Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-05-18
THE CRATER OF VesuNus.
A Good Look Into the Depths Of th'
Great Abyss of Fire aud Birthstone.

A Good Look Into the Depths Of the
Great Abyss of Fire aud Birthstone.
We stood at the great gulf in the mountain
| tcp-at the crater Gf the most active volcano
in the world From the great abyss before
VI came clouds Of thick, sulphurols vapor,
with a sound sometimes as IL thunder storms
were being manufactured within, and again
| as IL the hosts Of Ia les were down there, hat
Ting furously with each other We could
readily believe-wLat We are told by scion-
tists-that volcano is n constant war 10
tween the ocean Of water that is always not
far away and the ocean of fire that RACES in
side the earth. Now and then great flocks
of stones went flying hundreds of feet into
the air, and at tho end of their return jour
ney alighted as near us as we cared to have
them.
Wishing TO get another view of the crater,
! engaged two extra guides, who, for the
modest sum Of 81 extra, contracted to show
me everything additional that ono could
witness, and y0t hope To descend tle mount
ain on the outside, and take dinner in the
evening with his friends. After exhibiting
several points upon their anatomy where
bones had been broken by falling rocks (all
OF which seemed to have healed remarkably
they led me straight into tho thick sulphury
steam, which was about as sitting as any
thing | ever undertook TO breathe, and
madu the physical interior feel az if it were
being treated to Il sudden attack of spontn
neous combustion. Wo descended into a
crater valley, which was full of vapor breath
ing crcvices, and weird enough to form one
of the most interesting districts of Dante's
"Infcrno," Suddenly my guides made
break for fresh air and the outer edge OF the
crater, and |, supposing that some tremcn-
duus new historical convulsion of nature was
at hand, used about a second and half in
following thonI-soa as to get IA good look at it
from a safe point
Great daugerolh shouted the swarthy vii
lain who had my five francs. at blows,
this the wind! wrong wayl Half the hour
ago all it was different! If you then had
only been herc But we must now go 1t
back"
Tho average Yankee, however cowardly,
had rather lose his life fairly than be swim
died out Of IL dollar; and, besides, | had
been told Of this trick by friend who had
assembled the volcano the day before SO,
hiding all my trembling fears, insisted on
the whole trip to the edge of 'the new era
ter"
at is death with only two guides" said
the svnrthy villain. "Two more guides you
must haf, that they shall warn and keep the
falling stones from killing you"
At this point new guides began to spring
up around me, if they had been elected
from among the contents of the volcano
Not wishing to take too many of them into
certain destruction, | ignored all except the
smallest one and, shaking my cane at him
with an assumed courage which did not
exactly feel, threatened him with instant do
struction entirely disconnected with volca-
noes if he did not follow out tho terms of
the contract
We were soon at the hest point from which
to view the great drama of fire that was 20
ing on beneath. Flames sent their ruddy
glow upon the swelling clouds of vapor that
constantly pushed their way into the ar.
Now and then camo a sob from the breast of
the cruel mountsin, as if it were mourning
for the thousands 1t had murdered. The sui
phur fumes made me feel as if the volcano
wero reaching out its long white fingers and
cutching me by the throat. A half grating
and half kissing sound was followed by an
explosion like tho voice of cannon, and n
long stone wall went stretching up into the
air in fraglnental sections, between me and
that invisible locality where the sky was sup
po cd to be. / soon began to persuade myself
that it was unjust to expose the guide to peril
any longer and, to sot good example, scam
pored out of the way ahead of him with as
much agility MS lSj pounds avoirdupois would
allow Will Carlton in New York Star.