Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings | Page 116

February 6, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

‘Ōpūkaha‘ia – The Inspiration for the Hawaiian Mission

In 1808, a young Hawaiian boy, ʻŌpūkahaʻia, swam out to the ‘Triumph’, a trading ship anchored in Kealakekua Bay. Both of ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s parents and his younger brother had been slain during the battles on the island.

Also on board was Hopu, another young Hawaiian, as well as Russell Hubbard. They eventually headed for New York. “This Mr. Hubbard was a member of Yale College. He was a friend of Christ.… Mr. Hubbard was very kind to me on our passage, and taught me the letters in English spelling-book.” (ʻŌpūkahaʻia)

They landed at New York and remained there until the Captain sold out all the Chinese goods. Then, they made their way to New England.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia was eager to study and learn. He “was sitting on the steps of a Yale building, weeping. A solicitous student stopped to inquire what was wrong, and Obookiah (the spelling of his name, based on its sound) said, ‘No one will give me learning.’”

The student was Edwin Dwight. “(W)hen the question was put him, ‘Do you wish to learn?’ his countenance began to brighten. And when the proposal was made that he should come the next day to the college for that purpose, he served it with great eagerness.” (Dwight)

Later, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) formed the Foreign Mission School; ʻŌpūkahaʻia was one of its first students. He yearned “with great earnestness that he would (return to Hawaiʻi) and preach the Gospel to his poor countrymen.” Unfortunately, ʻŌpūkahaʻia died on February 17, 1818.

Dwight put together a book, ‘Memoirs of Henry Obookiah’ (the spelling of the name based on its pronunciation). It was an edited collection of ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s letters and journals/diaries. The book about his life was printed and circulated after his death.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia, inspired by many young men and women with proven sincerity and religious fervor of the missionary movement, had wanted to spread the word of Christianity back home in Hawaiʻi; his book inspired missionaries to volunteer to carry his message to the Hawaiian Islands.

In giving instructions to the first missionaries, the ABCFM, noted: “You will never forget ʻŌpūkahaʻia. You will never forget his fervent love, his affectionate counsels, his many prayers and tears for you, and for his and your nation.”

“You saw him die; saw how the Christian could triumph over death and the grave; saw the radient glory in which he left this world for heaven. You will remember it always, and you will tell it to your kindred and countrymen who are dying without hope.”

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) set sail on the ‘Thaddeus’ for the Hawaiian Islands. Their 164-day voyage ended They landed at Kailua-Kona April 4, 1820.

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863 – the “Missionary Period”), about 180-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the ABCFM.

On August 15, 1993, ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s remains were returned to Hawai‘i from Cornwall and laid in a vault facing the ocean at Kahikolu Church, overlooking Kealakekua Bay.

Click HERE to view/download Background Information on ʻŌpūkahaʻia

Planning ahead … ʻŌpūkahaʻia Celebrations – the Hawaiian Mission Bicentennial is approaching; the following are some of the planned activities (it starts in about a year):

Hawaiian Mission Houses – February 17, 2018 – Free Open House marking the start of the Hawaiian Mission Bicentennial, Reflection and Rejuvenation 1820 – 2020 celebrations – activities follow services at adjoining Kawaiaha‘o Church commemorating ʻŌpūkahaʻia (details to follow).

Kahikolu Church (Napo‘opo‘o (Kealakekua Bay)) – 10 am, February 17, 2018
Kawaiaha‘o Church (Honolulu) – 10 am, February 17, 2018
Cornwall, Connecticut – 3 pm (EST) February 17, 2018

ʻAhahui O ʻŌpūkahaʻia is proposing three simultaneous services/celebrations at the above churches on February 17, 2018 (the bicentennial of his death) to honor ‘Ōpūkaha‘ia.

Anticipated activities at Kahikolu Church include a church service, gravesite commemoration and pa‘ina (food). ʻAhahui O ʻŌpūkahaʻia will be coordinating the activities at Kahikolu Church; Woman’s Board of Missions for the Pacific Islands will be coordinating services at Kawaiaha‘o Church.

This replicates the celebrations in 1968, when 3 events were held. The intent is to hold the Hawai‘i events at 10 am (HST), so the Connecticut event would be at 3 pm (EST). Related to this, each site would be on video, then combined into a single video.

