LESSON LV. Account of a Volcano in Hawaii.-ELLIS'S TOUR. "About two P. M. the crater of Kirauea suddenly burst upon our view. We expected to have seen a mountain with a broad base and rough indented sides, composed of loose slags or hardened streams of lava, and whose summit would have presented a rugged wall of scoria, forming the rim of a mighty caldron. But instead of this, we found ourselves on the edge of a steep precipice, with a vast plain before us, fifteen or sixteen miles in circumference, and sunk from 200 to 400 feet below its original level. The surface of this plain was uneven, and strewed over with huge stones and volcanic rocks, and in the centre of it was the great crater, at a distance of a mile and a half from the precipice on which we were standing. Our guides led us round towards the north end of the ridge, in order to find a place by which we night descend to the plain below. As we passed along, we observed the natives, who had hitherto refused to touch any of the ohelo berries, now gathered several branches, and, after offering a part to Pele, eat them very freely." "Several of them told us, as they turned round from the crater, that after such acknowledgments, they might eat of the fruit with security. We walked on to the north end of the ridge, where the precipice being less steep, a descent to the plain below seemed practicable. It required, however, the greatest caution, as the stones and fragments of rocks frequently gave way under our feet, and rolled down from above; but with all our care, we did not reach the bottom without several falls and slight bruises. The steep which we descended, was formed of volcanic matter, apparently a light red, and gray kind of lava, vesicular, and lying in horizontal strata, varying in thickness from one to forty feet. In a small number of places, the different strata of lava were also rent in perpendicular or oblique directions, from the top to the bottom, either by earthquakes, or other violent convulsions of the ground connected with the action of the adjacent velcano. After Hawaii, or Owygee, the largest of the Sandwich Islands, containing about 4000 square miles, and 85,000 inhabitants. P. M., Post Meridiem, afternoon. Crater, cavity, large vent by which a volcano emits its fire. -View, prospect, sight, to look, to behold. Indented, uneven, having inequalities like teeth. Lava, burning substance, overflowings of fire and ashes. Scoria, dross, matter thrown out from a volcano. Circumference, circuit, measure round any thing. -Feet, lower extremities of animals, measure of length, support. -Original, primary, former, not borrowed. -Level, smooth, even, to make plain, plain horizontal surface. -Guides, conductors, shows, leads, points out. -Ridge, rough top of any thing, ground thrown up by a plough. Natives, persons born in the country, not foreigners. Pèlè, the principal goddess of volcanoes. Ohelo, a shrub, producing beautiful red and yellow berries in clusters, of the size and shape of a large currant. Volcano, burning mountain. Where are the most celebrated? See App. Acknowledgments, adoration. Was it superstitious? Security, safety, without any danger. Practicable, performable, feasible, capable of being done. Fragments, broken pieces. Frequently, often, repeatedly; from frequent. Care, precaution, carefulness, prudence, watchfulness. Vesicular, ve-sik' ù-lår, hollow, full of small intersti ces. Horizontal, level, on a plane with the horizon. Thickness, denseness, want of rareness, closeness. Earthquakes, violent movements of the earth. walking some distance over the sunken plain, which in several places sounded hollow under our feet, we at length came to the edge of the great crater, where a spectacle, sublime, and even appalling, presented itself to view before us. Astonishment and awe rendered us mute, and, like statues, we stood fixed to the spot, with our eyes iveted on the abyss below. Immediately before us yawned an immense gulf, in the form of a crescent, about two miles in length, from northeast to southwest, nearly a mile in width, and apparently 800 feet deep, the bottom was covered with lava; and the southwest and northern parts of it were one vast flood of burning matter, in a state of terrific ebullition, rolling to and fro 'its fiery surge' and flaming billows. Fifty-one conical islands, of various form and size, containing so many craters, rose either round the edge or from the surface of the burning lake. Twenty-two constantly emitted columns of gray smoke, or pyramids of burning flame; and several of these at the same time vomited from their ignited mouths streams of lava, which rolled in blazing torrents down their black indented sides into the boiling mass below. The existence of these conical craters, led us to conclude, that the boiling caldron of lava before us, did not form the focus of the volcano; that this mass of melting lava was comparatively shallow; and that the bason in which it was contained, was separated by a stratum of solid matter, from the great volcanic abyss, which constantly poured out its melted contents through these numerous craters into this upper reservoir. We were further inclined to this opinion, from the vast columns of vapor continually ascending from the chasms in the vicinity of the sulphur banks and pools of water, for they must have been produced by other fire than that which caused the ebullition in the lava at the bottom of the great crater; and also by noticing a number of small craters, in vigorous action, situated high up the sides of the great gulf, and apparently quite detached from it. The streams of lava which they emitted rolled down the lake, and mingled on the melted mass there, which, though thrown up by different apertures, had perhaps been originally fused in one vast furnace. The sides of the gulf before 1 Sublime, grand. What is the difference between grandeur and beauty. Appalling, åp-påll' ing, fearful, frightful. Mute, silent, not vócal, speechless. Statues, lifeless images made of stone, wood, wax. &c. Abyss, deep place, profound gulf, fathomless pit. Surge, billow. Whence the allusion? Conical, kon' è-kål, in form of a cone. .-Islands, masses, land surrounded with water. Emitted, vomited, sent out. Pyramids, cones, a solid figure like a sugar loaf. Columns, kòl' lůms, round pillars, file of troops, half page. Ignited, burning, flaming, set on fire. -Down, descending along, soft feathers, open plain. concentration. Caldron, kåwl' drån, pot, boiler, large kettle. -Stratum, Latin word signifying layer. What is the Further, also, likewise, furthermore. What is vapor called when collected in the atmosphere? .Ascending, going up, rising. Chasms, kazmz, clefts, gaps, openings, vacuities, rents. Vicinity, neighborhood, around, adjacent country. Vigorous, strong, sturdy, healthy, robust. -Action, operation, engagement, activity. Apertures, ap' ůr-tshůrz, openings, acts of opening. Fused, füz'd, reduced from a solid to a liquid. us, although composed of different strata of ancient lava, were perpendicular for about 400 feet, and rose from a wide horizontal ledge of solid black lava of irregular breadth, but extending completely round. Beneath this ledge, the sides sloped gradually towards the burning lake, which was, as nearly as we could judge, 300 or 400 feet lower. It was evident, that the large crater had been recently filled with liquid lava up to the black ledge, and had, by some subterranean canal, emptied itself into the seas or upon the low land upon the shore. The gray, and in some places, apparently 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 on the north and south ends 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. We partook with cheerfulness of our evening repast, and afterwards, amidst the whistling winds around, and the roaring furnace beneath, rendered our evening sacrifice of praise, and committed ourselves to the secure protection of our God. We then spread our mats on the ground, but as we were all wet with rain, against which our huts were but an indifferent shelter, we preferred to sit or stand round the fire, rather than lie down on the ground. Between nine and ten, the dark clouds and heavy fogs, that, since the setting of the sun, had hung over the volcano, gradually cleared away, and the fires of Kirauca, darting their fierce light athwart the midnight gloom, unfolded a sight terrible and sublime, beyond all that we had yet seen. The agitated mass of liquid lava, like a flood of melted metal, raged with tumultuous whirl. The lively flame that danced over its undulating surface, tinged with sulphurous blue, or glowing with mineral red, cast a broad glare of dazzling light on the indented sides of the insuated crater, whose roaring mouths, amidst rising flames |