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SUCCESS OF THE GOSPEL.

283

were assembled at an examination of schools. The mission-house is daily crowded with earnest inquirers in every right way; evil customs and atrocious vices are abandoned; a strict outward conformity to good morals observed; and numbers, it is hoped and confidently believed, have yielded, and are yielding, themselves to all the charities and affections of genuine piety. From many an humble dwelling, now,

"Is daily heard

The voice of prayer and praise to Jacob's God;
And many a heart in secret heaves the sigh

To Him who hears well pleased the sigh contrite.

Even in the hut of the child-murderer,

"The father, with his offspring dear,

Now bends the knee to God, and humbly asks
That he would bless them with a parent's love-
With heavenly manna feed their hungry souls,
And on their hearts, as Hermon's dew, descend."

LETTER XLVI.

JOURNEY TO THE VOLCANO OF KIRAUEA, AND AN ACCOUNT OF ITS PRESENT STATE.

U. S. Ship Vincennes, Byron's Bay,
October 9th, 1829.

THE planning of a trip to the volcano at the base of the mountain Mounaroa, thirty-five miles inland from this harbour, was a first subject of attention, after being safely moored on Friday. A party, of which you will not be surprised to hear that I made one, was immediately formed; and Maaro, the head man of the district, engaged to furnish us with twenty stout men, of whom John Honorii was to be manager, to carry our provisions and luggage.

Accordingly, early on Monday morning, we were found in all the bustle of a hasty preparation for the excursion; and, after a general overhauling of wardrobes for old hats, old coats, and old clothes of every description, except old shoes, exhibited, on

mustering on the quarter-deck, after breakfast, a party in costume as appropriate to a pedestrian journey at Hawaii, as at variance with the prescribed dress of the service on board ship.

By nine o'clock, we were all stowed in the first cutter, which was to take us to Maaro's house, at the fish-ponds, to meet the men hired of him; and, shortly after, well pleased to be off, we waved farewell to those who, reluctantly, stayed behind,

"to walk the deck,

"And guard the ship from foe or wreck,"

We soon, however, met with a damper to our buoyancy, in a genuine Hido shower, which detained us a long time at Maaro's; and, by filling every thing in our way with water, effectually rendered the precaution we had taken against the morning wetness of the grass and bushes, in determining not to start till after breakfast, of no avail. Before eleven o'clock, all again was brightness; and, after seeing our various luggage distributed among the islanders, we set off. The whole route is so minutely, and, from second observation, I can confidently add, so correctly, described in the published account of our residence in this nation, that, in place of repetition, with the privilege of an author, I will say-see "Stewart, on the Sandwich Islands."

We accomplished fourteen miles just after four o'clock; and finding excellent accommodations for the night, at that distance, determined to sleep before proceeding farther.

Here we were quickly made sensible, that the improvements and advancement of the people are not limited to the sea-ports or to the coast. The house of Kinai was divided into separate rooms by screens of native cloth and mats, furnishing distinct sleeping places for the inmates, besides one large and airy apartment, evidently kept as a better and principal

room.

ARRIVAL AT THE CRATER.

285

Our party, in general, hailed with most pleasure. a fine lounge, or divan, eight or ten feet in width, extending the whole length of the apartment. It was composed of a great number of thicknesses of mats, on a platform of wood, elevated about two feet from the floor; and, surrounded by curtains of neat furniture chintz, afforded a couch for the whole of our number, which we might have coveted under circumstances of much less fatigue.

Indeed, the comfort of the accommodations, a refreshing cup of tea and a substantial supper, the novelty of every thing around, freedom from the confinement of the vessel, and, with it, from the tedium of the night-watch, &c., gave such a flow to the lively spirits of some of our younger companions, as to make it a late hour before we were composed to quietude and to sleep.

The smoke ascending from the volcano was discerned next day at a much greater distance, ten or twelve miles, than on my former visit, and was so massive in its columns as to promise a high state of action.