Missionary Period

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863 – the “Missionary Period”), about 180-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in the Hawaiian Islands.

Collaboration between Native Hawaiians and American Protestant missionaries resulted in, among other things, the
• Introduction of Christianity;
• Development of a written Hawaiian language and establishment of schools that resulted in widespread literacy;
• Promulgation of the concept of constitutional government;
• Combination of Hawaiian with Western medicine; and
• Evolution of a new and distinctive musical tradition (with harmony and choral singing)

If you would like to get on a separate e-mail distribution on Hawaiian Mission Bicentennial activities, please use the following link: Click HERE to Subscribe to Hawaiian Mission Bicentennial Updates

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February 5, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

London Missionary Society

Captain James Cook made three Pacific voyages, which, with those of Byron and Wallis, covered a continuous period of British exploration in the south Pacific from 1764 to 1780.

Cook’s first expedition (1768-1771) was under the auspices of the British Admiralty and the Royal Society, primarily to observe the transit of Venus from the newly found island of Tahiti. Cook was given command of the bark Endeavour.

Cook’s second voyage (1772-1775) was for the purpose of searching for the south continent. He had two ships, the Resolution, and the Adventure. The ships the Antarctic between the meridians of the Cape of Good Hope and New Zealand. On this trip, Omai, a Tahitian, was taken on board the Adventure and sailed with Cook back to Britain.

Cook’s third voyage (1776-1780) was for the purposes of returning Omai to his home in the Society Islands and seeking a northern passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic. The Resolution was refitted for her second voyage and the Discovery, under Captain Clerke, was added to the expedition. At the end of Cook’s last voyage, nearly all the important islands in Polynesia had been found.

The Pacific made a particular impression on the British imagination. The revelation of the Polynesian culture, entirely cut off from any exterior force of civilization, touched a chord with Cook’s compatriots.

Britain’s new fascination with the Polynesians was fueled by the arrival in London of a Polynesian – Omai. Joseph Banks, botanist on Cook’s ship the Endeavour, dressed Omai in tailor-made suits, the portraitist Joshua Reynolds painted him.

King George III himself eventually requested a meeting. Omai cheerfully shook hands when the meeting took place, saying `How do, King Tosh,’ to the King’s reported delight. (Hiney; NY Times)

Cook’s Pacific finds later led to questions for the Evangelicals. Why did British Christianity, with the means at hand, lack a missionary history? When had there last been a serious missionary movement among Christians anywhere?

The empire was in place to trade. In 1793 an India Bill went before parliament which renewed the royal license of the East India Company. There was a call for an amendment allowing Christian missions and native schools to be opened in India, but the bid was resisted.

It was in this climate that the London Missionary Society was formed. A meeting was called; on the first day, 200 Evangelicals gathered at the Castle and Falcon, paid the guinea membership, and proceeded to elect from among themselves thirty-four regional directors to meet once a year, and a London-based board of twelve to meet monthly. (Hiney; NY Times)

On August 9, 1796, a service was held for the inaugural mission at Surrey Chapel. Just four of the chosen thirty were ordained ministers. All four were in their late twenties: it was vital that they should be young and healthy.

The other, non-ordained missionaries had been chosen for their skills as much as their conviction; among them were six carpenters, two bricklayers, two tailors, two shoemakers, a gardener, a surgeon and a harness maker.

They sailed at six the next morning, on August 10, 1796. Nearly seven months later they anchored off the island of Tahiti, after a voyage via Gibraltar and Cape Horn. Seventeen missionaries were to disembark here, including all those who were married.

The first known Christian missionaries in Polynesia came from the London Missionary Society, an ecumenical Protestant organization; they landed in Tahiti, the Marquesas, then Tongatapu in Tonga. (PCC)

The missionaries soon saw an unforeseen problem. Since Cook’s voyages, other ships of exploration and whaling (Russian, French, British and American) had paid visits to the islands. Rum and firearms were now a part of life, as were disagreements and occasional violence between crews and islanders. Over the years, more London missionaries were sent.

One London Missionary Society member was William Ellis. Born in England, William and Mary Mercy Ellis went to Tahiti in 1817 as part of a new group of highly educated workers. They brought with them the first press and set it up in Moorea. They soon moved to Huahine, where William Ellis helped draft the code of laws. (Boston University)

Then the mission sent them to Hawai‘i. “The time for her departure at length came, and on the 31st of December, 1822, accompanied by her four children, she embarked, with her husband, on board the Active, for the Sandwich Islands.”

