MOKUAVVEOVVE0 IN 1880-'81.
Professor W. T. Brigham ascended Mauna Loa from Ainapo the last of July, about three months before the celebrated out break of 188o-'8i. Fire had been seen in South Mokuaweoweo May 1st. Ahuai, the guide of so many scientific men to the summit, reported that the fire at that time was a fountain, which rose to the level of the rim of the pit, so that it was seen by him as he was lying down at some distance away. As the pit is eight hundred feet deep this jet must have been very notable. Mr. Goodale confirms this statement by adding that the lava was thrown sixty or eighty feet above the brink of the crater, where he was standing. On the same day flocks of Pele's hair were carried from the summit to Hilo. Mr. Brig ham found the path from Ainapo worse than the one he took on foot on the opposite side of the mountain in 1864, because of the presence of numerous fragments of scoria from one to twenty feet in bulk. On the summit there were abundant deposits of the vesicular lava called limo, of a pale green color, a frozen froth. He found little change in the general aspect of Mokua weoweo, save in the tendency of the lava blocks to fall—as they seemed like a wall of loose stones laid artificially. In 1864 he had seen two cones in the bottom of the main pit near the eastern wall about two hundred feet high, which were not no ticed by Mr. Luther Severance in 1870. At the end of the trail up the mountain from Ainapo, Mr. Severance had estimated the depth to the floor at one hundred and twenty feet. On the west side there were sulphur beds.
With the plan of Mr. Lydgate before him, Professor Brigham states that the changes in the walls were insignificant, but the bottom was covered by fresh lava. He could not ascertain the source of this lava, but suggested that it might have been collected from inclined lava jets from the walls, spouted out clear of the crater. As considerable heat was manifested from the cracks on the sides of the mountain, Mr. Brigham believed that a great eruption was on the way as was demonstrated on the 5th of November following. Mr. H. M. Whitney, writing from Kau, May 12, states explicitly that this eruption commenced as quietly as moonrise, with out any premonitory shakes or noises; but we have the follow ing from W. H. Lentz, in the record book of the Volcano House: May 1, 1880. At g P. M. the large crater on top of Mauna
Loa burst out as a large lurid light with a roar resembling thunder. At Do :05 P. M. there was an additional eruption from the crater to the north of Mokuaweoweo, apparently as large as the first. At 11 P. M. there was still another ; this time southwesterly from the first, making in all three active fires on the top and slopes of Mauna Loa. Kilauea is also very active; both lakes are booming and a third forming. There are several large flows on the floor of the crater.
Later, under date of November 5th, he records as follows: About g P. M. a flow of lava started from the northern slope of Mauna Loa, apparently towards Waimea; and on November gth the same flow started a branch along the slope and fall of the mountain toward Kapapala, which continued several days on its journey, making eight or ten miles per day.
Mr. Coan states that the first light of this eruption was seen at Waimea; later from Hilo. "The lavas could be distinctly seen leaping like a fountain into the air." The source of this stream is along a divide, although the ground is very flat. A fissure is still traceable along this divide running N. E. from Mokuaweoweo. After considerable diffi culty the Government map located the terminal crater for this flow near Puu Ulaula and quite near the source of the 1852 and 1855 flows. I have examined the small crater of lapilli from which the flows proceeded. The light was first visible from Waimea, November 5th, 188o, and a few hours later from Hilo, from whence a fountain was visible. The source was about ii,000 feet above the sea. The next day a line of light extended from this source toward Mauna Kea. About the same time an other stream started from the same source and proceeded to wards Kau ; and again later a third stream commenced a little lower down and proceeded toward Hilo. The Kea stream flowed to the saddle between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, about twelve miles. The Kau stream coursed southerly about the same distance. Rev. E. P. Baker finds upon repeated exami nation that the first two streams started from a pit crater known as Puka Uahi, exactly upon the divide, so that a very slight obstacle turned the stream from one side to the other, He says the Kau stream started first, the Kea next and the Hilo from a still lower point.