The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1875-05-11

descended 4 500 feet into the bowels ol
the volcano. That is, they were eleven
hours going up 6,0O0 feet. and three
hours going down, including stoppages al
the edge of the crater.
Here they found hut made Of stone
inhabited by the sulphur miners. On
arriving at the hut they Immediately
threw themselves upon a pile Of mats and
sought slumber but they lay all the long
night wearied and worn, rolling and toss.
ing in Intellectual attempts to gain little
sleep. The next morning Corchado pre-
pared breakfast and summoned them to
partake of it. Aside from drinking a
cup Of coffee, they could eat nothing.
Their stomachs were not used to the
treatment they had been receiving the
past thirty-six hours, and 80 refused to
be comforted. Their lungs, too, were
also in rebellion, and were disguised with
the vapidty Of the air and the gaseous
exhalations of the "breathirg. g.holcs." :"
These they now visited in company with
their kind and generous host. They are
the mighty fssures that appear in every
direction at the bottom oil this vast cavi.
ty. They are not very broad, but are
deep. From these assures issued dense
masses of vapor and smoke, heavily laden
with subimated sulphur. This condenses
as soon as the steam strikes the cold air
above, and then falls in a fine sprinkle on
the surrounding rocks. This process has
been going on for ages, until the whole
interior of the great orifcc is thickly
coated with a remarkably fine quality of
the -four of sulphur. This is in quaint.
ties that arc inexhaustible, and some day
will produce colossal fortune for its
owner, General Ochoa. Forty miners
are now engaged in excavating and hoist
ing it to the top of the crater.
To return to the chasms, however. The
party visited the largest and gazed down
into it. They could see no bottom, for it
ended in stygian darkness. Theylrolled a
huge stone into its ragged throat. A Sc
rics Of reports, caused by the missile
bounding from side to side of the pit,
came back f; loud at first, but gradually
diminishing, until they died away in the
awful depths below. The other holes
were vomiting steam and making a great
noise, which at times seemed like the slow
cry. At others it sounded Ike the bel
lowing and shriekipg of devils. Having
now seen everything that could be seen,
they bid their new.made but long.to-be-
remembered friend, Corchado, farewell,
and set out to return, accompanied by four
Indians.
The $500 feet climb to the end of the
rope was fearful job, but the ascent by
the rope was still worse. They were
compelled to kick and push against the
cliff incessantly to prevent being dragged
to pieces on the sharp rocks. They got
to the top in safety, however, and there
found more poems to take them to the
timber ine." They made the descent
by sitting down on piece Of thick mat
ting, with an Indian seated behind each
of them, to steer this novel vehicle while
sliding down the mountain, over the snow
and ice. They descended six miles in
less than twenty minutes.
One time, while buried III thick,
snowladen cloud, they came near slipping
into the Barranca del Muerte, chasm
5000 feet deep. On reaching the end
Of the snow fields they found their horses
at La Cruz, and then rode to Tiamachs.
When | met them / scarcely recognized
them, they were so haggard sunburnt,
bruised and dirty.
When Cortez conquered Mexico, Popo-
catapetl was in state of combustion. and
throwing out vast volumes OF smoke which
could be seen for hundred miles in ev-
cry direction. Now the quantity is so
small that it can be seen only after arriv-
ing at its base. The first white man to
ascend it was Francisco Montano,in 1919.
He was sent to the crater for a supply of
sulphur for Cortez, and to impress to Az
tees with the courage of the Spaniards.
Since then numerous ascensions have
been made by eminent savans, travellers
and adventurers from Europe and the Uni.
ted States. Mrs. John w. Foster, wife
of our Minister, and Mrs Arthur Terry,
of Connecticut, are the only women that
ever scaled Popocatapetl to its top; and
Col. S. G. Graaty and Harry Stevens, Of
Cleveland, are the only foreigners that
ever descended to the bottom of the era
ter, and there passed the uight.-Clere-
land Leader.