The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1875-04-23
NIGHT IN THE CRATER.
THE FEARFUL ADVENTURE OF TWO DARING
AMERICANS,

ms. rEAht VI ADV lOhL tr tNO o> hiNo
AMERICANS.
A correspondent of the Cleveland Leader
gives the following thrilling account of a
descent into the crater of Popocatapetl !:
1 succeeded in reaching an altitude of
nearly $4,000 feet, and then gave out on
account of previous illness, from which
had not fully recovered, and was compelled
to return to a ranch down on the ''timber
line" Here / awaited the return of the
party, which was composed of Col. Grasty
of Virginia and Mr. Harry Stevens of
Cleveland, who had accompanied me from
home.
The gigantic crater is about one mile in
incredible to believe, but nevertheless true,
! there is settlement consisting of forty
sulphur miners in the bottom of this awful
| cavity, their only mode of ingress and
egress from this Internal region being by
the means Of a windlass and 1000 feet of
rope, by which they are lowered down TO a
shelf in the side of the abyss, the rest Of the
journey downward being performed on foot,
over long aud steep descent. The
thoughts of Grasty and Stevens were now
turned to the horrible gulf that yawned
before them, for in it they. must pass the
night, which would fall in tie course of two
or three hours for it was alike impossible
to spend it Oh the mountain top or to return
down to the climber line" An Indian
employe of the sulphur mine had preced-
ed them up the volcano, bearing their letter
Of introduction to Senior Co-chado, the su-
perinte ndent of the mine, who Immediately
repaired to the summit, where he met them
half or three quarters of an hour after their
arrival.
Corchado, ssthe Old Man of the Noun
tain," is a singular character Born at
Tlamacas, lie has always lived on the
mountain, or in his present birthstone
home, where his father lived and died be-
fore him. He has been intimately con-
nected with Popocatapetl and everything
associated with the great volcano for over
a half century. He now lives at the bottom
of the crater, A, 500 feet below its rocky rim.
To this strange abode lie welcomed Grasty
and Stevens with heartiness and real hos
pitality.
they zigzagged down the bleared and
blackened rocks about 200 feet and came to
windlass called ''El Malacate" From
this was suspended cable about an inch
and a half in diameter and a thousand feet
| loag. From this point they obtained
| magnificent view of the crater, whose &,2lls
rose in all directions in frightful widness
| and sublimity. They at once appreciated
its enormous dimensions. Nearly a mile
below them was The bottom, almost lost i'm
the darkness and distance. To illustrate
the great depth it would be no exaggeration
to say that if you were to take Mount We
suvius, which is 500 feet high, and turn
it upside down and stick it into the crater,
it would about fill it. This gulf presents
one of the grandest sights on earth, and
has terrible fascination for the beho.der.
The most stolid are greatly impressed,
while the susceptible are greatly over-
whs,med by it's awful sublimity. Grasty
and Stevens peered over the ledge where
stood the windlass, and saw far, far below
them level rock that formed the top of a
long, steep declivity, at the foot of which
WAS a black spot. This, they were told,
was the m;ners' house. They we're to de>
| ssend to the decIyity by the rope, having
acce pied Coichado's invitation to spend
the night below. Corchado and Stevens
went first. They were tied 20 the table in
such manner that they sat side by side.
| For about the distance Of 100 feet the
| ledge from which they made their wild
/ leap projected out over the precipice, and
consequently they hung free and dangling
| in mid air. 1t was only minute or two,
however, before they came to u place where
the cliff bellied out further than the wind
lass 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 ibis
projections 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 that he was
going straight into the jaws of hell. On
every side of them was a gigantic and
hideous ruin of cracked cliffs and blistered
crags Beneath them we've pools of liquid
and burning sulphur that trickled i'm little
Tiyulets from the gashed and fire-marked
walls Of the crater. Noxious yapors floatcd
| through the air-all seemed a horrible
night mare. They reached the dccliyity
in safety after fearful journey of ten min
u.es, and united themselves. The roIe
was then pulled up.
The colonel proceeded TO tie himself on.
Through some mistake the rope that went
round his back slipped down too low. He
l. = At,r.
suffering he had experienced in the ascent.
Everything went we'll until he got to the
place where the precipice 5ulges out.
Here disaster overlook him. A cloud of
gas-laden vapor enveloped him, and he