Sandwich Islands.

HILO, HAWAII.

LETTER FROM MR. COAN, April 9, 1868.

The Great Volcanic Eruption. Most of the readers of the Herald, doubtless, have already seen various statements respecting the recent very remarkable and destructive eruption of the volcano on Hawaii, Mauna Loa; but they will be all the more interested in the following narrative from an eye and ear witness, because of other accounts. Mr. Coan writes:

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"On the 27th ultimo, a series of earthquakes aroused the people of Kona and Kau. On the 28th, eruptions of steam and fire were seen at four points on our great volcanic Mauna Loa. The streams of molten minerals rushed rapidly down the mountain in divergent lines. The largest stream flowed nearly south, towards Kahuku, in Kau. Shocks of earthquake became more frequent and vigorous, and were felt all round the island. The fires of Kilauea raged with intense fury, surging against the walls of the great caldron, throwing down avalanches of rocks, and bursting into a lateral crater, called 'Little Kilauea.' A mighty shock now destroyed the stone church at Kahuku, and shook down the buildings of some foreign gentlemen, and of others.

"Suddenly the smoke and the volcanic fires on the mountain disappeared, the valves of the great furnace closed, and this mighty foundery of Jehovah seemed to have ceased blast. All eyes, in Hilo, Kau, and Kona, were looking to the hills, and every one inquiring, 'Where is the eruption?' Meanwhile, the jars, vibrations, and tremblings of the earth went on, almost incessantly, by day and night, until April 2d. So rapid were the shocks, that no one thought of counting them. In fact, they came in such quick succession that the ground rarely ceased to quiver between the throes, and we all felt that our island had no stable foundation. The throbbing and quivering of the earth, during the in

tervals of the shocks, was like the trembling of a ship after the discharge of a broadside, or the quivering of a boiling pot.

"On Thursday, the 2d instant, at 4 P. M., we experienced such a shock as was unknown in the history or traditions of these islands. The earth rose and sank, and its its surface rolled like the ocean in a storm. Trees swayed to and fro; shrubbery and grasses trembled; stone walls fell flat; underpinning of houses was thrown down; houses reeled, trembled, cracked; some tilted, some slid nearly off from their foundations, and a few fell. Timbers, ceilings, partitions, plastering, etc., cracked; furniture, earthen and glass ware, were shivered; book-cases, bureaus, wardrobes, cabinets, tables, etc., were started from their places, and many thrown down with violence; and all houses were filled with debris, from garret to cellar. Chimneys and smoke-stacks fell; stoves were smashed; ovens broken; baths broken up; machinery in sugar-mills disturbed; sugar-boilers and cooling vats nearly emptied; and all things on the earth's surface moved. The shock was terrific, and its violence lasted some three minutes. The earth rent, and seams and fissures, from an inch to two feet wide, opened in our streets and fields. Avalanches of rocks and earth fell from our precipices along the coast; banks caved off; watercourses ran mud; the sea rose and swept over the lower banks and barriers; and general consternation reigned among the people. The noise of the cracking earth, of the falling of thousands of feet of stone wall, of the rocking houses, breaking of timbers, boards, etc., and of the smashing of furniture and wares, was confusing. The inside of Dr. Wetmore's drug store was a scene of confused ruin. Bottles, vials, jars, cases, packages of medicine, etc., were thrown pell-mell upon the floor, and the mixing of acids filled the house with pungent gases. The marvel is, that ignition and explosion did not take place; but the compound of acids and drugs was one unknown to pharmacology and chemistry.

"One woman was killed by falling rocks, a man nearly killed, and others escaped as by a miracle. A company of children were playing under a ledge on the shore, when the great shock came. They huddled together, like a brood of frightened chickens, and prayed, the rocks meanwhile falling thick on both sides of them; but the Lord preserved them.

"Most of the people in Hilo left their houses and camped out in the night, and some have not slept in their dwellings since. Some sleep in verandas, and many do not undress at night.

