ns were of a beautiful species, growing
twenty or more feet high, and crowned with waving feathery branches.
Other trees had their bark almost hidden by velvety moss or tiny ferns.

We arrived at the volcano house wet and tired, about three o'clock, but
were much comforted by the cleanly appearance of the house, so nicely
matted were the floors, with a raised place for sleeping. Outside, under
a roof like a veranda, was a blazing fire, and it was needed for drying
our clothes, and sending warmth through our chilled limbs.

We ladies retired behind our curtain, and soon appeared in complete
Bloomer costume. We set our table in more civilized style, having a
rough board whereon to lay our cloth, while benches saved the necessity
of our sitting again in Turk fashion. We rested better than the previous
night, rousing ourselves once in a while from our lowly matted couch to
gaze through the mist at the light from the crater, which looked like an
enormous fire.

About nine the next morning, we took our winding way to the edge of the
bluff, commanding a fine view of the crater; and there it lay before
us, a huge, blackened, fire-desolated gulf! Steam issued from fissures
in various parts, while a dense rolling volume marked the place of the
really burning lake: We ladies, in our Bloomer dresses,--for it isn't
safe to wear long skirts,--started down the precipice. At some of the
steep places, our gentlemen tied ropes to the shrubs, and, with jumping
and careful walking, we were soon down upon the lava floor.

"How did it feel to walk on the lava, aunty?" said Willie.

It seemed like walking on a snow-crust. Once in a while a foot would
sink through, and this at first alarmed us; but we soon got used to it.
There were many deep fissures in the lava, from some of which issued
steam; these we used to jump over.

"How wide were they?" asked Harry.

[Illustration: THE VOLCANO OF KILAUEA.--Page 92.]

One or two feet wide; and no one knows how deep. Mr. Coan seemed to
think that forty feet below us might be liquid lava. The lava had
flowed in countless shapes and ways. Sometimes it had hardened in
circles, or parts of a circle, or it was all crumbled and broken. This
last they call a-a [ah-ah]. Often a piece of the thin crust cracked
under our footsteps, and turning it over, there would be upon the under
surface all the colors of the rainbow.

After a walk of two and a half miles, we came to what is called the
"blow hole," w