“The voyage to the Sandwich Islands, about three thousand miles distant, was safe, and not unpleasant, and by the tender mercy of their heavenly Father, they reached Oahu on the 5th of February, 1823.”

“Here Mrs. Ellis received on landing, a cordial welcome from many of the chief women of the settlement, and from the esteemed American Missionaries, of whose plain but hospitable and comfortable dwelling, she became for several weeks an inmate, and received every attention and kindness as a beloved sister in the Lord.”

“All the affection professed in the invitations they had so kindly forwarded, was practically manifested; and every hope of tenderness and sympathy which they excited, was fully realized. Mrs. Ellis found that the prospects of greater usefulness …”

“In Huahine the influence of the Missionaries could bear on a comparatively small number, but here the town of Honolulu contained not fewer than 8,000, while the population of the island amounted to 20,000, and the influence of the Missionaries was brought to bear indirectly upon 150,000 or 180,000 persons.” (Mary Mercy Ellis Memoirs)

Ellis and the others who joined him from the London Missionary Society (including Tahitians who came with them) worked well with the American Protestant missionaries who arrived in Hawaii in 1820.

In 1823, Ellis and three of the American missionaries, Asa Thurston, Artemas Bishop and Joseph Goodrich, toured the Island of Hawaii to learn more of the country and people, with a view to establishing mission stations there. They were the first white men to accomplish this, being also the first white men to visit the volcano of Kilauea. (Thurston)

Ellis remained in the Islands for eighteen months, but returned to England, due to illness of Mary (she died in 1835.) Ellis later remarried and continued mission work in the Madagascar. Ellis died in 1872.)

British mission activity started in the South Seas, with the first overseas mission to Tahiti in 1796. British missionary work expanded into North America and South Africa. Early mission activities also centered in areas of eastern and southern Europe including Russia, Greece and Malta.

During the 19th century, the main fields of mission activity for the London Missionary Society were China, South East Asia, India, the Pacific, Madagascar, Central Africa, Southern Africa, Australia and the Caribbean (including British Guiana, now Guyana.) (Guide to Council for World Mission) (Lots of information here is from Hiney; NY Times and Mary Mercy Ellis Memoirs.)

Because of the positive role of the London Missionary Society in assisting the Hawaiian mission, any descendant of a person sent by the London Missionary Society who served the Sandwich Island Mission in Hawaii is eligible to be an Enrolled Member in the Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society.

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London Missionary Society-Tahiti

Revd._William_Ellis

Mary_Mercy_Moor_Ellis

London Missionary Society-Jubilee Coin

Ruins_of_an_ancient_Fortification,_near_Kairua,_sketch_by_William_Ellis

January 27, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Daniel Chamberlain

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries from the northeast US set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.) There were seven American couples sent by the ABCFM to convert the Hawaiians to Christianity in this first company.

These included two Ordained Preachers, Hiram Bingham and his wife Sybil and Asa Thurston and his wife Lucy; two Teachers, Mr. Samuel Whitney and his wife Mercy and Samuel Ruggles and his wife Mary; a Doctor, Thomas Holman and his wife Lucia; a Printer, Elisha Loomis and his wife Maria; and a Farmer, Daniel Chamberlain, his wife and five children.

“Mr. Daniel Chamberlain genealogy goes back to ‘Wm the Conqueror.’ Three generations later the ancestor was Lord Chamberlain to King Stephen, and the surname Chamberlain has since that day been that of the whole Chamberlain family in England and America.”

“After thirteen generations, Wm Chamberlain and two brothers emigrated to America, and his great-great-grandson was the Daniel Chamberlain who came to Hawai‘i.” (HMCS Annual Report, 1917)

Chamberlain, a captain in the War of 1812, was a New England farmer, of independent means, but of a deeply religious turn of mind. He was a farmer and not an ordained minister.

