the ascent of popocatepetl continued.—last steps of the upward journey.—loss of life on the mountain.—how three indians perished.—the crater of the volcano.—how the sulphur-miners exist.—dangers of the crater.—the solfataras.—caught in a storm.—view from the summit.—scenes in the crater.—a rapid descent.—tobogganing on a grand scale.—how the sulphur-mine originated.—no eruption in seven thousand years.—return to amecameca.—exploration of the surrounding country.—tombs and their contents.—curious instance of preservation.—monte sacro.—"modern antiquities."—indians worshipping the volcano.—experience with a ratero.
"the snow hardened a good deal as we neared the summit," continued frank; "in fact it was much more like ice than snow, and the walking became more difficult every minute. in some places it was as smooth as glass, and but for our outside stockings and the spikes in our shoes we would have been constantly slipping. even as it was we had a good many falls, but nobody was seriously hurt by them. there was no danger of a long slide down the mountain, as the guide took us along a route where there were many hummocks, or pillars of ice, so that we brought up against them whenever we had the misfortune to fall down.
"hurrah for the top!"
"our woollen mittens were a great protection to our hands, which often came in contact with these pillars and would have been cut by them, as their tops and edges were sharp. we are told that persons who have made the ascent without gloves or mittens
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[pg 298]
have had their hands so badly lacerated that they could not be used for days afterwards.
"we had no serious accidents, which is not always the case with parties making the ascent of old popo. sometimes the snow slides down in the form of avalanches, and occasionally the sand does the same thing. to be caught by one of these avalanches is almost certain death, but happily the guides know the mountain and its peculiarities so well that such accidents are rare. parties have been overwhelmed by storms of hail in the same way that a party on mont blanc lost their lives several years ago. considerable areas of sand and snow are sometimes set in motion by the tread of one's feet upon them, and the unfortunate climber who has caused it is carried down and dashed to death on the rocks below.
"one story that we heard was of three indians who were descending the volcano. one of them saw a depression in the snow like a furrow, and thought it offered an easy footing. he went to it, and suddenly disappeared from the sight of his companions. as they moved towards the place to ascertain what had happened, they felt the crust sinking beneath them, and had barely time to scramble back before a considerable area disappeared in a crevasse. no trace of the missing indian was ever found.
"it seemed as though our toil would never end, when suddenly fred, who was in advance, gave a shout and sat down. he swung his hat in the air, and i wondered what he meant by it.
"'here we are!' shouted fred; 'we're at the crater.'
the crater of popocatepetl.
"i hurried up as fast as i could, and sure enough there it was, a great chasm a thousand or more feet deep, and fully half a mile across. the sides narrow somewhat, so that a little way down you can make out pretty nearly all of the outline. the bottom of the crater can be called flat in a general way, though it is the farthest possible from the ideal of a ball-room floor. steam and the vapors of sulphur rise from solfataras scattered over the bottom, and from these solfataras the sulphur is constantly forming. the supply is inexhaustible, as the formation goes, on a great deal faster than the miners can remove the product.
"we scrambled down perhaps 200 feet, to where the edge of the crater hung over like a precipice. here there is a malacate, or apparatus for hoisting out the sulphur. the men working in the sulphur-mines descend and ascend by this apparatus; in fact there is no other way of getting in or out of the crater.
"our guide told us that the men run great risks, as stones are constantly falling from the sides of the crater, whence they are dislodged by the frost and by the action of the steam and sulphur jets. rumblings
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like the premonitions of an earthquake are frequently heard, and sometimes the ground trembles so much as to make one's footing unsteady. in addition to this is the effect of the sulphur, which rots the clothes of the men, and causes their teeth to fall out. they sleep in caves in the sides of the crater, and on two or three occasions a caveful of men has been
[pg 300]
overwhelmed and killed by the stony avalanche. altogether the place did not appear attractive as a residence, and i was not surprised to learn that the men receive high wages, and even at the rate of pay they are not easily obtained. they remain a month at a time in the crater without leaving it, and are then replaced by new men and allowed a vacation among their friends in the country at the base of the mountain.
bringing ice from the mountain.
