CRATER OF KIRAUEA, IN HAWAII.

The Volcano of Kirauea which is the subject of our plate, is situated in Hawaii, (Owyhee) the largest of the Sandwich Islands, about 25 miles from the sea shore. It was visited some time since by the Missionaries in those Islands, and described in the journal of their tour. The following description is collected from it.

"We travelled on, clearing every ohelo bush, that grew near the path, till about 2 o'clock, P. M. (August 1.) when the Crater of Kirauéa all at once burst upon our view. We expected to have seen a mountain with a broad base, and rough indented sides, composed of loose slags, or streams of lava, and whose summit would have presented a rugged wall of scoria, forming the rim of a mighty chaldron. 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 the plain below was uneven, and strewed over with large stones, and volcanic rocks; and in the centre of it was the great crater, a mile or a mile and a half distant from the precipice, on which we were standing."

"Led by our guides, 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 rock frequently gave way under our feet, and rolled down from above; and with all our care we did not reach the bottom without several falls and slight bruises. After walking some distance over the sunken plain,

which, in several places sounded hollow under our feet, we came suddenly to the edge of the great crater, where a spectacle, sublime and appalling, presented itself before us.

"Astonishment and awe for some moments deprived us of speech, and, like statues, we stood fixed to the spot, with our eyes rivetted on the abyss below.

"Immediately before us yawned an immense gulf, in the form of a crescent, upwards of two miles in length, about a mile across, and apparently eight hundred feet deep. The bottom was filled with lava, and the south-west and northern parts of it were one vast flood of liquid fire, in a state of terrific ebullition, rolling to and fro its 'fiery surge,' and flaming billows. Fiftyone craters, of varied form and size, rose like so many conical islands, from the surface of the burning lake.— Twenty-two constantly emitted columns of grey smoke, or pyramids of brilliant flame."

"The sides of the gulf before us were perpendicular, for about four hundred feet; when there was a wide horizontal ledge of solid black lava, of irregular breadth, but extending completely round. Beneath this black ledge the sides sloped towards the centre, which was, as nearly as we could judge, 300 or 400 feet lower. was evident that the crater had been recently filled with liquid lava up to this black ledge, and had, by some subterranean canal, emptied itself into the sea, or inundated the low land on the shore.

It

"After our first feelings of astonishment had subsided, we continued for about half an hour, contemplating a scene, which we felt it impossible to describe, filled with wonder and admiration at the almost overwhelming manifestation of the power of that dread Being who created the world, and who has declared that by fire he will one day destroy it.

"Removing then along the western side of the crater, till we reached the north end, we deposited the few provisions and little baggage that we had, and having quenched our thirst with water brought in canteens, we directed the natives to build a hut for us to pass the night in, in such a situation as to command a view of the burning lava; and while they were thus employed,

we prepared to examine the many interesting objects around us.

"We partook with cheerfulness of our evening repast, and afterwards, amidst the whistling of the winds around, and the roaring of the 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.

"Between nine and ten, the dark clouds and heavy fog, that since the setting of the sun had hung over the volcano, gradually cleared away, and the fires of Kirauea, darting their fierce light athwart the midnight gloom, unfolded a sight terrible and sublime beyond all we had yet seen.

"The agitated mass of lava, like a flood of melted metal, raged with tumultuous whirl. The lively flame, that danced over its surface, tinged with sulphureous blue, or glowing with red, cast a broad glare of light on the indented sides of the insulated craters, whose bellowing mouths, amidst flames, and eddying streams of fire, shot up, at intervals, with loudest detonations, spherical masses of fusing lava, or ignited stones.

"The dark bold outline of the perpendicular and jutting rocks around, formed a striking contrast with the luminous lake below, whose rays thrown on the rugged promontories, and reflected by the overhanging clouds, combined to complete the awful grandeur of the scene.'

The following is from a description of the same volcano, by the Rev. Charles S. Stewart, who afterwards visited it in company with Lord Byron, a British officer.