During the summer previous to leaving with the First Company of American Missionaries in 1819, Chamberlain and his two older sons attended the Mission School at Cornwell, Connecticut. (Kelley)

“Mr Chamberlain and his wife, in the prime of life, feeling the claims of the heathen on them, were willing to leave their friends, their pleasant home and farm in central Massachusetts, and embark for the islands, with their five children, three sons and two daughters, rather than to withhold their personal labors from the heathen.” (Bingham)

The Chamberlain family included Daniels wife, Jerusha Burnap Chamberlain and five children: Dexter Harrington (1807-1887;) Nathan Burnap (1809-1878;) Mary Morse (1811-1887;) Daniel, Jr (1814-1884) and Nancy Elizabeth (1818-1864.) (Alfred White (1821-1891) was born in the Islands.)

“I consider it an unspeakable privilege that I am allowed thus to administer comforts to those who are laboring in the cause of Christ. I have reason to be daily thankful that Mrs C is so calm and contented. She appears to be as contented as she ever did at home on our old farm.” (Chamberlain; Taylor)

It was Kalanimōku, the great warrior and trusted advisor of Kamehameha the Great, who first met the missionaries aboard the Thaddeus in April, 1820, and sailed with them from Kawaihae to Kailua to confer with the king – he was instrumental in the decision of the king to permit the missionaries to land.

“It is reported that the Queen of the Islands, herself briefly clad, swam out to the vessel, was much attracted by the Chamberlain baby (Nancy,) and asked, as a pledge of good faith on the part of the ship’s company, that the mother of the child would allow her to take the baby on shore, promising to return it in good order the following day.”

“Naturally the mother demurred and retired for prayer in order that she might know God’s will in the matter. After a brief interval she returned, strengthened in the decision that it was God’s will.”

“The old Queen swam to the shore with the baby and did not return for several days, but finally came with the child and extended the hospitality of the Islands.” (HMCS Annual Report, 1917)

“Kalanimōku embraced Christianity soon, for he became a pupil of little Daniel Chamberlain Jr, the seven-year-old son of missionary Daniel Chamberlain.” (Taylor)

“Now the great warrior was among us, learning the English alphabet with the docility of a child. He often turned to it, and as often his favorite teacher, Daniel Chamberlain … ‘And a little child shall lead them.’” (Thurston)

Mr Chamberlain was supposed to teach agriculture and mechanical arts to the Hawaiians, but no real progress could be made until horses and cattle were domesticated and this required the consent of the chiefs which had not yet been obtained. (HMCS)

Chamberlain discovered that while there was fertile soil and thousands of acres of lands to till, modern agricultural methods did not take hold upon the people, and his efforts to introduce New England methods were largely in vain. (Taylor)

“The principal food of the natives is poi; it is made from taro which grows here in great abundance. The principal part of our family are very fond of it. It is a good substitute for bread.”

“Wood is hard to be got here, as there is none to be had short of going three miles and no way to bring it only on their shoulders. With a little labour a road might be made to the wood … Bananas a rich fruit, is plenty here. Cotton grows here and might be raised here in any quantity. Figs and pineapples are also found here.” (Chamberlain, July 19, 1820)

Farming by mainland standards was not feasible and Chamberlain turned his efforts to building houses and caring for mission property. (Kelley)

Chamberlain rendered valuable service to the Mission by assisting with the initial construction of houses and caring for the Mission’s property. (HMCS)

“Mr. Chamberlain is well spoken of in the correspondence of the early missionaries as a man of rare good judgment and as rendering much help in the early settlement of the missionary company. But the bringing up of the children in close contact with the benighted people about them, soon became a matter of grave solicitude.” (Gulick)

Perhaps the most certain factor in deciding the Chamberlains to leave Hawai‘i was the fact that he was stricken with brain fever. He was very sick and his recovery slow and doubtful.

He was advised to go to a cooler climate. The mountains of Hawai‘i Island were first talked of for it was a long voyage home and Mrs. Chamberlain would he left unprotected with her family if he should die at sea. (Taylor)

“With joy to think that my highest wishes were gratified as to the station assigned me in the vineyard of our Lord – with trembling lest I should do dishonor to the holy cause in which I had professedly engaged.”

“In endeavouring to assist in bearing the burdens & trials of this great, this soul-trying work, I was conscious that in many things I have failed & come short of what you might reasonably have expected of me.”

