The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-07-23

their help he succeeded In making his way, to
| cordinR to his story he and his two companions
were in search Of game near tho he1dw9ter. OF
| q river probably the KOtsnal. and leaving the
! river struck across a range Of mall mountains.
| one OF the men declaring that there was fine
hunting country on the other side when they
! reached tho TOP o. this range they found
| themselves looking across narrow valley at
the highest mountain any OF them had ever
! umcs Of dense black smoke. lmmoIiatey
| they became possessed Of IN irrcsistible de-
sire to ascend tho mountain and warm them;
selves at the smoking mouth, They descended
| into II desc late valley and began the ascent of
h" was ng, Gn n" "sdrn nE as sh tRe
but after they had climbed several hours they
lost thor way. The rciatpr OF the tale found
shelter between two lava formations. whore he
remained while his companions went forward
and disappeared IN the curtain ot snow; sud
denly the snowfall ceased and the Indian:
Looking above, saw MS two, compan, Ions
beings which whirlcd aoft. in the air further
han the eye could reach. giving fortha terrific
see the two terrified men rushing hither and
thithcr in their efforts 70 avoid the monsters.
aoft and torn to pieces ' At this d rcadu
sight the watcher was possessed OF an insane
IMPULSE to rrsh forward to The fate which hls
against II. 1t proved too strong to- be overcome.
aud h. leapch from his shelter and rushed,uG
into lava crevicr and lost his senses. When
he recovered, the madness was gone. and thcre
terror. which meyer left him to the time OF his
death. lie fed down the mountain, and wan
dcrcd for days before being picked w by the
The legend OF tho irrcstst bile attraction OF
the volcano isparalleled in other bits OF Alaskan
folklore which ascrihes to othe. volcanic peaks
Beings to their .Ies'raciion. in the AieutGn
Islands. many OF which are volcanic, there are
Il number Of cases. apparently well ,authen-
ticatcG. in which Indians have rushed TO the
without known motive Tor suicide. This would
seem to indicate some powerful Influence OF
Volcano oyer the savage mind. The same
tiyrs OF the ilawaian islands. No other noun
tain IN Alaska is regarded with such awe asI
its extreme inaccsssitiity and the ac-
tiyity OF various other, volcanic peaks.
Tht that m% @s I e the esnH HSsnt i
gigantic animals. who dcvour all intrudcrs.
The greatest ri these creatures is said to be q
huge white bear who inhabits the crater and
lives on flames and issues forth with terrible
rparings only when III" privacy, OF his retreat
the mountain; and the gsysrr SPIRITS are his
mini"lr So thoroughly lmhued with terror OF
the mountain are the. natives now that i Is
tho fabulous hunt ne grounds on tho further
side It tn" mysterious mount il ever explored
Whoever unortaEes the exploration will do
50 at the peril of his life, from the very real
1879 Lieut.. Aleu-. L. $. A.. went up the Copper
RIVER and got within forty miles OF the peak.
hut could 40 no further. In 1890 q party led by
I. II. Wells of Cincinnati came down from the
Yukon River TO the north ana got within about
forty miles Of Mount Wrangcl, but were forced
To- turn back from want of food. and almost
died Of want before they were picked up by a
band OF Indians. Tho description given Ivy
Mcssrs. Condor and Dyelbiss-who. by the
way, we're not looking for tho mountain but
wore prospecting and found many traces OF
gold and copper. the latter extremely rich
does not hold out alluring prospects. They
say that there WAS not Il trace OF vegetation
on the mountain or even in the Alley
around it. not 80 much as bush though It
was summer when they were there. The
mountain itself was mass If ice. snow and
hardened lava. The gfyscrS and tho eXuding
masses Of smoke wrrC tho only signs of activi-
~. They found no traces OF game amt only
Il lew signs Of mountain sheep. though the In
dinns told them that the place was infested
with bears of great fcrocity and size. Thor
testimony. together with that Of the explorers
who have approached tho mountain from the
other side, is sufficient to show that it lies in a
dead region and that the Taral tradition of a
fertile slope j. pure legend.