< Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 11.djvu
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POPULAR MISCELLANY.

for him to act on the defensive, and at the same time successfully till the soil. The Indian was constantly oh the alert to surprise him. He must fall back and yield more territory to the exacting intruder. Vanquished and discouraged, he fortified himself in places extremely difficult of access; built cliff-houses; lived in caves, and finally became extinct. The divisions on the south side of the Colorado fared somewhat better, for the stupendous chasms of the river form a barrier that can only be crossed with success at several widely-separated points. Consequently, when the Indian reached this obstacle, his easy progress southward was interrupted. The crossing-points, too, which of course were well known to the Shinumos, had been strongly fortified by their soldiery, and thus a double check was presented to the invasion. The people then enjoyed comparative peace, till, in the course of their nomadic wanderings, the Indians discovered that there was an end to the canon barrier, and were once more able to cope with their antagonists under favorable auspices. The Shinumos were again slowly driven back, and at the dawn of our knowledge of the region we find surviving only a mere handful of their kindred, in the Pueblo tribes, who were still defending their fortress-homes, as they had been for centuries."

Recent Outbreak of a Sandwich Island Volcano.—The volcano of Mauna Loa, Hawaii, was lately active for a few days, commencing on the evening of February 14th. A correspondent of the San Francisco Chronicle states that the outbreak was extremely sudden and violent:

"The point of activity was the old crater on the top of the mountain. When the eruption commenced, the flames suddenly burst from the mountain and formed a magnificent column of fire to the height of 16,000 feet above the summit. From the deck of the steamer Kilauea, lying at anchor at Kawaihae, five distinct columns of fire could be seen belching forth from the mountain, apparently not from the great summit crater of Moknaweoweo, but from a smaller crater situated some miles distant from it, called Pohakuhanalei. A few days after intelligence reached Honolulu that the fire had disappeared, to the great disappointment of thousands who were preparing to start for the scene. But soon after news came that the great pyrotechnic exhibition of Nature still continued, and that the animation of the spectacle was enhanced by frequent earthquake-shocks. It is the general opinion that the stream of lava is flowing rapidly down the mountain-side toward Kahuku, in Kau. When last seen it had progressed a number of miles from the place of its first outbreak. The illumination was so brilliant that all parts of the island were lighted up. On the 24th the steamer Kilauea arrived with a party of excursionists at Kealakeakua Bay, the place where Captain Cook met his death. There they found that a submarine volcano had broken out near the entrance to the harbor the preceding night. About a mile from shore jets of red, green, and yellow fire leaped from the waters, interspersed with columns of steam and spray that glowed with innumerable rainbows, the spectacle being one of the grandest sights conceivable. In this locality the water is boiling and whirling like an immense caldron. Thousands of fishes are seen floating on the surface, ready cooked for the repast of swarms of Kanakas engaged in gathering the dainty abundance in their canoes. Large quantities of lava are also thrown up and float for some time on the surface. The matter is either buoyed by the intensely boiling water, or sustained by gases that gradually ooze from its pores. The submarine eruption is apparently from a fissure in the bottom of the sea, about a mile in length. It reaches the shore, and is traced inland between two and three miles. The flames on the water were first noticed by the natives at three o'clock on the morning of the 24th, and created much consternation. The depth of the water here was formerly from thirty to sixty fathoms; but, if the eruption continues, very likely a reef will be formed, which would render this bay one of the finest harbors on the Pacific. As far as known, no damage has yet attended the eruption."

How Science is advanced in Norway.—A correspondent of the London Times, à propos of the recently-published "Life of Thomas Edward," records an instance of liberal encouragement extended to a Norwedan naturalist. "Some years ago," says this correspondent, "there lived on the wild northwest coast of Norway a clergyman, with his wife, a large family, and a small income. He possessed two great advantages over Edward—a good education, and larger opportunities for observation. He, too, had the seeing eye, without which all opportunities are useless, and shortly it was known that science was being enriched by the hard-worked parish priest. The action of the Storthing was prompt. Though the majority of that body are poor peasants, and hold the purse-strings with a firm grip, they have the virtue of being liberal when good cause can be shown for it. They created a professorship of zoölogy in the Christiania University, endowed it with a

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