The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1891-09-23
WOMEN IN A VOLCANO.
They Make a PerIlous Descent into
Popocatepelt.
Cincinnati Gazette

az hANehA6hU oACg 4OS0 lIOLu bu0 1uuO
touches in the mountaineer's hut where
they had rested, and made ready Howl
By dressing warmly, wrapping their
feet and limbs in fold upon fold Of cloth,
since at every step they must break the
| glazed crust, covering the unmelting
SHOWS beneath, and by shielding with
thick wells their eyes and skin against
the glare and sharp needles of the snow
though 1t was but moonlight.
Slowly then the three ladies, with
| their masculine friends, began the long
walk. To each lady was assigned a
guide familiar with the route, and 1t
was his duty, as well as pleasure, to
break the way for them by putting his
larger foot down and through the crust,
SO that their labor was only to put their
| feet into his tracks.
Six mortal hours of plodding YEARLY
onward and upward, hardly daring to
look behind, at least not often, upon the
world, seemingly lying in chaos behind
them, but themselves pressing up the
snowy heights before them, wrapped in
the moist, cool glissance of the cloud
land. Long, long before the sun broke
through the clouds at their feet upon a
sleeping, mist wrapped world below did
they see his glorious flames spring from
the far seas and reflected upon the
heights toward which they climbed,
though faint his glow till late hour of
that very, very early morning.
But at last, with their feet wrappings
cut to pieces, they stood upon the bor-
ders of the volcano Popocatepetl. Glad
enough were the wornout ladies TO rest
in poor shelter, while their Indian
guides and cook prepared their break
fast.
INVESTIGATING THE VOLCANO.
A faint mist lay rather than rose upon
the air of the crater, and the odor of sui
phur was already perceptible. When,
breakfast being done and all prepare
lions made, 1t became evident that the
three Americans actually intended to de-
scend to the sulphur beds in the bottom
of the crater, the poor Indians were
seized with terror. No woman's foot
had ever touched these dens and caves,
these mines of sulphur, from which their
labor had drawn for centuries, from
which Cortes obtained the means for the
fiery conquest of their forefathers These
sources of supply would be bewitched,
despoiled, should woman's foot ever
touch them.
They fell upon their knees and begged
them to desist from the attempt. But
the Americans had not braved the toll
and danger of the ascent to return un-
satisfied. Go down they would. The
Indians shook their heads and sighed
beneath their breath, and wondered
what kind of men those fair gentlemen
could be who did not seem to be able to
hinder their wives from carrying out
this awful resolution. But, since there
seemed to be no help for it, they pre-
pared themselves to let down these ex-
traordinary burdens upon the wind
lasses.
Yes! there was nothing else for it but
to go down as the gentlemen did upon
the crossbeam Of the rope, which the In
dams slowly unwound from above the
fair artist, If so she might be called,
keeping herself from being dashed
against the craggy, yellow scanned and
stained walls by means Of strong cane
or stick, with which she pushed herself
away from the crater sides as she de-
scended.
One Of the ladies, not so strong as the
Others, became unconscious from the
fumes Of sulphur and had to be hurried
up to the air again.
FASTER THAN ToBoGGANNG.
What was the interior like? An i'm
mense, nearly circular chamber, of
which the floor was an uneven, yellow
tinted surface, like caldron whose con-
tents have hardened, while boiling, in
huge bubbles. Crags and huge spikes, or
half pillars or sulphurous masses filed
In the weird shop of the sulphur gnomes.
No language can fifty describe such an
interior. Only those who are willing to
pay the price which the Americans paid
can have the remarkable sensation Of
seeing and being inside of volcano.
But ogce more restored to the upper air,
not the least remarkable part of this ad-
venture remained to be tried.
Standing on the border. the descent
over the snow slopes up which they had
toiled the night before looked sharp and
dangerous; and too sharp and dangerous
it was to attempt by foot as they had
come up. The guides must take them
down on the patatas Broad plated straw
mats were these, as stiff as an ordinary
half inch board. The guide sat in front
with a steering pole, which was also
crook of safety, since, if the descent be-
came too rapid, there was imminent
danger Of the whole party being pitched
head over heels down the steep, perilous
slope of ice. Behind the guide sat the
ladies, as boys slide down hill. and at
given signal away they few.
Such sled trial. Tobogganing is
child's play compared toit. The distance
which it had taken six hours to climb
WAS passed over again in just fifteen
minutes. Then the whole party were
once more below the snow limit and
feeling that they had once more returned
to the world in which they had previ-
ously passed their lives, for their other
experiences had seemed to belong to an
other sphere than that of earth. T