Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-01-05
DOWN PoPocA1EPeTL's SLOPE.
Descent on Sledge OF MattinE-A Sud.
den Transition-Experiene

ocu
After an hour in the crater we set out
to descend. To say that the descent was
made more rapidly than the ascent would
be unnecessary. 1t only required an hour
and half to reach the snow line from
the summit. We made the downward
trip upon petates. A petate is kind of
coarse mattlng-an indispensable article
in every Mexican Indians household. 1t
would be impossible to enumerate all the
uses TO which it is put. Each guide had
one, about four feet square. and he
quickly transformed it into sled or drag,
by folding it in the middle and cutting
hole in the oblong thus formed, about a
foot from one end. Passing a small rope
through the hole, he SO fastened it that
one en1 could be held by the tourist sitting
upon the petate, while the other was in
the hands Of the guide. As the latter
dragged the petate through the soft snow,
the occupant of the same, by holding his
end of the rope. tightly, kept the forward
end of the sled well up off the ground.
The guides carefully avoided the hard
snow, as upon its glazed surface the pc
tates would get beyond their control and
shoot down the mountain with disastrous
results.
The guides themselves often coast upon
petates and steer them without difficulty:
but to describe the method by which We
descended Popocatepetl as similar to coast
ing or tobogganing, is very erroneous. 1t
had discOmforts which coasting knows
not of. The sudden transition from a
rarer 10 denser atmosphere caused worse
headaches than those we had in the
ascent, and being dragged over soft snow
filled with sharp pieces OF lava resulted in
many bruises. We reached the snow
line in a wretched condition of body, and
in a state of mind that was far from
agreeable. The horses met us there but
the ride back to the ranch had no JOYS
whatever. Every step the horses took
racked our bodies with pain. We were
thoroughly used up when we reached the
ranch cabins and threw ourselves upon
the hard beds there For a while we
seemed TO care little whether we ever got
up or not. But with perfect quiet the
headaches passed off, as they had done
before, the fatigues were forgotten, and
after little lunch, to which small
quantity of light wine was added, we felt
fully restored, excepting as regarded the
soreness Of our muscles. That remained,
to be aggravated almost to the limits of
endurance in the horseback ride to Ameca-
MEGA the next day
With the return of eur physical condi-
ton to something like it's normal state.
good humor came back and the second
evening in the uncomfortable ranch house
proved pleasanter than the first We
summed up the experiences of the day,
comparing them with those of other noun
tain trips and chatted with our guides
1t was the time for settling the question
whether the pleasures of the trip had paid
for the pains. The conclusion arrived at
could not be better expressed than in the
words of one of the party, who, recalling
the glorious view from the summit
exclaimed with enthusiasm: II would
not nave missed this trip for 500"
After moments pause in which he re-
called the discomforts of the previous
night, the pains and fatigues of the ascent
and more particularly those of the descent,
he added with deep feeling: Il would not
go again for 1000. Arthur Howard
Noll in American Magazine.