“For these things I humbly ask your forgiveness, feeling that it becomes me to lie low in the dust before God & humbly ask his pardoning mercy.” (Chamberlain to ABCFM, March 8 1823)

Chamberlain asked for a release from the ABCFM. He returned to the US with his family, March 21, 1823, on the brig ‘Pearl’ and received his release from the ABCFM on November 12, 1823. (HMCS)

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January 20, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Painted Church

O ke kea hemolele ko‘u malamalama
Hele oe pela i Satana
He poino kou mea i ninini mai ai
Aole o Satana ko’u alakai
Ua oki oe me kou mea pau wale
Nau no e inu kou poino

The Holy Cross be my light
Begone, Satan
You have poured forth trouble
Satan is not my guide
Stop with your perishable things
Drink your own misfortune

Mottoes of St Benedict’s medal in Hawaiian, painted on the ‘Painted Church’.

“He held the brush almost to the end of his life, until the day when his poor eyes refused their service. When he realized that, even with the strongest glasses, he could no longer command the brush as he wished …”

“… he understood that God demanded of him a huge sacrifice which he dreaded.” (Father John, Congregation of the Sacred Hearts at Rome; NPS)

This is a story about a Belgian Priest Father John Berchmans Velghe and a church he built, and painted, in Honaunau, South Kona on the Island of Hawai‘i.

The history of the Church began early in 1842. At that time, Father Joachim Marechal, SS.CC. was assigned to care for both South Kona and Ka‘u Districts.

He set his residence and first chapel on the border of the two Districts. Within a short time, due to Father Joachim’s zeal and zealous work and teaching of several lay catechists, the Church was firmly established in South Kona.

The first Catholic school in the area opened at Honaunau beach village under the care of Serapia, a catechist, and Clement Hoki, a school teacher, the missionary priests lived in South Kona only intermittently until about 1859.

The original chapel, located on the shore of Honaunau Bay near the Puʻuhonua o Honaunau (City of Refuge) was known as St Francis Regis Chapel.

Father Joachim died unexpectedly April 12, 1859. Father Aloys Lorteau, SS.CC., his successor, took up residence in Honaunau and served there for 37 years until 1898, when he died aboard the vessel, Maunaloa, on Easter Monday on his way to Honolulu for medical and hospital attention.

By the mid-1880s most of the Honaunau people had moved away from the beach area to more fertile soil about two miles up the slopes. Father John became resident priest who replaced Father Aloys in December, 1899.

Father John was born in Courtrai, Belgium, July 14, 1857. His baptismal name was Joseph Velghe. He attended the academy at Sarzeau in Brittany and became a novice at Mitanda de Ebro in Spain.

He studied at the Sacred Hearts’ Scholasticate in Louvain, where on June 29, 1888, he was ordained a priest. Velghe was a member of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Society, familiarly known as the Picpus Fathers; Father Damien was a member of this Society.

At the ordination Joseph Velghe took the name of Father Jean Berchmans Velghe after a sixteenth century Belgian who had been canonized a Saint.

Father John was sent to the Marquesas and remained there until a tropical fever forced him to leave in 1899. He was then instructed to go to South America.

However, a yellow fever epidemic blocked the sea lanes and he was re-assigned to the district of South Kona and put in charge of the Catholic Churches and parishes from Honaunau to Hoʻopuloa.

Then he began the task of building a new church; he moved what he could of St. Francis Regis Chapel to upper Honaunau. Saint Benedict’s Church was built between 1899 and 1902. It is a small rectangular structure with a vaulted interior ceiling.

Although the structure he built does not present anything innovative architecturally, its interior space is both artistically and architecturally important, for the artwork serves as an extension of the architecture. (NPS)

The structure is “a little masterpiece of imaginative functionalism, of unity between structure, adornment, and architectural purpose.”

The columns within the structure are the trunks of painted coconut palm trees, and the altar wall, with carefully illusionistic perspective, transfers the soaring reaches of the Burgos Cathedral in Europe to Honaunau. (NPS)

Father John had no formal training as an artist, natural talent shines through his work. It is even more remarkable that his materials were ordinary building wood and regular house paint. Even that was not easy to come by at the time of construction.

Designed, constructed and painted as a miniature European Gothic Cathedral by Father John, St. Benedict Church is now considered to be rather unique in the annals of American Art.

An excellent teacher and self-taught artist, Father John painted the interior walls of the church with some striking scenes of the Bible which depict various important religious truths. His biblical murals soon became famous, and St. Benedict Church came to be known as “The Painted Church.”

