The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1875-05-27

cold. and he turned his head from the
awful sight. Meanwhile Corchado hao
giyen the man at the windless sign &c
lower faster, and Grasty's apparently
lifeless and mutilated body soon reached
the spot where they stood. His face
was severely bruised, and his clothing
badly torn, while the blood was trick.
ling 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 arrival of number OF peon
miners from below, descended the slop'
ing side of the crater, Corchndo and
and his Indians led the way, slowly fol-
lowed by Grasty, who was supported 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 con
stant danger they were in OF being
crushed by the huge hunks OF ice aud
rock that we're continually rolling down
This debris is the matter that IL loosen
ed daily by the sun, whose warmth
strikes off its icy fetters and suffers
gravity to have its way. After two
hours slipperv descending they reached
THE BOTTOM OF THE PIT
about 430 in the afternoon of Thonks
giving day. 1t was now more thar
fourteen hours since they had left tho
timber line. During this time Chey hac
ascended over G, GOO feet to the summit,
and then descended 4,500 feet into the
bowels of the volcano. That is, they
were about eleven hours going up 5000
feet, and three hours going down, IN
cluding stoppages at the edges OF the
crater. Here they found hut made OF
stones, inhabited by the sulphur MN
ers. On arriving Mt the hut they imme.
diatey threw themselves upon n pile OF
mats aud sought slumber, but they lay
all the long night wearicd and worn,
rolling and tossing in Intellectual at
tempts to gain little sleep, The next
morning CorchadO prepared breakfast
and summoned them to partake OF It,,
Aside from drinking cup of coffee,
they could eat nothing Their stom-
achs were not used to the treatment
they had been receiving the past thirty
six hours, and so refused TO be com
forted. Their lungs, too, were also IN
rebellion, and were disgusted with the
vapidity of the mir and the gaseous cx.,
halations of the breathing holes. "
These they now visited, IN company
with their kind and generous host.
They are the mighty Gssu IS that ap.
pear in every direction in the bottom OF
this vastcavity. They are notyery broad,
but are deep. From these assures is
sued dense masses of vapOr and smoke
heavily laden with sublimated sulphur
This cOndenseS as soon as the steam
strikes the cold air above, and then falls
in Il fine sprinkle on the surrounding
rocks. This process has been gong OF
for ages, until the whole interior of this
great orifice is thickly coated with
remarkably fine quality of the flour OF
sulphur, This is i'll quantities that ARE
inexhaustible, and some day will pro
duce colossal fortune for its owner,
Gen. Ocho. Forty miners are now en-
gagged in excavating and hoistlng 1t to
the top of the crater.
To return to the chasms, however.
The party visited the largest and ga2ed
down into it. They could see no bot
tom for it ended in stygian darkness.
They rolled huge stone into its ragged
throat. A series of reports, canaed tf
the missile bounding from side to side
of the pit, came back, 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 and laboring throb
of Cyclopean enginery. At others Il
sounded like the believing and skriek
ing of devils. Having now seen every
thing that could be seen, they bid then
new made but long be-rememboret
friend, Corchado, farewell, and set ou
to return, accompanied by four Indians
THE ASCENT.
The $500 feet climb to the end of th
rope was fearful job, but the ascen
by the rope was still worse. They wer,
compelled to kick and push against tn
cliff necessarily to prevent being drag
ped to pieces on the sharp rocks. The.
got to the top in safety, however, AM
! there found more peOns to take them u
the climber line" They made the de
scent by sitting down on piece OF thlcl
mating, with an Indian seated behlnc
each of them, to steer this novel vehicle
while sliding down the mountain, ovel
the snow and ice. They descended Sly
miles in less than twenty minutes.
One time, while buried in thicl
snow-laden cloud, they came near slip
ping into the Barrdnca del Muerte,
chasm 5000 feet deep. On reaching
the end of the snow fields they foun,
their horses at La Cruz, and then rod
to Tlamacas. When met them | scarce
" recognized them, they were so hae
gard, sunburnt, bruised and dirty.
When Cortez conquered Mexico, Po
pocapetl was in state of combustion
and throwing out vast volumes of smoke
which could be seen for a hundred mile
in every direction. Now the quantlt
is 80 small that it can be seen only afte
arriving at its base. The first whit
man to ascend it was Francisco Montf
no. in 1919. He was sent to the crate
for supply of sulphur for Cortez, an
to impress the Aztecs with the courae
of the Spaniards. Since then numerol
ascensions have been made by eminel
sayans, travellers, aud adventurers fro
Europe and the United States. MI
Jehn w. Foster, the wife of our min
ter, and Mrs. Arthur Terry, of Connec
cut, are the only women that ever seal
Popocatapetl to its top, and Col. 5.
Grasty and Harry Stevens, of Clevelar
are the only foreigners that ever
scended to the bottom of the crater, a
there passed the night.
{ The last eruption of Popocatap
, occurred, according to an ancient All
, Maguey paper MS. now in the poss'
sion of Senior Ramerez, OF Macamec'
about the middle of the fourteenth &c
. tury, nearly 40 years before the op'
> lard first trod the valley OF Mexico