On the 20th July, 1838, forty-one year old Paul Edmund Strzelecki sailed from Valparaiso, Chile on the 18-gun sloop of the British Navy, HMS Fly. Since leaving Poland around 1830 he had spent the last 8 years of his life researching the mineralogy, geology and vulcanology of Europe, and the Americas. He had spent much of this time completing ethnographic studies whilst living with the native peoples of Canada, USA, Mexico and the South American Republics. Now in his prime, this seasoned veteran scientist and explorer ‘looked west into the tempting vastness of the Pacific Ocean’. After a brief stay at the Marquesas between 21st and 23rd of August he arrived at Hilo Bay, Hawaii (Sandwich Islands) on the 5th September; he wasted no time – Kilauea beckoned – and not a single "STAY ALERT and STAY ALIVE" sign in sight!!!
The descent to this level [crater level] is often precipitous, and winds among a thousand openings which vomit forth hot vapours from an area thickly strewed with tabular masses of smoking lava. Like the ice in a blocked-up channel, these tabular masses remain either standing on end, or heaped in horizontal or half-raised beds, and gaping with fissures over fearful cavities, resounding with noises similar to those of a roaring stormy sea.
Six of these cavities were in violent agitation while I was exploring the crater …. “No pen or pencil could adequately describe the stupendous grandeur of that ceaseless impetuosity and fury of the incandescent matter which is produced in these reservoirs by the violence and the intensity of heat; or of those fierce and glowing waves which, continuing to beat and splash against the walls of the reservoirs, produce a floating froth spun out by currents of air, in a form of capillary glass, similar to that of a floating gossamer.
The examination of these reservoirs is beset with danger: besides the suffocating fumes of sulphuric acid gas, the inhalation of which may prove fatal, there is a risk of falling into the fiery matter, which is everywhere below the superficial crust. Seldom does it confine itself to the reservoirs; often appearing unexpectedly through the cracks of the black and rugged lava over which the path lies, assuming the same outward appearance by rapid congelation, and moving almost imperceptibly in slow convolutions, twisted like a thick fluid when compressed by a porous covering. The danger is much increased by the character of the lava which this volcano produces. P.E. Strzelecki Physical Description of NSW & VDL pp 109-110 
HMS Fly - Strzelecki's vessel |
Kilauea - Strzelecki Time |
Kilauea Halemaumau at night |
Strzelecki knew the danger by experience, having visited and studied other volcanoes in Europe and the Americas. I became aware of the hazards when booking my flight with the notice that ‘high levels of SO2 and/or smoke could occur at any time and the area is subject to sudden closure’. A few weeks later I learned that 57 volcano viewers were killed when Mount Ontake erupted unexpectedly in Japan. Kilauea is an active volcano, ranked the most dangerous in the US; it has been erupting since 1983.
The white upward flowing cloud may appear like steam, but it is not, it is composed of toxic gases such as sulphur dioxide, hydrogen sulphide and hydrofluoric acid. Sudden wind shifts are an ever present danger. Despite a restless night, I was very much hoping that it would be open; and so it was. In the early hours of the 25th August I caught a lift with Carol who, on her way to work, kindly drove me to Honolulu Airport for my flight to Hilo; Hooray! This 65 year old got to see what Strzelecki saw 176 years before! It is an existential experience. All of one’s senses are at a heightened state of alert; literally sensational. I recommend the visit to all who don’t have respitory problems.
Continental Plate - Pacific |
A painting "Discovering Hawaii" |
Hawaii Volcanoes |
Summit Eruptions at Kilauea
* Year * Duration * Description
1790 Unknown duration. A violent explosion blankets the area with 16 filet of ash. Part of the caldera is formed.
1823 - 100 years- True at the time of Strzelecki’s visit. A boiling lava lake forms in Halema'uma'u Crater & overflows many times onto the caldera floor.
1924 - 17 days - Lava lake period ends with a series of violent steam explosions. Boulders strewn across caldera.
1934 - 33 days -Lava levels rise inside Halema'uma'u Crater. After this eruption the volcano is quiet for 18 years.
1952 - 136 days - Fiery fountains within Halema'uma'u Crater produce 64,000,000 cubic yards of new lava, with showers of pumice.
1959 - 36 days - A series of tall fountains at Kilauea Iki Crater build a cone of cinders 150 feet high and bury a section of Crater Rim Drive.
1967 - 251 days - Lava lake forms inside Halema'uma'u Crater, with fountains up to 200 feet high. Lava produced at rates of up to 400 cubic yards per second
1974 - 3 days - Curtains of fire appear in the caldera. Lava advances across Crater Rim Drive and Chain of Craters Road.