Our arrival was more sudden than I had expected it to be. I had been looking for some more abrupt descent than any we had yet made, and was straining my eyes into the vast body of thick and heated smoke, rising high to heaven, and spreading widely over the whole hemisphere to the south, for at least a glimpse of the tremendous gulf from whence it issued, when, scarce without warning, we found ourselves entering heavy currents of steam, rising rapidly from crevices and deep fissures about our path, and extending, at intervals, on one side, to the smoke from the crater, and, on the other, to a low precipice flanking our right. This, on turning towards it, was seen itself, in many places, even to its very top, to smoke like a coal-kiln. The whole surface of the level on which we were, a plain a mile in length and half a mile in breadth, enclosed on the edge of the

crater by a sweep of the precipice, exhibited, in a greater or less degree, the same evidences of widespread subterranean burnings.

The trade-wind blew freshly, and swept the dense steam and highly-heated air, bursting from the ground, in strong currents and whirling eddies across our path; and, at the same time, bore before it above, a thick and gloomy scud from the sea, flying so low as to brush swiftly through the trees on the top of the precipice, and, at times, to be scarce above our heads. Every thing wore a foreboding and saddening aspect and, whatever I felt I had lost in a clear and distant view, like that enjoyed when with Lord Byron, the sight of the hut which was to be our sleeping-place, still far ahead, and, seemingly, in the midst of these admonitory signs of a dangerous substratum, gave rise to a sense of exposure, and to apprehensions, not experienced on the former occa

sion.

The rude lodge we were to occupy, open in front, and only slightly thatched on the side next the wind, stands two or three hundred yards from the edge of the crater on the north end, but does not command a view below; we therefore scarce stopped at it, but, with impatient eagerness, hurried to the brink. It was, however, only to meet with disappointment: the smoke, in the whole chasm, was so dense as to be utterly impenetrable; a flickering flame, here and there, was only occasionally to be seen through its thickness; and, now and then, a sudden flash sending an illuminated column high towards the summit. Still the sight was deeply impressive. It was evident that the perpendicular depth, from our very footsteps down, was tremendous, and seemingly unfathomable; and the obscure outline of the upper edges, sweeping off on either hand, till lost to the eye in the smoke, gave an impression of awful immensity, disposing one to shrink back from the proximity already adventured.

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Another cause of disappointment was the absence of those terrific noises which, on my first visit, were constantly bursting upon the ear: now, scarce a sound was to be heard, except the rushing of the wind, as it swept over the edges of the cliffs to the more rarefied atmosphere within, now and then, as a lull or eddy of the wind rendered the hearing from that direction more distinct, the hiss of escaping steam, and something like the simmer and the bubbling of a mighty cauldron, mingled with the distant sound of a surf rolling on a pebbly beach.

There was, in this assemblage of images, in the lowery sky and driving wind, in the riven and steaming ground, in the heavy masses of smoke rising from the hideous chasm beneath, as if from a bottomless pit, and in the oppressive and saddening sounds occasionally coming to the ear, that which was well suited to the recollection of years gone by, and of friends afar, who had once shared with me in the enthusiasm of high-wrought admiration, excited by the same object; and in the indulgence of

66 a mood of mind we all have known,"

thus induced by circumstances and by scene, I lingered on the brink till completely chilled by the increasing coolness and dampness of the breeze.

The rude hut, or rather screen against the wind, consisting of poles propt in a slanting position, and covered on one side only with a few leaves of the sugar-cane, and bushes slightly placed upon them, we thought, for a time, very comfortable, and wisely fixed as to temperature; being on a spot of ground of such grateful heat, compared with the rawness of the mountain air, as to lead us to congratulate ourselves in the advantage it afforded, as we sat on our various packages in front, and partook of an evening repast, within a foot of a crevice from which steam issued, of such power as to cook our potatoes in a short time without the aid of fire. But when we

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