It has become a major tourist attraction of the Kona coast, and thousands of visitors come to see it every year. It is listed in the Hawaii State Register of Historical Places and the National Register of Historical Places.

Father John’s health deteriorated and he had to return to Belgium in 1904, he was never able to finish the church. He went to the scholasticate in his place of birth, Courtrai, for two years.

Then he lived for short periods in the monasteries of the Sacred Hearts, residing in a number of their establishments in the Low Countries.

Even throughout his last years he continued to paint. A few of his works are still preserved in Europe – such as his “Seven Sorrows of Mary”, copied from the like-named series of pictures by the noted Belgian painter Joseph Janssens, in the Church of Saint Anthony in Louvain. (NPS)

As a teacher, while teaching at the Sacred Hearts’ Apostolic School at Aarschot, Belgium, in around 1924 or 1926, he met the young student Matthias Gielen, who was to become Father Evarist of Hawai‘i, the artist who did the churches at Mountain View and Kalapana on the Island of Hawai‘i.

With advancing age, and unable to care for himself, Father John was placed in a Sanitarium at Lierre, Belgium in 1935; he died there on January 20, 1939, at the age of eighty-one. (Lots of information here is from NPS and Painted Church.)

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Inside_view_of_the_Painted_Church-WC

Temptation of Jesus. The devil is being cast down along with a crown, a sceptre and bags of money

St Francis of Assisi receiving the stigmata

Cain and Abel-with great anguish and violence

The Hardwriting on the Wall at the Feast of King Belshazzar

Hell

Detail_of_palm

A Good Death-notice the rays of hope

St_Benedict’s_Painted_Church_-_Exterior-WC

January 16, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

“Do not forsake me and let me perish”

Gerrit P Judd was a physician with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mission (ABCFM.) He later left the mission to accept an appointment serving the Hawaiian Kingdom.

Simon P Kalama, a land surveyor by profession, and also later an elected representative to the legislature, earlier served as an assistant to Dr Judd.

On January 16, 1841 Kalama saved Judd from death in the crater of the volcano Kilauea. (Twain)

“The visit of the United States Exploring Expedition in 1840, ’41, and ’42, with sixty officers and a scientific corps, men of rare talents and polished manners, was no common event in our isolated kingdom.”

“Commander Wilkes set up his observatory on shore and occupied for some months the house and premises of the Premier. The scientific gentlemen pursued their researches in their several departments with indomitable energy …”

“… surveying our coasts and harbor, measuring the heights of the mountains, penetrating the deep glens of the forests for rare plants, scaling precipices for birds, and diving into ocean’s depths for specimens of its varied and beautiful tenantry.”

“The crowning exploit of the expedition was the ascent of Mauna Loa on Hawaii, for making observations on the vibrations of the pendulum. Choice and heavy apparatus, house material and food for the party were transported sixty miles on men’s shoulders, and up a high mountain of rugged lava. Dr Judd accompanied the expedition as interpreter and overseer of the natives.” (Laura Judd)

“So striking was the mountain, that I was surprised and disappointed when called upon by my friend, Dr. Judd, to look at the volcano of Kilauea; for I saw nothing before us but a huge pit, black, ill-looking, and totally different from what I had anticipated.”

“There were no jets of fire, no eruptions of heated stones, no cones, nothing but a depression, that, in the midst of the vast plain by which it is surrounded, appeared small and insignificant.”

“We hurried to the edge of the cavity, in order to get a view of its interior, and as we approached, vapor issuing from numerous cracks showed that we were passing over ground beneath which fire was raging. The rushing of the wind past us was as if it were drawn in wards to support the combustion of some mighty conflagration.” (Wilkes)

“We pitched our tents in full view of the volcano … At the edge of the pool, or lake of fire, the light was so strong that it enabled me to read the smallest print.”

“The day we remained at the volcano was employed by the natives in preparing their food, by boiling it in the crevices on the plains from which the stream issues: into these they put the taro, &c., and closed the hole up with fern-leaves, and in a short time the food was well cooked.”

“About four o’clock a loud report was heard from the direction of the boiling lake, which proved to have been caused by a large projecting point of the black ledge near the lake which we had visited the evening before, having fallen in and disappeared.”

“The crater of Kilauea offered one of the most interesting scenes witnessed during the voyage; and after our long residence in the cold regions, we enjoyed the prospect of fully exploring it in the actual survey of its limits.”

