The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1885-07-11
CLIMBING A VOLCANO.
One of the Five Active Craters in
Costa RIGA.
N "rap.hc Description of FeriIous Ad-
yenture-A Crater Never Examined
by Observation-Disclosures and
Accidents.

There are five active volcanoes in
Costa Rica, according to the geography
lrazu, which is 800 feet high; Tur.
rlalba, which is 10,350; Poas, DeBarba,
and Mlrravalees, which have not been
measured, and several smaller ones
whose craters have shown evidence oil
former activity, but have emitted
nothing since the memory of man. To
oe considered active a volcano does moi
have to keep belching out fire and smoke
all the time, for they must have vaca-
tons like the rest of us; but an extinct
one is that whose crater has been per-
mltted to fill up with debris and never
shows signs of life.
Not having had the advantage of vol
canlc acquaintance, and being ambi-
tious to look into the crater's mouth, |
determined to explore Irazu, and in
company with Mr.. II. Remsen White
house, Secretary of the United States
Legation in Central America, | made
the ascent.
1t was an experience which will never
be forgotten, but which one would not
care to repeat. You can not 90 to the
summit OF lrazu in railway car like
tesuVluS, and no one has ever taken
the trouble to build carriage road,
therefore the journey is not recon-
mended to ladies, invalids, or timid
men; and one such trip will do the most
nervefru for lifetime.
We foIlomnd M, =. ,,,,. - -.
WIN dust Tor few miles, then entered
Inc cornhelds and rode through them
ior several hours, stopping at the cabin
OF native to get corn for our horses
and cup of coffee for ourselves.
This was the last house on the noun
tain. and leaving 1t we went through a
pasture and struck into a forest as dense
as forest can be. There was a GOOD
moon and it lit up the tree tops with a
weird and fantastic light, while the
great festoons OF moss which hung from
THE branches and almost obscured ON.
way were almost livid where the rays of
moonlight struck them. The trunks
and limbs OF the trees were covered
with thick, yellow lichens, which were
as line as hair, and hung like the beard
OF patriarch. The trees, too. were
loaded with orchids, that rare plant so
mucn priced by botanists, and sought
mere oy collectors from all over the
world. Dead trunks covered with moss
mat seemed almost phosphorescent
arose like phantoms in our way. Huge.
thorny cacti, like the candelabra of
giants, were on every side. while the
dense growth of underbrush made it
almost impossible for the horses to push
through.
Through this we kept climbing until
the horses were exhausted and the moon
Went down. For some inscrutable
reason, but really for no reason
Whatever, it is considered best to
make the climb in the night, but we
couldn't go any further, so fire was
Quilt, the animals were unsaddled and
gwen their supper; we swung our ham
mocks In the trees and wrapping our
selves in blankets lay down to pleasant
dreams
The blazing fire frightened the ami
mails OF the forest, and all around us
we could hear the protests of the tiger.
whose cry is like that of child Now
and then the deeper tones of the noun
tam lion could be distinguished, but
they were more frightened than we, for
the hire was terror to them, as it was
a comfort to us, the altitude being some
thing more than 5000 feet and the tenn
perature forty Fahrenheit. The birds
chartered and gossiped being awak-
ened by the unusual light and disturb
ance in their solitude. There was little
sleep for any of us, as the situation was
so weird. and the noises our advent
awakened so strange to our ears. At
5:5O we were to be called and continue
the ascent so as to reach the top of the
mountain by sunrise. We were all
awake long before the time, and
leaving the hammocks hanging and
stripping ourselves of every possible
encumberance except overcoat and
food, we were in the saddle
promptly and followed the guide as he
plunged into darkness that could be
cut with knife. There is darkness
and darkness, but that we encountered
IN that tropical forest was double-dyed.
We might as well have been blindfoided
IN coffin at the bottom of grave.
There was a path, trail among the
trees, but the guide couldn't follow it
on horseback, so he dismounted and
felt for it with his feet They failed
and he crept along ON his hands and
knees, and that method of locomotion
being rather unsatisfactory, he lit
candle he had in his pocket and plodded
along.
The path went zigzag up the noun
tain side, like the trail of goat. 1t ran
a few hundred feet on the bias at
grade of about forty-ive degrees, and
then reversing ran up about the same
grade and distance in the other direc-
ton, presenting series of acute angles
like an enormous rail-fence. just as
Mr.. Whitehouse was turning one of
these corners, where the slope of the
mountain side was almost perpendicu-
lar, his horse stepped upon rotten log,
which concluded to roll down the preci-
pice, and he and his horse went too.
Nobody saw this decidedly novel aero
batic adventure. 1t was too dark to see
your hand before your face; we were
creeping along. feeling our way step by
step, with arms outstretched to prevent
contact between the trees and our
heads.
After making what ~aay be called a
cursory examination of the surround |
ings, Mr.. Whitehouse clambered UP the |
bank, where a council of war was held, |
and it was determined to postpone fur
Their operations on that line until day
light So we sat down around fire |
and discussed things until the light |
began to filter through the forest. Then |
the climb was resumed and we got out |
Of the woods just in time to see the sun |
rise out of what looked like world full |
Of soapsuds The mountain rose like |
an island in shorelcss sea of clouds.
great banks of foamy vapor rolling and |
plunging in the wind that always rises
with the dawn, as the surf does on the |
shoals. 1t was picture one does not |
often see, and there are no words in my
vocabulary that will convey an adequate
dea of its appearance. If one could
ell the world with foam like that which
hovers over the foot Of Niagara Falls it |
would look something like it.
The wind was bitter cold, and it
swept over the volcano with fierceness
that penetrated our very bones, but the
uuu,a raw xuara hft and aiaroinor ard