's eruptive
energy. The lava from this crater does not alone flow over the crater's
lip, but at times makes its way through fissures far below, the immense
pressure causing it to spout in great flashing fountains high into the
air. In 1852 the fiery fountains reached a height of 500 feet. In some
later eruptions they have leaped 1,000 feet high. The lava is white hot
as it ascends, but it assumes a blood-red tint in its fall, and strikes
the ground with a frightful noise.

The quantities of lava ejected in some of the recent eruptions have been
enormous. The river-like flow of 1855 was remarkable for its extent,
being from two to eight miles wide, with a depth of from three to three
hundred feet, and extending in a winding course for a distance of sixty
miles. The Apostle of Hawaiian volcanoes, the Rev. Titus Coan, who
ventured to the source of this flow while it was in supreme action, thus
describes it:--

"We ascended our rugged pathway amidst steam and smoke and heat which
almost blinded and scathed us. We came to open orifices down which we
looked into the fiery river which rushed madly under our feet. These
fiery vents were frequent, some of them measuring ten, twenty, fifty
or one hundred feet in diameter. In one place we saw the river of lava
uncovered for thirty rods and rushing down a declivity of from ten to
twenty-five degrees. The scene was awful, the momentum i