"But our sorrows are light when compared with those of Kau. There, all is wreck, ruin, and death. On the day of our awful crash in Hilo, the earth rent between Reed and Richardson's ranch, at Kapapala, and Mr. F. S. Lyman's, at Keaina, and a volume of rocks, mud, and earth was projected, two to three miles long and as many wide, burying a village and thirty people, with goats, pigs, fowls, and from 500 to 600 head of cattle and horses. This was as sudden as the springing of a mine, and there was no escape for those in its range. The explosion was attended with terrific noise, and the whole atmosphere was filled with dust. What is marvelous is, that the projected earth was not heated. The depth of the flaw is from 4 to 15 feet. At this moment the houses of Reed and Co., of Mr. Lyman, of the native pastor, Kauhane, and of others, were shaken down, or so racked and damaged as to be uninhabitable. All rushed out of their shattered and falling dwellings; but the ground rocked and heaved and jerked, with such violence that no one could keep his feet. Even horses were thrown down. The noise from the explosion and the earthy eruption, and from the breaking of the earth's strata, was as if the rocky ribs and the mural walls and pillars of creation were being riven.

"Looking seaward, all was fear and consternation. The great shock had prostrated the stone church at Punalau, some six miles distant, on the shore, and all the houses for six or eight miles along the coast; and a tidal wave came in, some twenty feet high, sweeping off the wreck of all. Thus in a few moments that shore

was desolated, and all its substance destroyed. Many persons, however, escaped from the waves and reported the disaster; but so great was the confusion, that up to this day we have not the full statistics of the loss of life. I have seen a list of 47 persons who perished in the earth eruption and in the sea, but numbers more remain to be reported. Mr. Lyman and family, the pastor and family, and many others, collected on a hill, and spent that dreadful night in prayer and praise, under the open canopy of heaven, and with the earth rocking and quaking under them. On the next day, the 3d, they, and nearly all Eastern Kau, started for Hilo, where they arrived on Saturday, the 4th. The people in central and western Kau, or from Waiahinu on to Kahuku, hearing of the eruption on this side, have feared to come this way, so that we lack full and reliable information from that quarter; but it is affirmed, that the churches of Waiahinu and Kahuku (both of stone) are down, and that Brother Pogue and family are in a native hut near the station.

"The quaking still continues; but at wider intervals and with diminished force. I have been sent out of my study since commencing this letter.

"Two Hilo gentlemen, who have ventured over to Kau to look after their cattle, were driven immediately back by the shakings of the earth. They state that a great lava stream is now flowing into the sea near Waiahinu, and filling all that region with a glare of light; and that Kilauea has sunk down hundreds of feet, and looks like a vast pit of blackened ruins. The fusion has been drawn off, the superincumbent strata have gone down to dark and awful depths, and vast avalanches have been precipitated from the surrounding walls into the abyss below. Wide fissures are open along its upper rim, and the old road is intercepted. Travelers must now go up one or two miles from the crater to avoid these rents.

"Our people are excited, but there is no confusion. Inquiry is on tip-toe, with open eyes and ears. We are holding daily meetings at 4 o'clock P. M., and the people come out in crowds. All is hushed

"Last Sabbath was our communion season. Thirteen were received to the church on profession of faith-making 47 during the past month.

"Since writing the above, I have seen two notes from Kau, stating that all is consternation and ruin in the central and western parts-or from Waiahinu to Kahuku; that all the villages along the shore were destroyed; that sixty-seven persons had been killed; that there was not, probably, a sound house left in Kau; and that the people were about to go to Kona, hoping to escape to Oahu.

"Our earthquakes still continue, but they are not heavy. As the lavas are flowing above ground in Kau, we trust that relief is near. We trust in Him who 'looketh on the earth and it trembleth, who toucheth the hills and they smoke.""

Letter from Mr. Paris, of South KONA.

THE district of Hilo, Mr. Coan's field, is on the east side of the island of Hawaii. Kona is on the west, and Kau on the south of the island. Mr. Paris, of South Kona, near to the district of Kau, wrote from Honolulu, April 13th. A few sentences from his letter will be given here, in addition to Mr. Coan's account.

