The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1853-11-30

u
ace in the city of Mexico. had thirty stsfs
in the union. Ii is now deposited in the
Department Of State at Washington.
The union OF the Flag Of the United
States now contains thirty. one stars.
Great Volcano in Central America.
The New Grenadian correspondent oil
the Herald. writes Oct. "a, TO that paper
the following description Of the Volcano
OF Massaya, which we copy Tor the enter
tainment of the lovers of the wonderful:
wrote you on the e2d. giving you what
Of interest presented itself at the moment
! theu intimeted, al the close Of my letter,
that would, in my next, give you some
account OF the volcano of Massaya, one
OF the frequently met with phenomena OF
this country. at present occupying the
minds Of the educated, while ii battles all
their limited philosophical inquiries, and
tertities the ignorant throughout the dense
ly populated neighborhood of our capital
Near Massaya, II towr some twelve miles
from the Lake OF Nicara qua aud twenty
from Managua. the capital. and having a
population ol fifteen thousand inhabitants.
is volcano Of considerable no,oriety in
the physical history of Central America
! ""'.ed M:--c;,:. ea Indian appellation.
the real meaning OF Which is lost. It's
last eruption was terrible one, unequal
led even by the modern ones Of tlle Oh,
World, and occurred in the year 1772.
lis effects may be seen on the road from
"Nindiri the Beautiful" "-Canj. one Of the
loveliest Indian villages the sun Of heaven
ever shone upon--to Managua. From
the mouth of the crater to almost the edge
of the Lake of Nicaragua is one immen Sc
field of lava rocks OF every size. looking
as though the lovely country around-for.
lovely in itself, it becomes doubly so from
contrast with the black boufders-ha been
the battle ground of the Ti,ans The en-
tire aspec, OF this immense waste resen-
bles greatly t!,at of Vesnvius on the side
near Pompeii,i only that the massivesrocks
here exceed in size those of the Italian
wonder. One Senior Ortegn, who ascend
ed the mountain aofew days since, thus
speaks of it--he had reached the mouth
OF the crater:-"We e continued on around
IT. each encouraging the other. uatl we
stood upon its very edge All around US
were large assures in the earth emitting a
hot sulphurous smoke, insuppoItable to the
hand, barely so TO our well shod feet. and
which are Of sufficient warmth 10 cook an
egg in one miHut..: gai ~ az III
L can fad no language sufficiently ade.
quate in which 10 give ;an idea of the ter
rible roaring ef, the mi ahtv cauldron be-
meath US. know nothing to which it car
better be compared than the wild shrek oil
The hurricane in mid ocean agains, some
batllemenied castle. or the Atlantic 5 roar
in its moments OF widest frenzy. The
crater is an oval Of ninety yardsin length
and seventy in width. The mountain is
probably two. thousand feet high The
interior walls reHectal the colors Of the.
prism, being lined with the vitrious mlng.
ling of sulphur, sand, &C., Forsmiles from
its mouth the grass is burned away, and
all vegetation dead. Immediately below
The volcano-as Por,ici. at VesnSius--is
The above named town. .ior village, OF MIN
dri. its fea,hery topped cocou,trees waving
in unconsciousness of the probable danger
awaiting then. Between this latter aud
Massava, the town, is beautiful lake :
immortalized by Stephens, frotn whiohishe
inhabitants Of the place draw oil their
water. Much danger apprehended that
the lake will be completely dried up. and
the town consequently deserted. The To-
cal relation of Massaya to the volcano, its
nainesnke, is precisely that of Naples to
Vesuvus. only that the crater Of this is
nearer the town than that Of the former to
Naples. owing TO tho greater perpendicu-
larity OF the sides of this volcano. Vesu-i
l,o 4, I..,.
cuiiar gradual slope not seensin any other
volcano in the world. In Mr.. Ortega's
communication. which is 10 the govern
ment. he insists that scientific investiga-
ton should be made Of the volcano, in
order that the 10000 inhabitants Of the
villages and towns around may have time
to fly from the impending danger. A few
days since number OF Indians were START
led by the falling Of immense clouds Of
ashes, and fled.in dismay. You can read
lily imagine the effect on the Indian mind
produced by such phenomenon. Pass
ing the volcano a few weeks since, OBJ
served white sulphury cloud Gaping its
apex; this imagined would be all. 4
week ago, however. passed again, and
close to il. The vast cloud Of smoke By
day, and OF lurid. sulphurous fame by
night. rising high in the air, and spread
ing like an avalanche over the country 10.
wards Managua, is incredible. II Is daily
Increasing in its VIOLENCE, and bids fair to
make one other among the pages Of hor.
rible physical visitation this garden Of the
world has suffered from. shall soon
visit It myself. and more carefully remark
ifs nrouress ans5en nrancR and fffactse = MI
give you some further account Of this
|tropical lmonster.