1983 - Ongoing Occasionally - fissures open on the caldera floor. Lava breaks out along cracks in wall and floor of Halema'uma'u Crater.
Even though I am an educated naturally speaking ‘English as a first language’ Aussie, I cannot match Strzelecki depictions, as he waxes lyrical about the grandeur expressing himself in his fourth or fifth language – Polish, German, French and then either English or Spanish. Have a read, Ernestyna has published the words Strzelecki wrote
in 1838 for a local newspaper "The Hawaiian Spectator" Strzelecki’s account in “The Physcial Description of NSW and Van Diemen’s Land” (Pp 105 – 112) although equally effusive, is inherently scientific. I however, have the advantage of colour photographs!!
Kilauea Iki Crater Trail |
Kilauea Halemaumau Edge |
Lech Paszkowski in ‘Sir Paul Edmund de Strzelecki’ notes that:‘His [Strzelecki’s] description of the crater was... an important contribution to the young science of vulcanology and it was noted by several scientists, including J. D. Dana in his monograph Characteristics of Volcanoes and C. H. Hitchcock in Hawaii and its Volcanoes.’ (p.51)
In the second half of the twentieth century people came to the realisation that the earth’s crust is not in one piece but rather it is in separate pieces called continental plates. These plates float on convection currents that occur within the earth’s molten interior. Earthquakes and volcanoes happen at plate edges such as where continental plates collide, slide against each other or where they move in opposite directions.
Hawaii is not at the edge of a plate and there are two competing theories explaining the volcanic activity here. There is the hot spot or plume hypothesis based on convection currents but other experts in the geological sciences attribute these ‘unusually’ located volcanic regions to leakage of magma from the mantle onto the Earth's surface due to weaknesses caused by intraplate extension. Whatever the case, the Hawaiian Islands have been formed by continuous volcanic activity over centuries and the land area available to the inhabitants of Hawaii continues to grow as a result.
Over the years, waves of Polynesian and other migrations populated the islands. When Captain James Cook arrived in Hawaii in 1778, there were between 250 to 800 thousand native peoples living as communities with customs, laws and traditions which they evolved to suit their needs as life changed over time. They formed, and passed to their children, their understanding of the nature of existence. The inexorable power of volcanic activity and its stark effects on life, death, thought and living was an unavoidable and emphatic part of the consciousness of children, families and communal leaders.
Hawaiians came to believe, and many still do, that the powers of nature were the manifestations of gods; that Pelehonuamea (Pele) was the sacred goddess of Hawaii’s volcanoes; that the Kilauea caldera was her home. They came to believe that Pele was a goddess who could easily be offended and had to be placated; or else!!!
Pele the Goddess |
Pele's Hair |
Even in the breasts of the natives the magical influence of this spot has not been unfelt; they approach it with a sacred awe, and offer their religious adoration. And this is natural. In the contemplation of the disasters which the eruptions of the lava have spread over the plains, and of the calamities which have consequently overtaken the inhabitants, man, in his primitive state, can only see his littleness, his nothingness,—he can only feel the presence of an invincible and angry power, whom he must appease and render propitious. The divinity called Pele, supposed to reign as the Neptune of these fiery floods, receives their adoration, and has her priestesses and her sacrifices; nor can any ceremony of antiquity have been more striking than that of the Sandwich Islanders in their sacrifice of men and swine to the burning gulph. To the largest of the six reservoirs, called Hau-mau-mau, by the natives, the terrified people make their way with prayers and offerings: into its gulf also they consign the bones of high priests, distinguished chiefs, and of those who have deserved well of their country. “Physical Description of NSW & VDL” p. 110
C. H. Hitchcock author of Hawaii and its Volcanoes credited Strzelecki as the first writer to use and explain the term Hau-mau-mau which nowadays is spelled Halemaumau.
Kilauea Halemaumau orange glow |
Thorston Lava Tube excursion |
Kilauea Iki new life - plants |
I digress from Strzelecki briefly to relate a strange chance encounter I had on a bus with a native Hawaiian with traditional beliefs; I became a reluctant participant in an odd conversation that kept getting odder. This is what I can remember. Got on a bus at Kaneohe where I was staying with Jim and Carol. The plan for the day was to rendezvous in Honolulu on the other side of the island with those of the family who wanted to hike to the top of Diamond Head. The bus arrived, I hopped on and sat at the front next to a young native Hawaiian dressed in shorts, short socks, floppy straw hat and an earthy coloured t-shirt with interesting designs on the front. He had tattoo symbols on his arms. Next stop - an elderly lady gets on and sits across the aisle; the bus continues on its way. Shortly afterwards an odd conversation begins amongst two strangers. I listened with curiosity.