"God, in his all-wise providence, has removed us from the field of our labors, we hope only for a little season. His hand has been heavy indeed on the southeastern portion of our island—the district of Kau. Almost the entire district has been desolated. The earth has been shaken and rent as it were in pieces, and almost every thing on the surface is in ruins. The houses of worship are all prostrate, the house of Brother Pogue, at Waiohinu, is

a wreck, and so are the houses of all the foreigners in the district. All the native villages along the sea-shore, for the distance of fifteen or twenty miles, have been destroyed by the tidal wave and the upheaving of molten lava. It is said that more than one hundred natives have lost their lives. Some were buried alive, some swept off by the tidal wave, and others suffocated by the smoke and gases. No estimate can now be made of the number of cattle and the amount of property destroyed."

Madura Mission — Southern Endía. LETTER FROM MR. TAYLOR, February 28, 1868.

Impressions on Returning to India. Mr. Taylor returned, not long since, from a visit to the United States. He was not yet prepared to resume his residence at his own station, but wrote from Madura, some of his "first impressions,” which, he says, “are pleasant ones," on returning to the mission work. After noting, first, that he "feels at home" in India, more than he did in America, he states:

"Another impression is, one of progress in these parts. I hear the brethren generally remarking, that the open and direct withstanding of the gospel by the people is less common than formerly. It strikes me thus, as I observe them in different places; and as I visited Mandapasalie for the first time, and again the second, the people did seem to be unfeignedly glad of our return; and I include in this statement the heathen as well as our own people. It is plain that Christianity has made an impression on the general mind of the community, and that impression is a favorable one. For some years I have had on the front wall of our house a writing, in large letters, that all might read. It begins with setting forth love as the fountain principle; God as the author of all good; sin as the cause of all evil; Christ as the Saviour; and closes with the resurrection, and the judgment, with its unchangeable results. I found it there on my return; and as I approached the place in the night, a heathen young man repeated to me those words, in their

order, and with perfect accuracy. To my inquiries, he answered that no one had taught him, but that he had himself studied them, and fixed them in his memory. He helped me on my way, and offered to do any thing for me in his power. It was one of many incidents showing a change. My helpers also spoke of the general cessation of open opposition, and the favorable position accorded to the gospel system."

DINDIGUL.

(38 miles N. N. W. of Madura.) LETTER FROM MR. CHESTER, March 10, 1868.

"Anderson Village." This letter is to the former Secretary of the Board, and mentions" a little incident" which will interest many, connected with a Christian village named for that Secretary. The writer states:

"Last week our tent [in itinerating] was pitched on the road side, hardly two hundred feet from the little school-house, or prayer-house, of Anderson patti.' Did you know we had a new Christian village in our Dindigul station by this name? It is not two years old yet, but it is already on the government records. Every householder has renounced heathenism; and no one who has not done so is allowed to build a house or live there. They were going to call their village Suizsersha patti,' or 'Gospel village,' but when I proposed 'Anderson patti’· a name which does very well in Tamil - every face beamed a hearty response. The catechist of the village remembers you well, as do a number of the congregation.

"But the incident I wished to state was one connected with the little schoolhouse, in which the congregation meet on the Sabbath, and in fact hold all their meetings. We met-the Dindigul native pastor, the five catechists engaged in the itineracy, the catechist of the village, a few friendly heathen men, the men and women of the congregation, and the writer

one evening last week, and dedicated, with heartfelt gratitude and solemn prayer, this little mud-walled, thatched schoolhouse. And we prayed for the heathen

man whom God has raised up as a true friend to this little congregation, who built this school-house, so well adapted to the present wants of the congregation, entirely at his own expense.

