Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1886-08-12

After about three hours climbing We
got To within d, eduple Of miles, Of the
cfAtbr Itself. It Is at the side 81 Etha,
you know, not near the top, that this
eruption has broken out, and we got on
bit of high ground overlooking the
whole scene. II was still daylight
wheh we got up there, So that We saw
the whole thing by daylight. 1t was
the most glorious and indescribabie
sight ever saw in my life. 1t is per-
fectly impossible to desSribs it, Us no
one can have eny conception OF What It
II like until they see it, and also until
they see it from where we did, which was
on high ground, overlooking nearly the
whole of it. At the top is this enor-
nous cratur, throwing out flames and
throwing up stones some hundreds OF
yards, with continual roar, like any
number of battles BUins bh; ard just
below is another mouth from which this
lava comes travelling at a tremendous
pace. 1t divides into several streams,
and follows the valleys Now, mag
inc from where we were that night,
with our backs to Catania, what we
saw. On our right this enormous
flame, going hundreds of feet into the
air, making the whole sky bright redi
and all down past us from our right,
and extending down miles to the left,
streams of red-hot lava moving down
ward In q mass for miles, and looking
like an enormous sea Of fed-hot coke.
The width across the lava from where
we were was, perhaps, three or four
miles, and il started about two miles
above us, and flowed some four miles
or so below us, so you must imagine a
sea of angry, red-hot lava, five or six
miles long and three or four wide, and
about thirty or forty feet deep, but all
| of it bright red. You tan Judge whether
IL WIS a sight worth seeing. / would
not have missed it for worlds. The lava
Is not liquid, as most people suppose;
but consists of many millions Of large
and small blocks of rocky-looking stuff
rolling onward. We saw one huge rock
of old lava standing IN the middle of
the stream of lava, which was divided
by it and ran around it; the rock was
about the size of, say, Quidenham
Church, aud this rock suddenly split
in two parts; the smaller half crumbled
up, and the other half was carried
bodily down with the stream slowly
and steadily. We watched it until we
left, and it moved about three-quartert
of mile in about three-quarters of an
hour. We waited there until nearly
midnight, rs we could not venture
down until the moon got up, and then
we reluctantly left this magnificent
sight, which, as 1 tell you, no descrip
ton can give you any idea of. AS we
went up we had all gone into little
house to see it, and thought it was I'M
pleasantly close to the lava. Well, "a
we came down, this house was in flames
and caught by the stream. In many
places we had to take different paths
so quickly had the lava spread as j
came down. and from below it is awful
quite close 10 it, to see this mass
thirty or forty feet high, coming slowl.
toward you. We were up near thu
crater nearly four hours. We saw othe
people go up TO see tho lower end o
the lava, stay there few minutes, anC
go down again; but the way to do it il
to go right high up, arriving by day
light, and then stay there to see it b.
night and watch the changes going on
It was glorious.