Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 6.djvu/434

428 428 JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. plain, are numerous extinct, abrupt, generally circular craters, varying in height from one hundred to three hundred feet, and with about an equal diameter at their tops. At the distance of five miles from the volcano, the country is more rugged, the fissures in the ground being both larger and more numerous, and the whole tract covered with gravel and lava, etc., ejected at various periods from the crater. The steam that now arose from the cracks bespoke our near approach to the summit, and at two P. M. I arrived at its northern extremity, where finding it nearly level, and observing that water was not far distant, I chose that spot for my encampment. As, however, the people were not likely to arrive before the evening, I took a walk around the West side, now the most active part of the volcano, and sat down there, not, cor- rectly speaking, to enjoy, but to gaze with wonder and amazement on this terrific sight, which inspired the beholder with a fearful pleasure. From the description of former visitors, I judged that Mouna Roa must now be in a state of comparative tranquillity. A lake of liquid fire, in extent about a thirteenth part of the whole crater, was boiling with a furious agitation : not constantly, however, for at one time it appeared calm and level, the numerous fiery red streaks on its surface alone attesting its state of ebullition, when again, the red-hot lava would dart .upwards and boil with terrific grandeur, spouting to a height which, from the distance at which I stood I calculated to be from forty to seventy feet, when it would dash violently against the black ledge, and then subside again for a few moments. Close by the fire was a chimney about forty feet high, which occasionally discharges its steam, as if all the steam-engines in the world were concentrated in it This preceded the tranquil state of the lake, which is situated near the Southwest, or smaller end of the crater. In the center of the Great Crater a second lake of fire, of circular form, but smaller dimensions, was boiling with equal intensity; the noise was dreadful beyond all description. The people having arrived, Honori last, my tent was pitched twenty yards back from the perpendicular wall of the crater; and as there was an old hut of Ti-leaves on the immediate bank, only six feet from the extreme verge, my people soon repaired it for their own use. As the sun sunk behind the western flank of Mouna Roa, the splendor of the scene increased; but when the nearly full moon rose in a cloudless sky, and shed her silvery brightness on the fiery lake, roar- ing and boiling in fearful majesty, the spectacle became so command- ing, that I lost a fine night for making astronomical observations, by gazing on the volcano, the illumination of which was but little dimin- ished by a thick haze that set in at midnight. On Friday, January the 24th, the air was delightfully clear, and I was enabled to take the bearings of the volcano and adjoining objects with great exactness. To the north of the crater are numerous cracks and fissures in the ground, varying in size, form, and depth, some long,