"And another pleasant feature about Anderson patti' is, that in no part of my station have I more real encouragement. There are four congregations within as many miles of the village. The school in the village, though just commenced, numbers 16 scholars! I was visiting villages, with the pastor and one of the catechists, one afternoon last week, in this very region, and came to one where there are a number of high-caste heathen men, very friendly to us. We found one, an old man, of venerable appearance and most kind and cordial address, sitting near the entrance of his house. I knew him well, for I have seen him two or three times in his village, and he has been once to my dispensary. We told him we had come to preach, and as he seemed most willing to have us do so we sang a Tamil lyric, and a company of thirty or more, mostly women, gathered around. We preached of Christ as the only Saviour of sinners in every land. The old man listened well, and made me promise to stop on my way back from another village and drink some milk in his house. This I did, and greatly enjoyed it, but far more to hear these words from the old man, so near the end of his earthly pilgrimage: 'Since I came back from your dispensary I have stopped praying "Siva, Siva help me," and now pray to the God to whom you Christians pray. But now I shall say -O Jesus, Saviour, help me a poor sinner."

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had been admitted in any single previous year. This number embraces accessions which were the fruits of precious revivals in several villages on the plain of Oroomiah, and in our two seminaries, and also individuals scattered through the Koordish mountains.

"The first week of the present year was observed, generally, among the evangelical Nestorians, as a week of prayer; and indications of blessing attended the observance in our two seminaries and several villages. This interest has continued in a greater or less degree, but has not resulted in those pervading visitations of grace which we hoped and longed to see. In a few places, however, there has been deep interest. One such place is the village of Shirâbăd, where blessings clustered especially around a prayer-meeting of young men, commencing with only three individuals and increasing till it embraced nearly twenty. The pious young men waxed warm and earnest as it progressed, each one selecting an individual from without as a subject of special prayer and personal effort. One very hardened young man was thus drawn into the meetings, but only to ridicule and make sport for a time. At length his opposition called forth prayers so earnest in his behalf, in a meeting where he was present, that he could resist no longer, but rose and confessed his sin in the course he had pursued, his belief that the things which he saw and heard were the mighty power of God, and his purpose to yield himself a willing subject of that power.

"The annual fast for colleges and seminaries was observed in Oroomiah, and at Seir and some other places, with encouraging tokens of deepening religious interest, especially in the female seminary.

Opposition. "The past few weeks have been marked here by unusual opposition of the enemy. Foremost among the foes of the gospel here are the Papists. Their malevolence is unparalleled, even in corrupt, Mohammedan Persia. As a sample of their evil doings, a whole Armenian family, in the village of Supergân, some of whose members were known to be interested on the subject of religion, were

poisoned by a native Papist; and all might have died but for the mad haste of the wholesale murderer, which led to the paper of arsenic being thrown into their pot of soup in lumps, without being pulverized. It was thus prevented from being fully mixed with the food. The desperate and successful efforts of the French priests to shield the fiendish culprit from any punishment, is but a sample of the spirit and policy that govern their entire course in this country- their deeds being evil and only evil, and that continually. How literally and emphatically do they compass sea and land to make proselytes; and when made, are they not, as a rule, twofold more the children of hell than themselves? Indeed, they here select individuals of notoriously bad character with the promise to shield them in their wickedness through French influence as the objects of their proselytism, that they may use them as tools afterwards, to oppress and worry the defenseless Nestorians, and if possible, thus to compel them to become Papists, for protection. Does the gospel require us to draw the curtain of charity over such a system and its enormities, because, forsooth, it arrogates to itself the exclusive claim to the Christian name? Especially when this Antichrist is becoming more and more fierce and bloody, perhaps under the unwilling consciousness that its days are numbered!

"The iron oppression of the Mohammedans, and in some cases, their brutal outrages on the Nestorians, also divert the minds of the people, and sorely try our helpers and ourselves, and compel us to build the Lord's house in troublous times; yet its walls are steadily rising.”

Colporters-Mohammedan Converts. It is stated that the mission is now doing a good deal in distributing the Scriptures and other books, by colporters, — “ among Papal Nestorians in the valley of the Tigris, in the region of Mosul," "in the south of Persia," "at Ispahan," etc. At the last named place, the case of two Mohammedans, who profess to have embraced Christianity, is noticed as of special interest; and Mr. Perkins adds: "These cases, occurring in the ancient capital of Persia, in