“The large sulphur bank to the north was the first to claim our attention. We descended into the chasm of some forty feet in depth, out of which steam and the vapors of Sulphur were issuing, as far as the heat would permit, and in the cavities we
obtained some beautiful specimens of crystallized sulphur of large size.”

“Dr. Judd volunteered to head a party to go in search of some specimens of gases, with the apparatus we had provided, and also to dip up some liquid lava from the burning pool.” (Wilkes)

“I went down into Kilauea on the 16th to collect gases, taking a frying pan, in hopes of dipping up some liquid lava. Kalama went with me to measure the black ledge, and I had five natives to carry apparatus and specimens.” (Judd)

“After making various unsuccessful attempts to collect gases and obtain specimens, he came to one of the small craters, and thence passed up a considerable ascent, towards the great fiery lake, at the southern extremity, which had been formed by successive overflowings of the lava.”

“This rock, or rather crust, was almost black, and so hot as to act on spittle just as iron heated to redness. On breaking through the upper crust, which was somewhat brittle, and two or three inches thick, the mass beneath, although solid, was of a cherry red.”

“The pole with which the crust was pierced took fire as it was withdrawn. It was not deemed prudent to venture nearer; although the heat might have been endured, yet the crust might have been too weak to bear the weight, and to break through would have been to meet a death of the most appalling kind ; they were therefore compelled to return and seek another spot.”

“We descended the black ledge, placed the tube for gases, and went in search of liquid lava. As we passed a small crater, quite cool apparently, I observed a quantity of ‘Pele’s hair’ on the sides, and stopped to gather it. I stepped by degrees from one stone to another, gathering and handing the specimens to Kalama, till I had passed quite under the ledge.” (Judd)

“While thus advancing, he saw and heard a slight movement in the lava, about fifty feet from him, which was twice repeated; curiosity led him to turn to approach the place where the motion occurred.”

“In an instant, the crust was broken asunder by a terrific heave, and a jet of molten lava, full fifteen feet in diameter, rose to the height of about forty-five feet, with the most appalling noise.”

“He instantly turned for the purpose of escaping, but found he was now under a projecting ledge, which opposed his ascent, and that the place where he descended was some feet distant.”

“The heat was already too great to permit him to turn his face towards it, and was every moment increasing; while the violence of the throes, which shook the rock beneath his feet, augmented. Although he considered his life as lost, he did not omit the means for preserving it, but offering a mental prayer for Divine aid, he strove, although in vain, to scale the projecting rock.” (Wilkes)

“The heat was intense. I could not retrace my steps and face the fire, so I turned to the wall, but could not climb over the projecting ledge. I prayed God for deliverance, and shouted to the natives to come and take my hand, which I could extend over the ledge so as to be seen.”

“Kalama heard me and came to the brink, but the intense heat drove him back. ‘Do not forsake me and let me perish,’ I said.” (Judd)

“(He) saw the friendly hand of Kalumo (Kalama,) who, on this fearful occasion, had not abandoned his spiritual guide and friend, extended towards him.”

“Ere he could grasp it, the fiery jet again arose above their heads, and Kalumo (Kalama) shrunk back, scorched and terrified, until, excited by a second appeal, he again stretched forth his hand, and seizing Dr. Judd’s with a giant’s grasp, their joint efforts placed him on the ledge. Another moment, and all aid would have been unavailing to save Dr. Judd from perishing in the fiery deluge.”

“The rest of the natives were some hundred yards distant, running as fast as their legs could carry them. On calling to them, they returned and brought the frying-pan, by which time the crater was full of lava, and running over at the northern side, where Dr. Judd was …” (Wilkes)

“The crater filled up in a few minutes, and I took the frying pan, which was lashed to a long pole, and dipped it full, but finding it imperfect, emptied it, procured another …” (Judd)

“He now found he had no time to lose; the lava was flowing so rapidly to the north, that their retreat might be cut off, and the whole party destroyed. Dr. Judd was burned severely on each wrist and on his elbows, and Kalumo’s (Kalama) face was one blister.”

“The eruption from Judd’s crater was great in the evening; the lava was flowing as fluid as water over the whole of the northern portion of the bottom. The most brilliant pyrotechnics would have faded before it.” (Wilkes)

Here is a brief video showing Moses Goods portraying Kalama and describing his rescue of Judd:

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