The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1895-12-19

or the colors that glow in a fiery furnace,
while the clouds of vapor that hang con-
tinually above it, dissolve into thousand
everchanging eccentric figures. As in
other places where Nature presents stew
pan conveniently ready for use, travellers
amuse themselves by cooking things in
the smaller springs; and in every case
there is an ice-cold spring close by the
boiling caldron, as if expressly provided
for the relief Of scalded fingers Eggs
may be cooked at Das Furnas in two min
utes and corn and potatoes in proportion
able time, but the vegetables come out SO
lmpregnated with sulphuric acid as to be
unit for food. Separated from the Great
Caldron only by narrow bank Of volcanic
substance is the greatest mystery of all,
known as the 'Muddy Crater" horri-
bic vortex Of boiling mud, so feet in di-
ameter, noisily threatening death to the
unlucky mortal whose foot may chance to
slip upon the brink. Strange to say,
though in state of perpetual and most
violent ebullition, accompanied by
sound resembling that of a tempestuous
ocean, it never rises above the level of the
plain. The superstitious peasants call it
Roca Ga Inferno, the Mouth of He'll, and
never fail to cross themselves whenever
they come within sound of its seething.
Nothing will induce one of them to ap-
proach it, and they give it a wider berth
than ever since young woman lost her
footing upon the treacherous bank one
day, and almost before the first agonized
shrek had left her lips, was sucked down
and swallowed in the vortex A few DAYS
later heap of charred bones were found
on the brink of the mysterious gulf, as if
tossed forth for warning for others Of
the children of men. If you have the
courage to hold stick in this strange cal
dron it is soon burnt black, and then be-
gins to smoke in your hands, and it is
pulled downward with such force that
you are in danger of being drawn bodily
into the abyss, unless you let go, when the
SUM AAoIdAIly ulSdpPodIS
There is ample accommodation in the
Furnas valley for pleasure seekers and
curiosity hunters, as well as for the
hundreds Of invalids who annually
resort here to be relieved Of their
rheumatism, scrofula and kindred ills.
Besides the fashionable Portuguese
hotel-which is said to be very good of it's
kind, and numberless cottages where
lodging may be obtained, there are many
|;private houses, both in the village and on
the adjacent plantations, where strangers
with letters Of introduction are handsome
ly entertained. 1t was our good fortune
to be invited to visit an estate whose Eng
llsh owner resides most of the year in
POnta del Gada. 1t lies some three
miles beyond the village, near the shore
of the lake on the other side of the first
hill-range. Donkeys were waiting for us
at the inn, for there is no carriage road to
the place, and after brief look at the
geysers, Illuminated with unearthly
splendor by the last rays of the setting
sun, we hurried away lest darkness over
take us in this uncanny spot. Nothing
could be more weird than that twilight
ride, winding in and ont among the bar
rem hills where mineral streams trickle
! down in their rusty beds to the still, dark
lake; the sky overcast, fumes of sulphur
filling the air, the silence unbroken ex-
cept by the patter Of the donkeys feet
and a mournful wind signing among the
pine trees. l viii not say how ardently
we wished ourselves in almost any other
spot on earth S surface and visions of far
away home tugged at our heart strings.
But after the warm welcome that awaited
us and night of ''tired nature sweet
restorer.' we awakened to find the sun
shining SO gloriously upon views so en-
chanting, that we would not have ex-
changed situations with any king upon
| his commonplace throne. Our Tempo
rary home is the only house in sight, set
upon terrace thousand feet above
the sea, backed by cliffs thousand feet
higher. On either side Of it are two
beautifully wooded headlands that slope
gently to the lake, upon whose placid sur
face the whole scene is reflected as in a
mirror. Other visitors have likened it to
| the Tyrol, to Interlachen:-b no spot in
Switzerland can hold candle to Das Fur
mas. FANNIE B. WARD.