. Greatest wonders of the world . pot, sud-denly petrified in the act of boiling; sometimes the blackiridescent lava had assumed the form of waves, or morefrequently of huge masses of rope, twisted and coiled to-gether ; sometimes it was piled up like a collection oforgan-pipes, or had gathered into mounds and cones ofvarious dimensions. As we proceeded the lava becamehotter and hotter, and from every crack arose gaseousfumes, affecting our noses and throats in a painful manner;till at last, when we had to pass to leeward of the moltenstream flowing from the lake, the vapours almost chokedus,
. Greatest wonders of the world . pot, sud-denly petrified in the act of boiling; sometimes the blackiridescent lava had assumed the form of waves, or morefrequently of huge masses of rope, twisted and coiled to-gether ; sometimes it was piled up like a collection oforgan-pipes, or had gathered into mounds and cones ofvarious dimensions. As we proceeded the lava becamehotter and hotter, and from every crack arose gaseousfumes, affecting our noses and throats in a painful manner;till at last, when we had to pass to leeward of the moltenstream flowing from the lake, the vapours almost chokedus, and it was with difficulty we continued to lava was more glassy and transparent-looking, as if ithad been fused at a higher temperature than usual; andthe crystals of sulphur, alum, and other minerals, withwhich it abounded, reflected the light in bright prismaticcolours. In places it was quite transparent, and we couldsee beneath it the long streaks of a stringy kind of lava, likebrown spun glass, called Peles MAUNA LOA 125 At last we reached the foot of the present crater, andcommenced the ascent of the outer wall. Many times thethin crust gave way beneath our guide, and he had to retirequickly from the hot, blinding, choking fumes that immedi-ately burst forth. But we succeeded in reaching the top;and then what a sight presented itself to our astonishedeyes! I could neither speak nor move at first, but couldonly stand and gaze at the terrible grandeur of the scene. We were standing on the extreme edge of the precipice,overhanging a lake of molten fire, a hundred feet below us,and nearly a mile across. Dashing against the clifFs on theopposite side, with a noise like the roar of a stormy ocean,waves of blood-red, fiery, liquid lava hurled their billowsupon an iron-bound headland, and then rushed up the faceof the cliffs to toss their gory spray high in the air. Therestless, heaving lake boiled and bubbled, never remainingthe same for two minutes together. I
Size: 1272px × 1964px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectcuriositiesandwonder
