Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1889-10-04
VOLCANO OF IRAZU.
FROM IT'S TOP Two GREAT
OCEANS MAY BE SEEN.
q Pcriious Trip to the Volcanoes
Edge a Huge Crater :.
Mile in circumference
Looking Down.

We were two young engineers from
New England, surveying the route for Il
! railroad across Costa Rica, from ocean 10
! ocean, Ever since we reached San Jose,
the capital, this volcano, risin" I3, 900
t feet from the sc;. level, had sent uD IL,
column Of smoke OH oar northeastern
horizon, ut FIRST far away; bat we had
Z surveyed our line thus far, ill now we
were On It's very Footsteps. John and /
, lad talked and planned for this v! =,
ard now came the opportunity.
! Behold us then, carly one April morn
ing, riding along Tie lower slopes OF ,io
mountain. Our party consisted of our-
; selves, our guide Rafael, II dark looking,
man Of Spanish extraction, and on best
pcon, Chinchil!a, all riding Oh mules,
with poncios and blankets strapped to
the saddle. Rafael beguilcd the way by
stories of the fearful deeds of Irazu in
Yeas gone by. The last eruption tool;
place 30 ycrrs ago. but frequent Garth
uuakcs since have shown lcr iornan,
power.
"Scc, Scnorcs, VIVA! fearful thing was
done by Irazu. Ia 1911, all yonder
city, painting to Carriage, that lay nj oar
left, 'was laid in ruins and icr beautiful
cathedral, her magnificent cathedral, was
utterly destroyed. The vacant place
where it once stood, see yonder"
Till sunset We rGdc on through great
upland pastures, filled with herbs. Late
iii the day we passed II small village of
vaqucros (hcrdsmen), and, Night coming
on, we found camping place by run
ming stream, where was grass for the
mules. There we had our tent pitched,
our hot supper of coffee and canned
meats prepared, and shortly after rolled
ourselves in our blankets and ay down
to sleep and dream of home and sweet
hearts SO far away.
AT fonr the next morning we rose,
had or hot breakfast, saddlcd oar mules
by starlight, and were ready to start
10y the time that dawn began To- pcen
up in the east. Our road Inv now
through Il belt of heavy timber, and in
the course ofm hour we saw that we had
lost our way. Rafael, spite of hie
heavenly name, being an uncertain
guide. Fortunately | had my pocket
compass with me and had taken illc
hearings of the peak the day before
Ey rctrAcm@ our steps we at length
found road that led in The right
direction, and though not the
shortest one il brought US ont
right. When we emerged from the for
est there lay before us the bare peak,
composed oil sand and scori;r ana ashes
with here and there stuntod bush We
were ut so great an attitude tliat the air
WAS very thin and the difficulty of breath
ing great. Here we found our mules
could bear lis no farther. So we dis
mounted and struggled up ON foot, the
Welding ashos making it hard work. \
thick fog cnvclopcd us ami u northeast
wind cut our faces. But we toilcd OH
ill we emerged from the fog and stood
i'll the clear sunlight on the mountains
top. And what II view. Below lis
tossed and timblcd, rs ii were, me
waves of u mighty ocean of fog. the
pillows rising and falling and surging.
hthcr and thithcr. Far away to the
northeast Il rent in the fog curtain
showed us the blue Atlantic, while west
ward we caught the play OF light OH the
bays Of the Pacific. Two oceans at
once! How our hearts lcaped ut sight
OF the Atlantic whose waves battle our
native shores.
"But where, Rafael. is our volcano?"
This way, Scnores,n and he lei us
westward Till before and below us lay the
volcano. it was huge crater, mile III
circumference, with sloping sides, 800
feet in height, save on the lower rim,
where a flood of lava had some time
broken through. 1t lay not on the exact
top of the mountain but on its northern
side. There were eight volcanic cones.
rising i'll this crater, only one being i'll an
active state, and this was on tile farther
side from us. From a yawning mouth,
800 feet across, it sent up volumes OF
! sulphurous smoke, while far in the bowels
of the earth we heard the continual
rimbling as OF distant thunder. Be
tween us and it lay fearful region of
dcsoation filled with ragged rocks, CLASSY
surfaces Of lava and heaps Of scori;c and
ashes
Rafael here declared we could 30 no
farther. ''lraZu would be angry and
destroy us should we venture into the
crater" Seeing us determined to 90 on
he begged us to walk very softly and no;
10 speak Il loud word. lest we he treated
TO = shower of stones Faithful Chin
chilla said: "Wherc the Scnores go,
there l will go" So slipping, sliding,
rolling, we three went down the inclined
plane and then picked cur rough WAY
over lava and scorim till, quite wearicd
out, we stood by the crater. A sudden
! gust of wind blew the sulphurons
smoke I'm our faces and it was so suifo-
eating we were obliged to flee before it.
Coming UP another side, VIC gathered
for trophy some of the sulphur that
crustcd all the rocks about; then as the
wind blew the smoke aside, we threw
ourselves flat down and looked over into
the yawning gulf that opened 10 the
bowels of the earth. Stones pushed
over bounded from side to side till lost
TO sound and sight. Deep within ragged
those hidden fires that supplied the ever
upward rolling clouds OF smoke tina.
ceased not to rise day and night, year in
and year out. But what sudden thrill
Of fear went through lis rs we saw tEni