The state republican. (Jefferson City, Mo.) 1871-1896, 1892-05-12
A VOLCANIC REGION.
Vorty Square Miles Pierced by boiling
Springs and Spouting Gcysers.

1t Is the strnngcst and most rcmarkat
bic volcanic region anywhere on the
face of the known earth. The locality
is in the upper part of Lower or Isaja,
California, and Is, therefore. in Mexican
territory. 1t is only seventy miles, how.
ever from Yuma. Ariz., and about sixty
miles south of the international bound.
AIRY hnc,
The volcanic area is forty miles square
in extent. and every square rod of that
territory is pierced by either a boiling
spring or spouting gcyser. shooting up.
ward showers of mud and hot water
and stones, on else it Is dotted by trun.
Gated concs--srnall volcanoes--of varying
sizes, with craters on their tops, i'll which
molten lava and mud sccthe and boil,
rising and falling with force of the fierce
heat of the internal fires. Sometimes
the steaming mass settles with gurgling
sounds until it is almost lost to sight in
the apparently fathomless crater; and
again it botls upward and rolls over the
edges of the crater, to pour down its
sides in stcaning streams of mud that
force the onlCOkcr to make a huSty flight
All the way over from the Colorado
twenty miles to the cast. our ears haG
been assailcd by constant runbling aud
noises resembling thunder, excepting
that the sounds seemed tD come from
the ground, and. as ut times the earth
quivcrcd pcrtcptihly. attributed these
disturbances h earthquakes We were
greatly annoyed too. hy an intensely
pungent odor of sulphur that at tim,s
was almost suifncating. All thi. cara,
from the land of mud amt fire. Il, |
aftcrwarl discovered. Not llnnviug
this at the time, however, | was hardly
prepared for the sight that burst on my
eyes the evening we reached the west
end Of Ike Pasqualit9,,. As nr rs we
could srr to thc west. south and north.
lay dense foT closely hugging the
ground, and from out of which pro-
cccdod all thosr noises we had heard
and attributed tG :.u earthquake.
Amid the rumh!mg we could now also
distinguish sounds exactly like those of
thousand pots ali boiling ut once. 1t
was the Secthing and bubblng of boil,
ing water, from which rose the na,,cs
of steam that like fog. covered the
ground. Clos" to our feet. not uotr
than thirty yards distant, we rnw pcv.
ser, the first. laniiy overilowing the
slightly elevated edge of Sticky-looll.
ing, black liquid. As we stood there.
watching the wonderful panorama that
slowly unfuldpd rs u ,mN4iIi,, gust OF
wind lifted the I".:, we became conscious
that the ground under our feet was ho.
coming painfully hot. even through our
thick-soled shoes. and we had to shift
our position. | also noticed II anrhnu.y
fell of the grnund as we walked. Just
like n marsh, and it echoed our foot.
steps with hollow. mctallic-lil;,
sound, as though we were walking on
copper cylinder. rruclnbcr. too. that
a curious sort of hoTorcamc over me II.
] spcculated on our probIblu fate. wrr,
the crust of earth suddenly to collapse
beneath our weight.
As we rctrcatcd before the blast ol
sulphurouS fumes that the wind drove
against us the fog continued to lift. un.
I'll finally we behsld the volcanic area
in its entirety. Everywhere were the
conical projections ot the volcanoes.
Everything WITS In active operation, and
the volcanoes btlchcd forth vapDr and
showers of thin md on poured plastic
streams down their sides, while the
numerous springs and gcyscrs were
shooting out columns of boiling water.
some clear and others thick and muddv.
while here and there an occasional hard
worker would spout up sand and small
stones that fell with clUtteriiIG sounds
on the pcculiall% 'ibratory surface.
We counted upward of $500 volcanoes
in this region. An of them have the
small cratcr-lilio opening ut the apex,
out of which poured steam. smoke. mud
and flame, and sometimes small clouds
of ashes. The draft that comes from
these openings whom the volcanoes are
in eruption is So hot that it will ignite
cloth and even small pieces of wood,
and Il pot Of water suspended over the
edge on an iron hook win speedily boil.
fact we took advantage of in cooking
our coffee. In some ot these volcanoes
the escaping mud has been formed into
the mos, curious pipes that run down
their outer edge, and through which
the steam whistles and misses exactly
like an engine blowing Off steam.
About onc-half Of the volcanoes are
from ten to forty feet wide ut the basd
and run from seven to fifteen feet in
width. and all of mcasureless depth,
Nearly all these big cratcrs are fillei
with mud or water. iuiliAus hof, and NOT
n few are tilled with molten lava If j..
from these latter, we found. that the
fumes of sulphurous gases came Those
volcanoes are active for the greater mart