"The gulf below contains between fifty and sixty smaller conical craters, many of which are in constant action. The tops and sides of two or three of these are covered with sulphur of mingled shades of green and yellow; with the exception of these, the ledge and every thing below it, is of a dismal black.

Fire

"As the darkness of the night gathered round us, new and powerful effect was given to the scene. after fire, which the glare of mid-day had entirely concealed, began to glimmer on the eye, with the first shades of the evening; and as the darkness increased, appear.

ed in such rapid succession, as forcibly to remind me of the hasty lighting of the lamps of a city on the sudden approach of a gloomy night. Two or three of the small craters, nearest to the north side, where we lodged, were in full action, every moment casting out stones, ashes and lava, with heavy detonations, while the irritated flames accompanying them, glared widely over the surrounding obscurity, against the sides of the ledge and upper cliffs, richly illuminating the volumes of smoke at the south end, and occasionally casting a bright reflection on the bosom of a passing cloud. The great seat of action, however, seemed to be at the southern and western end, where an exhibition of ever-varying fire-works was presented, surpassing in beauty and sublimity all that the ingenuity of art ever devised. Rivers of fire were seen rolling in splendid coruscation among the laboring craters; and on one side a whole lake, whose surface constantly flashed and sparkled with the agitation of contending currents.

"Expressions of admiration and astonishment burst momentarily from our lips, and though greatly fatigued with our walk, it was near midnight before we could yield ourselves to a sleep, often interrupted during the night, to gaze on the light with renewed wonder and surprise. As I laid myself down on my mat, fancying the very ground which was my pillow, to shake beneath my head, the silent musings of my own mind were "Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty!-greatly art thou to be feared thou king of

saints."

On the night previous to his departure from the scene, Mr. Stewart and his company had the rare good fortune, to witness an uncommon convulsion and eruption of the crater, which he thus describes.

"In addition to all we had before heard, there was an angry muttering and rumbling from the very bowels of the abyss, accompanied at intervals, by what appeared the desperate efforts of some gigantic power struggling for deliverance. These sounds were not fixed or confined to one place, but rolled from one end of the crater to the other; sometimes seeming to be immediately under us, when a sensible tremor of the ground on which we

lay took place, and then again rushing to the farthest extremity with incalculable velocity. The whole air was filled with the tumult, and even those most soundly asleep were quickly roused by it to thorough wakefulness. Every monition momentarily increased, and Lord B. springing up in his cot, exclaimed, "We shall certainly have an eruption-such power must burst through every thing." He had scarcely ceased speaking, when a dense column of black smoke, was seen rising from the crater, directly in front of us-the subterranean struggle at the same time ceased, and immediately after, flames burst from a large cone, near which we had been in the morning, and which then appeared to have been long inactive. Red-hot stones, cinders and ashes were also propelled, with immense violence, to a great height; and shortly after the molten lava boiled over, and flowed down the sides of the cone, and on the surrounding scoria, in two beautiful curved streams, glittering with indescribable brilliancy.

"A whole lake of fire also opened in a more distant part. This could not have been less than two miles in circumference, and its action was more horribly sublime than any thing I ever imagined to exist, even in the idler visions of unearthly things. Its surface had all the agitation of an ocean-billow after billow, tossed its monstrous bosom in the air, and occasionally, those from opposite directions met, with such violence, as to dash the fiery spray in the concussion, forty or fifty feet high. It was at once the most splendidly beautiful, and dreadfully fearful of spectacles, and irresistibly hurried the thoughts to that lake of fire from whence the smoke of torment ascendeth for ever and ever! No work of him who laid the foundations of the earth, ever brought to my mind the awful revelations of his word with such overwhelming impression: Truly "with God is terrible majesty"—"let all the nations say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works!"

Think on those who have gone before you-consider the empires which have passed away, and of all which have been nothing remains but the traces of virtue.