The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-07-27

1 guide buckles about his waist 8 sharp Ieutiass, the reason for which Is not disclosed until after the ascent begins. Other natives join the party to carry the bread. fish and cake. which they arrange on trays and carry balanced on their heads. From Calabasse the ascent is a sheer climb of $500 feet Before half 8 mile Is traversed the worst feature of it is encountered. In every hollow and seemingly under every rock one comes upon the dead ly fer-de-lance, the scourge of Martin 1 ique. Snakes from two to six feet long curl up along the way, ready to spring and. here. the guide makes use of his cuttass. To feel the fangs of one of these creatures, he feiiH you, would
 mean death within an hour
 On the slopes the heat of the sun is intense; no vegetation has taken root here, and what formerly existed is buried to a depth of hundreds of feet In volcanic matter. Climbing for the Northerner. is nothing less than hardship; there is a narrow footpath. distinguishable only Do the guide, sometimes running into deep caverns where the fer-de-lance abounds. and at other times skirting the edge of precipice of volcanic rock, which mo. mentarily seems about to crumble and drop its burden two or three hundred feet below.
 Streams Hot aud Geld. Inpumerable streams, some almost boiling hot and others ley cold. cross the path at frequent intervals. At times the ascent Is up precipitous walls and again it is on all fours over giant rocks, which tear the clothes and scratch the skin.
 So the climber goes on until through his exertion in the heat he is ready to rest and take nourishment. He has now gone, say, to an elevation of 1000 feet. and below him the whole Island of Martinique lies in panorama. its hundreds of peaks standing out clear and distinct in the blue atmosphere.
 Once more the climb begins The air grows rariied and q chili comes over the climber. Snakes no longer infest the path, which now even the guide has difficulty in following. At thousand feet from the top steam occasionally rises from a crevfce in the rock. Again, a cloud of sulphur ous hydrogen makes breathing difiicult but otherwise the climbing is just as before. there is no sound, no motion. only the intense quiet where no life of any kind exists.
 Five hundred feet more and the party is drenched by a mist that chi1ls to the bone. Rum is taken to ward off pIeurisy and to again Timber the joints that the sudden cold has made stin. Courage which may have fal- tered an hour ago. is now revived, for the summit is in sight Now there Is no path and with eachS step tip there is shifting of the volcanic ashes. ss when one walks through the fine sand bn the beach.
 The ascent is so steep that walking erect is impossible and for the last few hundred feet of the trip the trav- eIers go on all sours. Once the sum init is reached the view is ample re- ward for all the efforts of the climb Far below the red roofs of the three new buildings of St. Pierre give the only key of location. Their red has turned to a hazy pink, and through the misty distance the rest of the isl- and lies shrouded in a deep blue, so profound that land and seq seem to merge into one. To the other side lies the volcano's crater, dense with fog an dmist, unapproachable and forbid ding.
 Now and again. as the strong wind moves the cloud the bed of the crater appears in feeting visions. There is no desire to go further. and the deso- latiop produces a feeling of the most utter detection. So quiet Is 1t that the wind passing through hollow and over high In the crater seems to issue a mighty sigh. the voice of the souls ilb- erated by the demon of the mountain. at the sound of which the guide kneels in reverent prayer.