The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1893-12-26

lmIlSSlDltlty. Inc nut Itself was Il
rud, dilapidated affair, full of cracks
and holes, through which the smoke
was supposed to vent itself, for there
was no chimney, and through which
the
WIND wHIsTLED
and howled il mockery at our efforts.
In addition to this, the prowling
coy,tes. the garrulous guides, the
sms Ike in our eyes and the difficulty
in respiration at such high altitude
kelt us awake until ) o'clock in the
mGning, when we commenced final
preparations for the ascent. After Il
has y breakfast, the guides put on the
finihing touches by taking off our
she's, wrapping our feet in heavy
clo,h, and then putting on sandals in
liei of shoes, as they make a
walmer covering and safer
fOGing. As We desired to
ma se the trip in two days and thus
eshblish a precedent, We left at Alb
riding blindly in the dark. following
Oul guides, Indian fashion one behind
the other, along yawning chasms,
Though dense pine forests and sandy
wates as well as heavy deposits of
astes, for an hour, with the bitter,
coll and cutting wind striking us full
in the face, until we reached LAS
Cnlces' or the Crosses. which consists
oftwo large crosses securely fastened
toan immense rock, at the commence
nrnt of the snow line, where we dis
mounted. After final lashing on of
s,ndals and being supplied with pixies
pinted with iron, We began to climb
Ocer snow and ice.
| TOO LITTLE WIND.
The principal difficulty was in
maintaining our footing and keeping
Up RESPIRATION, for the exercise in adj
fition to the rarity OF the air rend-
ged it exceeding difficult to breath,
and before one-fourth o. the ascent
lad been m::je, one of the party gave
L up. and when One-third OF the
ground had been covered, another
dropped out. The remaining six,
lpwever, clambered on up that broad
Apanse of snow and ice, apparently
rever ending, and which stretched
Upward above us far beyond the
douds.
When about one-half the distance
had been covered, the first rays of
the rising sun could he seen over the
h,ary summit OF Mt. Orizaba to the
e,st. As We were suffering consider
ably from cold, Old Sol was hailed
with unanimous howl of delight. and
the party inspired with new energy
pushed onward and at last, at halt
past nine we reached the summit,
$4,000 feet above the level of the sea.
and beheld in all its awfulness the
object of our tolls and labors, the
smoking crater of the highest peak on
the North American continent.
The scene before Us was one of
magnificent grandeur. Far of in the
distance, to the northwest lay the
historic Valley of Anahuac where
could be dimly discerned amid encircl-
ing lakes, the capital of the Republic.
and the early home of the Aztecs and
Toltecs of old 4: to the east. the tower
ing peak of Orizaba rose majestically
above sea Of tossing feecy clouds,
rolling and tumbling half way down
its cleaning slope: closer at hand
Ixtaccihuatl, the sleeping sister of.the
Smoking Mountain" apparently
scarce step across, lay clothed like a
veritable corpse, in the perpetual
shroud of white which covers her
mighty form.
THE CRATER.
As we descended into the crater,
an overwhelming sense of its vastness
fell upon. all. 1t is about two and
one-half miles i'm circumference and
about one fourth of a mile in depth.
From numerous crevices sulphurOus
smoke and steam is constantly pour
ing forth and is a forcible reminder Of
the unseen and sleeping power behind
it. While we were standing there a huge
boulder became loosened by the melt
ing snow and ice and fell crashing to
the bottom of the pit. detach.ng in its
fall many smaller rocks, which, echo
Ing and re-echoing through all the re-
cesses of that monster pile of earth,
sounding like the reports of hundreds
Of cannons, together with the almost
sufiocating smell of sulphur and the
steam and vapor arising from the blue
lake below, gave one a fair idea Of
the awfulness Of those volcanic bursts
of past ages.
After taking some "kodaks." and a
lat l,nly .,t tho ..,,rrnunl.n.r .couarv