. Hawaii and its people; the land of rainbow and palm. pproachingtoo near the entrance, received a sharp spear thrust inthe arm. For several days the assailants worked tomake a breach at the top of the cavern. A large holehad been dug. The excavation was approaching com-pletion and the captives seemed doomed. Suddenly the earth began to tremble violently, andin a few moments the air was filled with ashes andsmoke. But the chief and his frightened followerssaw a still more appalling sight. As they looked upthe valley, which was a narrow gorge above the cavern,they beheld coming down upon them,
. Hawaii and its people; the land of rainbow and palm. pproachingtoo near the entrance, received a sharp spear thrust inthe arm. For several days the assailants worked tomake a breach at the top of the cavern. A large holehad been dug. The excavation was approaching com-pletion and the captives seemed doomed. Suddenly the earth began to tremble violently, andin a few moments the air was filled with ashes andsmoke. But the chief and his frightened followerssaw a still more appalling sight. As they looked upthe valley, which was a narrow gorge above the cavern,they beheld coming down upon them, bursting fromthe hillside and pouring down the ravine, a flood of hotlava — a torrent of flame a hundred feet in width, itsadvancing crest aflame with burning timber, and sweep-ing before it an avalanche of stones. 66 HAWAII AND ITS PEOPLE. In dismay they fled down the valley. They ran pastthe deserted huts of their intended victims, past thefoothills, past the cocoa trees that fringed the back their eyes, they beheld the awful stream. LAVA CASCADE. of fire spreading its mantle of death over the valley andspeeding toward the coast. Leaping into their canoes, they plunged through thesurf and swiftly paddled out to sea. As they left thecoast, they saw that the ravine where the cavern wassituated was filled with lava, and that all within thecave were buried deep by the fiery flood. But the people did not believe that Pele and her PELE, THE GODDESS OF THE VOLCANO. 67 family had perished. They declared that the eruptionhad been invoked by her to drive the ruthless invaderfrom the district, and that, if she permitted her lands tobe destroyed, it was only with the purpose in view oftaking up her residence in the crater of the ^This idea became the general belief of the supersti-tious islanders, and in another generation temples werebuilt to Pele, the Goddess of Fire, and priests were setapart to her service. The wily priests took advantageof the credulity and
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