Year: 1869

opening into the central fires of the
earth, that is never closed. 1t is
| Symmes' Hole, except that Captain
Symmes supposed il to be an inn
mense opening where the water flowed
into and through the earth, while
here in fact heat and electricity flow
out. The electricity is manifest by
the shocks il gives, as well as by its
flashes, the shocks increasing in
intensity as one approaches the
ehasm- have tried many points OF
view, as near as / could venture 10
the opening, but could nowhere see
anything but the black Jagged rocks
and the rising flame, or radiated light,
/ for it is not actual flame. The APP
! pearance is as if it were the opening
I of au immense furnace. 1t is not
like any volcano / have seen, for it
throws out nothing but light, heat
and electricity, and there is no noise
besides the cracking of the electricity
as it reaches the cold upper air. As l
sit watching it with profound interest
| much regret the want of that sci
entific knowledge that would enable
me better to comprehend and describe
this tenth wonder of the world.


The climate and productions of
Wahno are peculiar, as may be sup
posed from its situation and circum-
stances, so unlike those of any other
known country. The difference
between summer and winter is but
slight The sun makes the long day
of summer somewhat lighter than
that of winter, but / doubt if the
thermometer would show much diff
ference of temperature. The average
heat, as l feel it, in the inhabited
belt. about half way between the
mountains, and the great ehasm, is
like that of winter in the topics. The
vegetation ranges from tropical to
artic, according to distance from the
central fire, and the heat of the soil
comes quite as much from beneath as
from the air. Vegetation, however,
is diminutive, ranging nowhere to
more than a fourth OF the hight of
the same trees and shrubs in the
temperate and torrid zones, and the
foliage and fruit are remarkably dry
and hard. This is no doubt caused
by the constant heat and the want of
rain, for it never rains, and snow falls
only upon the mountains and their
foothills. The only water of the
valleys comes in little brooks from
the melting snow on the mountain
sides, and it is along the valleys
watered by these brooks that trees and
shrubs grow which furnish food for
the people. There is also a species of
pine, or spruce, growing near the
mountains in the cones of which are
very highly favored and nutritious
nuts, and the supply of these are
-,
the lower part OF the valley are in
perpetual flower and fruit, and no.
where else have l found the flowers
so generally or so delightfully."- fra
grant. Even the dry intervals
between the brooks, where there is
no appearance of moisture, are thick
ly covered with a Towering moss,
which sends forth q most delicate and
eXhilarating Odor as it is crushed
under foot. 1t is upon this moss that
the people sleep, and no couch could
be softer or sweeter. There is a con-
stant and gentle breeze from the
mountains toward the central chasm,
which occasionally, but not often, is
unpleasantly cool. The clouds come
up over the mountains and sometimes
ovcrhang the outer edge of the valley,
but the current of heated air drives
them back, and there is always clear
sky over the center of the valley.
The fruits of the country | will de-
scribe when l know them better, /
have at length learned to satisfy my
appetite with them. Indeed L re-
Psa-ted' my least OF duck but three or
four times, partly because of the
horror and repugnance it excited in
my neighbors, but more because my
appetite gradually diminished and my
taste changed, so that I now prefer
the vegetable food of the country,
and do not require more than four OF
five times as much as one of these
human birds around me. l am
growing thin, too, and white and
spectral, no doubt, yet with no
feeling of illness and though my
muscular strength is less, my vivacity
and enjoyment of life were never
greater, except when thoughts of
Gertrude and home make me wretch
ed. But can not hope to rejoin my
friends in this world, and / feel my
self as widely separated from them as
if were already in the land of spirit.


MARRIAGE To a wAHNO BEAUTY.


1t is now the winter of 1862, as l
compute time. 1t is seven years since
last wrote in this journal, though
have recorded in that time some old
fragments of experience and Observa-
ton. The whole period, as l look
back upon it, is almost q blank
There is one portion of it l wish |
could make wholly so. have de
scribed elsewhere the ideas and habits
of the WahnOs as to marriage. /
regret to say that, though l do not
approve their custom, | have not
been faithful to Gertrude. One of
the most beautiful of the golden
haired girls around me offered herself
10 me rs my bride, about three
summers ago. 1 do not believe 1
should ever have made the first ad-
vances to any one of the Wahno
women, but when 1 saw how truly
the little Monen $50 she was calledj
loved me, the sense of my homeless
ness and desolation, and the thought
that was as utterly lost TO Gertrude
as if dead, cOnspiIed with awakened
passion to begHile me, and | yielded.
felt, too, that marriage with so frail
and spiritual a creature could be little
more than play, and called her my
doll wife. But her love was fatal TO
her, as L ought TO have foreseen that
it would be, and / now sit half my
time, repenting, at the grave which
holds my sweet Monen and her un-
horn child. God forgive me! am
sure l did not deliberately wrong her,
and l came truly and tenderly to
love and cherish her after our mar
riage. Since her death l feel that 1
must soon escape from this country or
die. grow so desperate at times that
I think will embark upon the boat
that brought me here, which / have
carefully preserved, and risk the
perils of arctic ice and cold for the
small chance of being driven by
wind and tide to some part of the
world whence l can again reach my
beloved Elbe and my home.


PREPARATIONS FOR THE HOME vOY-


AGE.


1t is the summer of lS64-July, /
think. After more than a years
labor, l have my boat ready for its
perilOus, ami nearly hopeless voyage.
| have made myself double suits of
clothing, very warm, from the skins
of the mountain squirrels, with sew
erai blankets of the same. l have
filled my boat with the most nutriOus
fruits, taking a large supply of the
dried tcne, which will answer the
purpose of brandy if / become cold
and exhausted. My plan is TO get