The times., 1898-09-11
ON TOLUCA'S HEIGHT.
An Interesting Ascent of Noted
Mexican Volcano.
(F'rom the Mexican Herald.l

throm the Mexican Heraiu-D
The great Toluca volcano, which lifts
its head so many thousand feet above
the peaceful valley of the Lerma, and is
so remarkable because of its size, and
the magnificent vista which greets the
traveller on its ascent. is gradually re-
ceiying considerable attention from the
tourist to Mexico. 1t Is remarkable the
volcano has not been visited oftener in
the past, for its great crater Is one OF
the largest in the world AS soon as
its many features of interest become
better known there is no doubt but that
il will receive the attention that IL de-
serves.
The ascent of the volcano and the decent
and exploration of the crater has been
recently made by Mr.. F. B. Darnell, of
the passenger department, and Mr. "
Hughes, secretary to General Manager
Brown, of the National. They consider
the trip a wonderful one. presenting fea-
lures not seen on any other mountain in
the Republic. They left Colonia station
in the afternoon, arriving a Toluca short
ly after o'clock. AS their time was limit
ed 1t was necessary TO leave Toluca that
night so as TO be able to make the as
cent and return all in the same day.
They decided that they would stop al San
Juan de las Huertas for the night, and
leave the next morning for the volcano.
The only means of conveyance is by horse
back. or by taking guayin or road coach.
As the night was dark and stormy and
the roads in fearful condition, from the
heavy rains ii was decided TO take the
latter conveyance. The trip from Toluca
to San Juan must have been a lively one,
for even in daytime. when the roads are
in good condition, ii is not very pleasant
tourney There are numerous streams to
be crossed and in their swollen condition
they are somewhat dangerous.
The distance from Toiuca TO San Juan
is about sixteen kilometers. but 1t was
long after II O'Clock when the lights
of the town could be seen.
In the morning at o'clock horses
we're secured, and the start for the
| volcano made The first part of the
| Journey was a. comparatively light
climb. but they were ali the time work
ing their way upward. Up terrace after
| erracee,they climbed. through pines a
| hundred feet or more in height. until at
last the clouds, above the two travellers
cleared and there, far above them, was
| the great crater. From this time the
climb became sleeper and sleeper, until
| the tree line was reached. All above the
| tree line was black, bare and barren, with
here and there great barrancas. The
1 >
| The ascent was now made through great
| fields of coarse grass, until at last the
foot of the crater was reached. A
| gully covered with loose stones and
| gravel, and slushy with melted snow,
| leads up to the mouth of the volcano and
along this gully the last part Of the
/ climb was made. Half an hours work
! of tedious climbing brought them to the
1 highest point As they reached this
l .fa, do fnh l,nd haln oh frt
! them for the last few hours. seemed to
| break away, and there, spread out be-
fore them was magnificent panorama.
! One of the gentlemen describes it as
| follows:
| '.The panorama was something
| that is hard to describe, it was
such a wonderful and beautiful
| sight. Thirty miles of country
We're stretched out in front of us, pre-
/ senting vast variety of scenes and pic
| lures Far in the distance could be seen
| the white walls of Toluca, and nearer
| were the pretty little villages of San
1 Juan, Tenango, Zfnacatepec, and Las
! Huertas. Numbers of great haciendas
| could be seen with their luxuriant
growth of vegetation. At our feet was
| the almost perpendicular side of the cra-
1 ter: below on the mountain slopes were
| burnt fields of lava until the tree-line
l Was TodcHcu, tIilS Will puSuSS
| foot in height, gradually increased un-
| til the great belt of pines was reached. 81
The rim of the crater is of uneven
| height The crater is seven and one-hali
/ miles and over 1000 feet in depth. 1t is
| one of the largest craters in the world
| 1t is divided into two great basins. sep
| arated by a wall of rock In the largest
| of the divisions Is the Lake of the Sun, .
| beautiful but somber body of water
one mile in length and of unfathomable
| depth. The Government survey party
| was unable TO touch bottom with all the
rope that it had. The water is very cleal
and has no trace of sulphur In the
| smaller division is the Lake of the
| Noon:
| The descent to the crater was an easy
/ matter. Close to where they ascended
| was steep glacis of sand and gravel
| and down this they walked, digging theil
| heels into the loose sand. The return tc
the summit was as difficult as the de-
| scent was easy. The almost perpendicu-
| lar sides gave no foothold, and it was
1 necessary to crawl to the top. The re
| turn was made just in time, as a grea
| snowstorm soon after swept over tn,
| mountain, enveloping everything in it
| chilly mantle.