"we could have been lowered down by the malacate, but concluded not to make the attempt. we could not do so without spending the night in the crater, and this we were not prepared for; doctor bronson would be waiting for us, and would fear some accident had happened; though, as for that matter, we could have sent one of the peons to tell him; and furthermore, we thought we should run more risk than we would be compensated for by the experience. a party of three gentlemen went down there a few weeks before we did, and one of them became exhausted, and his life was saved with great difficulty. our guide said, whether truthfully or not we don't know, that a german gentleman died there a few years ago, and since then the miners do not desire visitors among them.
"the crater is not at the top of the mountain, the highest point of popocatepetl being to the west of this great chasm, and about 1000 feet more elevated. it is a sharp cone, and so difficult of ascent that few have succeeded in reaching the summit. there is some dispute as to whether it has actually been ascended, as the government offers a reward of $500 to any one who proves that he has been to its top. some american gentlemen in the capital city say it has been done, but the difficulty of officially proving the accomplishment of the feat would be more than the value of the reward. hence it is not claimed at all; and consequently, the negative testimony favors the assumption that no one has yet scaled the height of popocatepetl.
"we remained nearly two hours on the summit, shivering in the cold air in spite of our thick overcoats, while at the same time the heat of the sun scorched our faces. while we were there a borrasca, or storm, came on, and the air was suddenly darkened. we sought shelter beneath a projecting rock, and watched the cloud of snow as it eddied and whirled around the crater. at such times it becomes so dark in the crater that the men cannot work; they retire to their caves and wait till the storm is over. at the same time the fires of the solfataras become very distinct, and recall the description of dante's inferno.
"the storm lasted about twenty minutes and then cleared away, the sun coming out as brightly as ever and the air growing comparatively still. these storms are rarely of long duration, but they are to be dreaded
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whenever they come; the temperature falls far below the freezing-point, and the wind blows a gale. but down in the crater it is warm enough, in consequence of the steam and heat from the solfataras. the snow melts as soon as it strikes the bottom, and renders walking a matter of difficulty.
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"the story of our descent of the mountain is quickly told. the workmen had dug a straight trench in the volcanic sand, and it is down this trench that they send the sulphur by the simple force of gravity. it is placed in sacks, the sacks are piled on a petate, or mat of bulrush, and when once started the mat and its cargo slide down with great velocity.
"for two reals each of us hired a petate of one of the men at the hoisting-works, and with our volcaneros to guide the impromptu toboggans, we went down with great rapidity and ease and without accident. it reminded us of the descent of vesuvius; the sand is much like that of the famous volcano of naples, and we were very glad to be able to make use of it.
"i said we came without accident; for the sake of exactness i must add that colonel watson was pitched out of his vehicle at the end of his ride, and stopped with his head and shoulders buried in the sand. fred had a similar experience, with the difference that he went in feet foremost; as neither suffered any injury, and was ready to laugh over the mishap, my original statement holds good.
pack-train from tlamacas.
"the doctor had gone back to the sulphur rancho at tlamacas, and thither we followed him as soon as we found our horses. it was too late to get to amecameca that evening, and so we had another night among the sulphur refiners. the sulphur is brought here just as it is dug from the crater of the volcano; it is refined at tlamacas and made ready for market, and is sent thence to amecameca on the backs of donkeys or mules. general ochoa says that in spite of its abundance he cannot compete at the coast towns with the sulphur from mediterranean ports, and his only market is in the interior of mexico. he intends to place some improved machinery at the edge of the crater, so as to reduce the expense of hoisting out the crude material; and in this way he hopes to lower his price. his plan is to run his machinery by means of the jet of air from one of the large solfataras, which he estimates at twenty horse-power.
"while we were absent on the mountain general ochoa's agent told doctor bronson the following story about how the general came to own the mountain:
"'serious attention to the richness and abundance of sulphur in the crater of popocatepetl was first called by baron von humboldt; the existence of sulphur in the crater was known long before, as the spaniards seem to have made use of it in the time of the conquest. in one of his letters to the emperor cortez says, "as for sulphur, i have already made mention to your majesty of a mountain in this province from which smoke issues; out of it sulphur has been taken by a spaniard, who descended
[pg 303]
seventy or eighty fathoms, by means of a rope attached to his body below his arms; from which source we have been enabled to obtain sufficient supplies, although it is attended with danger." there is other evidence that the conquerors obtained sulphur from the mountain, but their methods were of the most primitive character.
an improved refinery.
