Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1884-06-20
POPODATAPIsTL.
An Ascent OF the Celebrated Peak.

Mexico is land OF lofty mountaln peaks,
lying in the axis of the upheaval which CON
meets the Rocky Mountains of North Ameri-
ca with the Cordllleras of South America.
In recent trip by rail to our sister Repub-
lie, We were struck Ny tic beauty of the
sierras which were always in sight after we
crossed the Rio Grande at Ell Paso. The
clearness Of the atmosphere brought out
every feature of the landscape with the
greatest distinctncss distance was annihilat
cd, and pcaks.which We were assured were
seventy or eighty miles away seemed so
close we could almost lay our hands upon
them. Huge masses of earth and stone piled
one on the other, or rising one behind the
other, rich in red, brown, yellow, gray, blue,
and purple, gave the hillsidrs of chihuahua
beauty all their own, and stich as we had
never seen before. The mountains of this
region, arc verdurccss and brown or gray
when near at hand they are crumbling and
dsintegrating with age and not by the ac-
ton of the elements. Neither RAIN nor snow
have no ravincs furrOwcd or flowing with
water, no long and sloNing foot hills grad
TALLY merging Into undu ing fields below,
but the surrounding aId arid plains are
everywhere as level as a floor, and the noun
tains, peaks and ridges seem to have been
thrust up through them from below sharp
and clear, without displacing or lifting the
adjacent lands.
BY the slow action Of time, horizontal
strata of stone have crumDled into fantastic
anG impressive forms which appear to have
been designcd and e h"S, Nv inc hands n,
man. Turrots, minarets, battlements and
domes may be seen in many places, and
everywhere form and color have combined
with the majesty OF mass to inspire the be-
holder with feeling of awe and sublimity
which no language can describe So deeply
were VIC impressed with all of this that two oil
our number determined to make the ascent
OF Popocatapetl, not only because it is the
highest volcano in Mexico, but also The
highest in North America. 1t is situated
about fifty miles southeast of the City Of
Mexico and Can be seen from the suburbs
especially Chapultcpec, whenever it is clear
Nearby is lstaccipualt of almost equal height
Both are always snow-clad at the summit and
for several thousand feet down their eides
Through the courtesy of James Sui.
Ivan, Esq, an active, intelligent and thor
oughly Americanizcd Irish gentleman
residing in the city of Mexico as tho
representative of the Mexican National rail.
way In all its relations with the government,
our party was furnished with complimentary
tickets by the manager of the Morclos rail.
road and at o'clock a. M, April 9Th, were
81 the station ready to take the train, which
did not start till an hour and q half later.
Before describing our trip, however, we
desire to say word or two more about Mr..
Sullivan. lie is one of these burly, busting,
energetic and clever men who seem special
ly created to rule those with whom they
come in contact. Broad shouldercd, deep
chested and strong limbed, with clear blue
eyes, and constitution Of iron, one would
naturally select him at first sight as fight
ing man, a born soldier. Strangely enough, he
began bis career as cadet IN the
East India com?any's service, and as
an ensign was with Havelock at
Lucknow Sepoy during the rebellion
He has seen the world and has been in Mex.
leo many years and not only knows the
country thoroughly, but knows the McXicaus
and their ways and how to ret on
with them, as well us any man living.
SO when 1t came to making arrangements
for the ascent of Popocatapctl as Il matter
Of course we appealed to him. He not only
supplied us with railroad transportation as
before stated, but gave us a letter of intro
duction to Don Juan de Noriega, the prin.
cipal merchant and most considerable citi.
zen of Amecamecn. lie commended us as
his friends and commanded for us every
hospitality and attention. 1t gives US pleas.
urc to add that his letter was received with
every honor and all becoming respect, by
Don Juan and his retalncrs, as we shall ex-
plain more in detail hereafter.
While waiting at the station, which was by
no means stately or even comfortable one
we were amused and entertained by watch
ing the natives, who were, as everywhere
else, nearly all pure Indians of the lower
class. They were dressed in the national
costume: straw sombrero, white cotton
shirt and trowsers leather sandals, and
gaily colored serape. Nobody seemed TO
be in hurry. Our party were the only
strangers, aud the only people who seemed
at all uneasy about the delay in starting the
train. While lettering about the railroad
yard we were reminded of home by the fact
that the locomotive was made by Baldwin
Of Philadelphia, the passenger cars by Jack
son & Sharp of Wilmington, the freight
cars by Bellmeyer & Small of York, Penn
sylvania, and the girdcr bridges by the
Edgemoor Iron Company, also of Whining
Ion. Finally, however, our train started,
an hour and half late, and CARRYING us
close by the shrine of Our Lady of
Guadalupe, soon brought us to the edge of
Lake Ttzcuco and the open country. After
wo hours we caught sight of the snow. clad |
,eaks Of Popocatcpetl aud Istaccihuatl |
'ome twenty miles away, and by II o'clock |
lad arrived at Amecameca and had present |
ID our letter to Don Juan. He had been |
notified Of our coming by telegraph and |
to be much disappointed that our
,arty consisted of only two instead of six |
americans, as he had expected. lie re-
eivcd us most cordially, however, and after
us an excellent Captain in the
'crson of Andreas Telles Ga pure Indian,
nd instructing him TO get guides, horses,
mules, and all the necessary outfit, he
us with provisions, chocolate,
ardines bread, beef, cheese, wells, woolen
10Th in which to wrap our feet, and finally
nvited us to breakfast with his family. We
cceptcd with thanks and had most
ountlful, wcl-cookcd meal 1t was all the
lore highly appreciated Sccausc it was
orvcd quite in the Mexican style and was
opposed entirely of Mexican dishes. There
vas first soup, then an omelct followed {
|
ewed meats, cold tongue with ycgcta
les and a vinegar dressing, frij0les, fruits,
ranges bananas, grenaditas, mamac,
panish wines, clarct, sherry, pulquc, ana
nally brandy and coffee. Don Juan and c
IS wife, his bookkceper and wife, one child, S
nj Il young Spanish clerk, and ourselves |
ere at table and were waited on by two l
AT little Indian girls. With Il few words
Spanish on our part aud only one word 4
English on theirs, we managed to keep I
an animated conversation till the dinner II
as ended. a
At 2;30 our cavalcadc composed of "El "
lpitan," two guides, aud muletccr, with v
rec tough little horses and a pack mule, o
t out. One of the guides accompanied us o
foot TO show us the way, the others cut -
ross corners, pursuing route of their "
IN. Our road lay through fields slowly II
ing toward the foothills for about four II
d u half miles, and then 10y mountain a
th gradually ascending, over raYncs, II