NIGHT ON A VOLCANO

Hokitika Guardian, 1 August 1931, Page 6

NIGHT ON A VOLCANO

ASTRAY ON LAVA CRUST. ADVENTURE AT KILAUEA. (By Sydney Francis Hoben in “Dominion. ) Hilo, tin? chief town erf Hawaii, is reaciieu early in the morning by interisiaud steamers, and one is entranced ny the superb view lrom the bout of the enormous snowy mounds of the volcanoes Alauna Lou and Alauna Kea, each about 11,0u0 feet high. Alauna Loa is simply immense. It spreads out over the greater part of the landscape in sight, and in the veiled lovely opal shades of a perfect morning looked supremely magnificent. Hilo itself was noticeable mainly for the vivd marvellous green of its luxuriant vegetation. There is a tremendous lot of rain—ill-natured people lrom the other islands say it rains eight days in the week in Milo, and five weeks to the month. The warm rain works magically in covering every inch of ground with a tropical riot of emerald foliage. Private houses are almost invisible in tins glorious bewildering growth. Tourists usually simply pass through Hilo is a nccessarv preliminary to the trip toi Ivilauea. I, however, rpent three weeks there, so I got to know it very thoroughly. The swimming off (Veoanut Island in the turquoise-blue bay was exhilarating and tue surf-bathing a delight. The days slipped pleasantly away till at last T decided it was time to take the Ivilauea rip. The motor-car agents arrange weekly excursions. \ found, how ever, only one passenger besides myself in the automobile—a burly American businessman, who looked as il he would run well into the teens ol a weighing machine. •It is a little over thirty miles to the volcano •from Hilo, and the drive is quite beautiful. Although the grade is gentle, one. is always ascending. .Much of tin' earlier part of the journey is past green fields of sugarcane. Further on at places the forest on either side is practically impenetrable. By the time we had reached a height of 'IOOO feet, the genial • balmincss of the air had departed, and it was much cooler lucre was no indication of the nearness of an active volcano, till with dramatic suddenness, the road turned Jinrply to the light, and in a few minutes we swung in through beds of brilliant flowers to the door ol Volcano House, oil tin 1 brink of the great crater of Ivilauea. Here we found a few tourists assemli led to watch our arrixal. After some refreshments—it was ah lit four o’clock—wo discussed the trip to the brink with the proprietor. He took if for granted that we would motor over, and so did my bulky companion. But I had no such intention ; I intended walking, and the American decided to stick with me and do likew'se. It is customary to take cofire to reheat over the cracks in the lava, and so we ladencd ourselves with the parapher nalia, in addition to our lantern. The road for pedestrians leads lrom Volcano House by a path down the hill, beginning nhnost direct.y in trout ol lr tel. Low growing leliiia trees sturdy little yellow-greeu-loaveil sandal wood ferns, and thick shrub made the descent picturesque. The walk across the floor of the crater. about, two and a half miles, is ovei a b ird lava bed more or less up and low ii ,since lava hardens quickly and remains as it flowed, in great rope and ripples.

Aly companion, unused to walking, was thoroughly enjoying his experience and had already vision of walking tours in the future. But we soon came t' 1 the conclusion that our coffee pot and cups that we had burdened ourscivcs with must be dispensed with, so we stopped and drank the stimulant, leaving: the paraphernalia on the track to be picked up on our return. This track is marked w’lb dabs of white paint o" the lava, reeks. Here and there steam was r ; si"c out ef cr-rks. 0”o fissile was so formidable that it was bridged over with a primitive little hr idee. In the distance we could see a dense mass of wlnt-p steam which denoted the volcano. We reached the brink Indore suti-flf-iwn, coming quite suddenly riion if. Till' cavity is perhaps 100 feet across—-a crater within a crater—and its precipitous sides lead down to a lake of molten fire several acres in extent. This is Halemaumau, the centre of volcanic .activity, the mythological home of the goddess Pole. We sat down on the edge of the brink, gazing at the restless, turbulent 'ashing lava well below tis in the pit. In the davlight it was uncanny, but as n'ght came on and darkness surrounded us, if became deeply n wc-'mpiring—-almost terrifying so. The blazing torrents below dashed in fury. No longer did the stemn appear white, but an intenslev hri'linnt red. What seemed a small inland in the midd'c was ns-anV-od by fiercely aggressive waves of molten lava, and gradually its resetonco was worn nwav bv successive cbn vfT cs and would vanish in a blood-red whirl.

Against the black sides of the p.t masses of liquid lire would violently battle with each other. Sometimes one of these sides 101 l in with roar that echoed back and 'forth, and mighty rocks were swallowed in a devastating rush of glowing lava that closed over them in a whirlpool. At last we decided we must leave. Our eyes were daw led by the intensity of the glare, but with confidence I started out to cross the lavalields. Away from the vivid light all seemed uncertain, and after walking for some minutes we discovered we had lost our track, and were hegining to circle the volcano. The night was dark, the lantern burned feebly, and we had some miles • reacherotts lava-bed to cross. Things began to look worrying. My sense o'l locality having proved a failure, my stout companion took charge, and we returned to where we had sat at the brink. Then carefully keeping to the white-marked stones, he led the way. Him what had seemed an easy walk in the daylight now assumed a most serious character. We were in tne wilds of a great lava-field, steam rising menacingly here and there Irom gaping fissures. A false step, and we might fall through to, a seething cauldron. With hut a dim light troin the lantern it was not easy to distinguish the track, cspocia lv with the 'false shadows resulting from the volcano’s distant illumination. And on top of it all mv com; anion began to show signs of physical distress. Utterly unused to walking, his strength was overtaxed. Signs of exhaustion were becoming more and more evident from the American. I peered ahead through the gloom! Surely that greatest density was the forest-clad cliff! Pressing forward after my stumbling companion I discovered in a 'few minutes that my surmise was right. We were off the lavafield. and reached the grassy banks under the hill. With a cry, of heartfelt relief, my fellow-traveller collapsed. With the end of teused-up determination, his strength left him, and lie told me I would have to go on alone'. He couldn’t move a yard—simply played out. So I restarted tin the path through the lelmn and sandalwood trees. It was a steep climb, but when I reached the top the welcoming lights of Volcano House shone chccUfuly not far away. They had been looking out with some trepidation for our return ; and when I appenrod .alone out of the darkness the proprietor and attendants started forward in alarm. A mule was brought out. and several men started < ff to the rescue. It was considerably later when The procession arrived. Next dnv on our drive down the mountain s>de t n Hilo the American was subdued, and thoughts of future walking tour were 'for ever abandoned.