Elderly Lady (EL) totally out of the blue asks: How much are you selling the shirts for?
Native Hawaiian (NH): This one?
EL: Yes, it’s a good design it will do well. Do you do it yourself?
NH: Yes, I silk screen them.
EL: How much do you sell them for?
NH: They are not mine. You can buy them in the clothes shop back there.
EL: But you said you produce them.
NH: I do the silk screening, but the Jewish guy who owns the shop pays me $4 for each one. I am pretty good at it; I can make a hundred or so in a few days. It’s good money for me.
EL: It will do well. When I lived in Philadelphia I was a manager in a business that silk screened T-shirts. The design is attractive. It will sell well.
The conversation continued for a while about silk screening processes, colours and designs and I continued listening intently, but had no interest in becoming part of it, however, another person on the bus joins in, and asks about Philadelphia because a few years back they lived there too. Then:[]
EL: What do the tattoos mean?
NH: I am a healer. I was born with an ability to heal.
After an explanation about native religion, the details of which I can’t recall, the Native Hawaiian who had noticed my interest in the conversation turns to me and says:
NH: See those mountains. The waters flow up them at important times. Have you seen it happen?
"This small lava fern is one of the first vascular plants to settle into the moist cracks of new lava. Its stiff fronds are erect, with leaf blades twisting upwards like venetian blinds" |
Jaggar Museum |
Who was dr Jaggar |
FM (in an obviously non-American accent:) No, I don’t live here.
NH: Where are you from?
FM: Sydney, Australia.
NH: Do you eat kangaroo?
FM: I have in the past, but it’s a very dry meat so I don’t buy it anymore.
NH: I have seen kangaroos fighting. I would like to fight a kangaroo. I have a black belt in karate. See that light on the ceiling. I can do a kick somersault and smash it out.
FM: I have seen kangaroos box, they don’t hit with their small arms; they balance on their tails and rip into your body with their powerful legs.
NH: I am a good fighter. A guy once offered me $200 to get him a young baboon from the zoo. I went there when it was closed, found where the baby was, got through the fence and grabbed it. I thought this was easy money, but then the mother caught me and started smashing my back. I was fighting for my life. It had horrible long fangs and an angry blue face. It was smashing me trying to get the baby back. I did a special karate kick with both feet and was able to get away to my truck. I drove off but the next thing I see is the mother trying to break through the back window. I start swerving the car left and right to throw it off. It took a while but it worked. It was the hardest money I ever got. I risked my life to get it.
He got off at the next stop and I went on to the rendezvous point and enjoyed the climb of Diamond Head crater and the view from the top.
Back to Strzelecki, it should be noted that he was the second geologist to write about Kilauea; in 1838 for the local newspaper The Hawaiian Spectator, and then in 1845 in The Physical Description of NSW and Van Diemen’s Land (Pp 105 – 112). William Ellis, an English missionary and amateur ethnographer and geologist, published the first description of Halemaumau in 1823. Other early writers included Lord Byron, the English poet, (1826); Scottish Botanist David Douglas of the London Horticultural Society (1834) and a team of naturalists, botanists, artists, including geologist J. D. Dana and others with specialized training in scientific exploration came to Kilauea as part of a US Government Exploring Expedition (1840).
Mark Twain described his 1866 visit to the volcano in Roughing It (1872). Geologist Thomas Jaggar opened an observatory in 1912, and in 1916 the area became Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Mark Twain is quoted in the Jaggar Museum, but there is no mention of Strzelecki. I asked National Parks Ranger Keoni Kaholoaa why there was nothing about Strzelecki and he replied "who is Strzelecki?" I emailed him Strzelecki’s Hawaiian Spectator article, but never received a reply. I need to follow this up; it is on my ‘to do’ list.
After Hawaii, I travelled to Ireland, England and Italy. In Italy I visited Mount Vesuvius and have to agree with Strzelecki, it is inferior to Kilauea ‘in grandeur and extent of area’. What is more, at Vesuvius you cannot descend to the crater level but you can at Kilauea Iki which makes the visit there much more ‘sensational'. In fact you can barely see into the Vesuvius Crater. Nonetheless, Vesuvius is an interesting visit too. See the photos.
Text and photos Felix Molski
Vesuvius from afar |
Vesuvius - flowers on the slope |
Vesuvius - better stay away |
| 
