Hawaii Volcanoes [antikvár]

Liquid rock in a boiling lake! Such a spectacle is a powerful experience, one not easily forgotten. From a distance the red-orange clouds of the night-time sky reflect the molten mass below, and there is the fearful sound of tons of surf-not water, but lava—sloshing and dashing against the walls which contain it. Drawing closer, the noise rises in volume, and the reflected light increases in brightness to a dawn-like glow. A rim appears—then a lake of lava, smooth and covered with a black crust that restlessly stretches and pulls itself apart to expose the bright melt beneath. The pattern is a mirror image of lightning across the sky. Areas of intense, bursting light appear where the lava surges violently against the walls, and clots of fiery spatter are hurled into the air. Most blobs fall back on the seething mass of the lava lake, but some pieces strike the wall, droop back toward the lake, and freeze in place. The orange glow of these new accretions fades within moments, and the rock looks as cold and as permanent as the surrounding land. It's a hypnotic scene, and hours pass unnoticed as the thick substance constantly changes and rearranges its incandescent form. And for volcano-watchers there are the dreams that always follow—dreams in which the sights and sounds of the volcano appear again and again, vivid and disturbing. Men and women of all cultures respond in like manner to the power of an Hawaiian eruption, truly one of the most awesome events on earth! The people of old Hawai'i responded to these eruptions, too, and thereby originated the rich and sensitive legends to explain their physical world. Among the most revered and feared of Hawaiian gods was Pele, the powerful "Woman of the Pit," who boiled the rocks and sent torrents of lava down the flanks of Kilauea into the inhabited districts below. Even today, for many people of Hawai'i, there is stUl a conviction that Pele exists. Yet there is more to this beautiful island than the excitement of its volcanic eruptions. The rich diversity of Hawai'i's landscape adds new dimensions: in its rain forests and dry forests inhabited by rare plants and animals, some of which exist only here; in its deserts and subdued wilderness; and in its snow-capped summits. And everywhere is the haunting presence of the people who once lived here—people who knew of no world beyond Polynesia. PRECEDING PAGE: HVO/uSGS PHOTO BY DONALD W PETERSON At the time when the earth became hot At the time when the heavens turned about At the time when the sun was darkened To cause the moon to shine The time of the rise of the Pleiades The slime, this was the source of the earth —from KumuUpo, a chant of creation The island of Hawai'i is all of volcanic origin. From Kohala to Kilauea the summits of its five