Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Anacortes, Wash. Ter.) 1882-1887, 1885-07-04

summit As we rode along. wet and drip
ping, or stopped now and then to allow
our tired horses to rest, the sunny hours Of
the morning, and the little village, with its
trees and vines and sieandsr blooms, seem.
ed parts Of fsr-oA Arsasa. Telling upward
over path that grew sleeper and rougher
at every step, we passed through the rain
and mist Of the cloud bank, and emerged
above into . region so weird and desolate,
familiar daily life. that II seemed no part Of
the kindly green Earth that nourishes man
upon her bosom, but the land Of ghosts.
There was nothing to remind us OF the
world below. We ourselves seemed to have
undergone q metamorphosis in passing
through the clouds, and to have succumbed
to the influences Of the place Something
of the merriment and vitality Of the morn
ing wore gone we were chilled and sub
dued our voices sounded weak and strange
In the thin upper air. The utter silence
and loneliness Of this region was oppressive
There were no signs of Life no vegetation
but few stunted, leafisss shrubs and
strange plant, called the silver sword, which
grows only on the pulverized lava of volcan-
fc craters. Its velvety.white leaves appear
cd covered with hoar- frost and o stiff spike
two or three feet high rose from the centre.
/ Beneath our feet were the Jagged and un-
even ridges of ancient va-fiows; around
, MS were hollow cones. some fifty or sixty
feet high and half mile in circumference.
over whose rims, centuries before the liquid
! fire had poured everywhere there were
! signs of Titanic forces, raging fires that
had slowly cooled, creative agencies that
had ceased. We seemed to be surrounded
By the fragments OF a ruined world.
! Following our guide upward, over q de
vious and difficult path, we came at last Il
the cave, thousand feet from the SUNNI
where we were to spend the night. 1t WI
an opening in the rocks so low at the e.
trance that we were compelled to stoop; br
higher inside and extending back abor
twenty feet. The guide made fire
brushwood Mt the mouth of the cave, tn,
boy unsaddled our horses and brought in t..
supply OF provisions and roll OF blanket
and while the steam of our drying GARNER
mingled with the smoke, that blew into on
faces and brought tears to our eyes, ",
drank hot coffee from tin cups grew merr,
over one another's appearance and our sur
roundings, and concluded that a brief sta.
in the land of ghosts would not he disma.,
after nil
At sunset the clouds below us cleared
away, and we looked across a vast gulf OF
land, lying in shadow, to the mountain
peaks of West Maui Darkness came on.
and the stars began to shine in the sky.
not with the SOFT mellow lustre of tropic
starlight, but with the glitter aud sparkle
or colder skies. cnIIllng WIND swept
down from the summit and whistled around
our cave, and, wrapping ourselves i'll the
blankets, we lay down with our heads on
eur saddles and our feet to the FIRE no5.
however, without remembering the fate OF
seven other sleepers who once reposed in q
cave.
It was strange sensation to waken sud-
denly in the night and hear the wind among
She hollow co,es, and see the Pickering Are
hight cast fantastic CLEANS and shadows
about the cave and upon the grotesque
stalactites Of wet gloves and handkerohiefs
hanging from the roof.
At three o'clock the guide reused us all,
and told us we must begin the climb to the
summit, if We wished to see the sun rise.
Fastening our wraps about us, we emerged
from the cave and began the steep and
rugged ascent. clinging to the stunted
bushes growing in the clefts, or to one an
other, to keep our footing, against the pierre
ing blasts that swept upon us from above
1t was difficult to breathe in the thin. rare
fed atmosphere our hearts throbbed pain
fully; and every few minutes we sank
down to rest. There was no path, and we
struggled on in the dim starlight. stumbling
over rocks and falling into the little gullies
washed by mountain-torren
When half the steep ascent was gained,
the stars began to pale and brightness suf-
fused the eastern sky. Our way was palmer,
but no less rugged. heavy frost lay upon
the ground, the little poels in the hol o,ss
Of rocks were covered with ice, and drifts
Of snow lay under the ledges. The native
boy looked upOn them with great curiosity.
having never been in q wintry region be-
tore The guide kept some distance ahead,
climbing with apparent ease. At last he
stood still, his Term outlined against the
any and beckoned to u.s. he had reached
The House OF the Sup.
We climbed TO his side and sank down
'n the rocks. gesi',S without T. ~ota ~ .ne
scene before our eyes. View L Oh tie
Drink of a vast crater. waose s,oeo v,,.S
>nolosed only this a1is' morning u = whose
rim stretchsd aw ay on Slthor hA ii ike tAt
horizon. 1t WAS twenty seven m,l-s around
and three thousand feet deep; but It's spaces
buggestsd irf.ity Al the : - i'~r si6s u
opened in two great gaps toward the sea
Through these the rivers of molten lara
had flowed. Their course was ssili plat y
parked, though the red.hot and white hot
tides had cooled long before, beyond the
memory of man. In the bottom Of the crater
were several cones, with openings In thir
tops and trails Of lava down their siees
They appeared to us like little moupas,
though they were from four to seven hun.
dred feet high.
There was no vesstation, nc rigns Of life.
The scorchsd and barren cliffs, the cendiol
zones, and the petrifed rivers, were bic X J
and gray and dull red In hue, unrslievsd by
a single tuft Of green.
An ws-ipspiring &nd oppressive st;N.ess
brooded in the vast depths. 1t sesmsd ~ |
silence not of anticipation, but Of rntro. /
spsctiou. The mighty forces once In l.cti~l !
there had fulfilled their destiny. They had !
formed an island, then deserted forSver
the empty aud silent amphitheatre.
We had thought to picture to ourselves
the scenes of the past-the boiling lakes
and molten rivers, the fountains of fire and
the oaldrora uud. r the red cliffs: hut tha