Late in the afternoon of a lovely day, April
2, the climax came. "The crust of the earth rose and sank like the
sea in a storm." Rocks were rent, mountains fell, buildings and
their contents were shattered, trees swayed like reeds, animals were
scared, and ran about demented; men thought the judgment had come.
The earth opened in thousands of places, the roads in Hilo cracked
open, horses and their riders, and people afoot, were thrown
violently to the ground; "it seemed as if the rocky ribs of the
mountains, and the granite walls and pillars of the earth were
breaking up." At Kilauea the shocks were as frequent as the ticking
of a watch. In Kau, south of Hilo, they counted 300 shocks on this
direful day; and Mrs. L.'s son, who was in that district at the
time, says that the earth swayed to and fro, north and south, then
east and west, then round and round, up and down, in every
imaginable direction, everything crashing about them, "and the trees
thrashing as if torn by a strong rushing wind." He and others sat
on the ground bracing themselves with hands and feet to avoid being
rolled over. They saw an avalanche of red earth, which they
supposed to be lava, burst from the mountain side, throwing rocks
high into the air, swallowing up houses, trees, men, and animals;
and travelling three miles in as many minutes, burying a hamlet,
with thirty-one inhabitants and 500 head of cattle.
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