Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1875-04-15
w;ldness and sublimity. They at once

WildneSs ana SuOllmlty. They at once
appreciated its enormous dimensions
Nearly a mile below them was thebo
tom, almost lost in the darkness and dis
lance To illustrate the great depth it
would be no exaggeration to say that if
you were to take Mount Vesuvius, which
is 1850 feet high, and turn it upside
down and stick it into the center it
would about fill it. This gulf presents
one of the grandest sights on earth and
has terrible fascination for the behold
er. The most stolid are greatly i'm
pressed, while the susceptible are COM
pletely overwhelmed by its awful SUBJ
Unity. Grasty and Stevens stood over
the ledge where stood the windlass, and
saw far below them level rock that
formed the top of long, steep declivity,
at the foot of which was black spot.
This, they were told, was the miners
house. They were to descend to the de.
clivity by the rope, having accepted
Corchado's invitation to spend the night
below. Coronado and Stevens went first.
They were tied to the cable in such a
manner that they sat side by side. Every
thing being ready Stevens cried out to
Grasty: "Good-by, Colonel" and they
were swung far out over the yawning
deep.
Grasty was reminded of Edgar's speech
to Gloster, with slight modification, as
follows:
And dizzy It's to cast ones eyes so low!
The crows and choughs that wing the mid
way air
Show scarce so gross as beetles;
Half way down hangs Stevens,
Like one that gathers amphire-dreadful
trade!
Methinks he seems no bigger than his head !;
The miners that walk upon the bottom
Appear like mice--I'll look no more,
Lest my brain turn and the deficient sight
Topple down headlong.
Meantime, Corchado and Stevens had
other business than thinking of Shakes.
peare. For about the distance of $50
their wild jump projected out over the
precipice, and consequently they hung
free, and dangling in mid-air. 1t was but
a minute or two, however, before they
came to place where the cliff bellied
out further than the windlass rock, and
they were compelled to kick against its
strong front to keep clear of it, Immense
clouds of sulphurous steam and gases
rolled skyward from beneath this pro-
lection. These nauseated Stevens and
set him to vomiting badly. They were
now out of sight of the people above
them. Stevens afterward said he felt as
if he was going straight into the jaws of
hell. On every side of them was gi-
gantlc and hideous ruin Of cracked cliffs
and blistered crags. Beneath them were
pools of liquid and burning sulphur that
trickled in little rivulets from the gashed
and dre-marked walls Of the crater.
Noxious vapors floated through the air
all seemed horrible nightmare of de-
struction and chaos. They reached the
declivity in safety after fearful journey
of ten minutes and united themselves.
The rope was then pulled up.
The Colonel proceeded to tie himself
on. Through some mistake the rope that
went around his back slipped down too
low. He dropped from the crag, still
weak from the suffering he had expert
enced in the ascent. Everything went
well until he got to the place where the
precipice bulges out. Here disaster over
took him. A cloud of gas-laden vapor
enveloped him and he tainted away with
yet 700 feet to descend. CerchadO land
Stevens saw him let go of the rope,
throw his arms out, grasping at the air,
and fall back until his head was lower
than his heels; then spin round and
round, striking the sharp rocks in a fear
full manner. Stevens said it fairly made
his blood run cold, and he turned his
head from the awful sight. Meanwhile
Corchado had given the man at the
windass sign to lower faster, and
Grasty's apparently lifeless and mutt
lated body soon reached The spot where
they stood. His face was severely
bruised and his clothing badly torn,
while the blood was trickling from his
nose and ears, but he still breathed
After an hours rubbing and throwing of
snow in his face he came to, and the
whole party, now augmented by the ar
rival of number of poem miners from
below, descended the sloping side of the
crater.
Corchado and his Indians led the way,
slowly followed by Grasty, who was sup
ported by Stevens and peOn. After
they had got about half way down the
steep, they experienced from the ice and
stones great difficulty in travelling. The
most annoying thing, however, was the
constant danger they were in of being
crushed by the huge hunks of ice and
rock that were continually rolling down
the ascent. This debris is the matter
that is loosened daily by the sun, whose
warmth strikes off it's icy letters and
suffers gravity to have its way. This be-
ing the case, our adventures had to
keep one eye cooked up the hill and the
other down-the one to dodge the bowl
ders and the other to prevent themselves
from slipping and tumbling along with
the stones. After two hours slippery
descending they reached the bottom of
the pit, about half-past four in the after
noon of Thanksgiving Day. 1t was now
more than fourteen hours since they had
left the ranch of the timber line. Dur
La hnd nnnnndod