"'about the year 1850, an enterprising mexican named corchado visited the crater, and brought away samples of the sulphur, which he carried to puebla. a company was formed, and a considerable amount of sulphur was taken out, but owing to lawsuits and political troubles, the enterprise was soon abandoned. when general ochoa was a student in the mining section of the military college his tutor was a gentleman who had known baron humboldt, and was greatly impressed with his remarks about the value of the sulphur deposits in the volcano. through this gentleman's advice the general applied to the government for permission to work the deposits, and he obtained a concession that gave him control of the mountain down to the limit of vegetation. afterwards he purchased the rancho of tlamacas, and established a refinery there; he has spent a great deal of time in the crater, and as he is an able geologist he has much to say about it that is interesting.'
"according to his theory, which is based on the lignite formed at the bottom of the crater, there has not been an eruption of popo for seven thousand years; by that he means an eruption on a scale corresponding to the size of the mountain, and not an occasional disturbance, in which the
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crater throws up a few discharges of stones and an unusual quantity of steam and sulphur vapors. in prescott's 'history of the conquest of mexico' there is an account of an eruption in 1521, taken from a letter of diego ordaz, one of the captains under cortez; but modern writers think that ordaz mistook a violent thunder-storm on the summit of the volcano for an eruption. from what we saw at the crater we can readily believe that he made such a mistake.
looking from the top of popocatepetl.
"the view from the top of the mountain was the grandest we have ever taken, and one we will never forget while we live. the air is so clear that distance is strangely diminished; towns and villages that seem to lie at our feet are really many, many miles away, and as we looked to
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the eastward our guide told us that the streak of silver bordering the horizon was the gulf of mexico. mountain, valley, table-land, lakes, plain, forest, all were spread before us, and in the range of vision from the top of popocatepetl an area of twenty thousand square miles is said to be included. on one side of the mountain you can look down into the tierra caliente of the coast region, while on the other the eye is lost among the mountains and table-lands that stretch away until lost in the limitless distance."
so ends frank's account of their visit to the great mountain of mexico.
a dangerous place.
the party returned to amecameca, and determined to remain there a day or two to make some explorations in the vicinity, and also to rest from their fatigues. during their stay fred found the following description of a visit to the crater of popocatepetl by an artist, mr. frank kellott, which he carefully copied into his note-book. we have obtained the youth's permission to copy the account, and it is certain to interest our readers.
"we followed a narrow foot-path," said mr. kellott, "until we reached a shelf, where we were seated in a skid and let down by a windlass 500 feet or so to a landing-place. from this we clambered down to a
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second windlass and a second skid, which was the most fearful of all, because we were dangling about, without anything to steady ourselves, as we descended before the mouth of one of those yawning caverns which are called respiraderos, or 'breathing-holes' of the crater. they are so called from the fresh air and horrid sounds that continually issue from them. but we shut our eyes and clung to the rope as we whirled round and round in mid-air until we reached another landing-place about 500 feet lower. from this point we clambered down as best we could until we came among the men digging up cinders from which sulphur, in the form of brimstone, is made.
"we took no measurements while in the crater, and heights and distances can only be given approximately. we only know that all things are on a scale so vast that old pluto might here have forged new thunder-bolts, and milton's satan might have here found the material for his sulphurous bed. all was strange and wild and frightful.
"we crawled into several of the breathing-holes, but nothing was there except darkness visible. the sides and bottom were for the most part polished by the molten mass which had passed through them, and if it had not been for the ropes around our waists, we should have slipped and fallen we knew not whither. the stones we threw in were lost to sound unless they hit upon a projecting rock and fell from shelf to shelf. the deep darkness was fearful to contemplate. what must have been the effect when each one of these breathing-holes was vomiting up liquid fire and sulphur into the basin where we stood? how immeasurable must be the lake whose overflowings fill such a cavity as this!"
the region around the base of popocatepetl seems to have been densely peopled at some remote period, if we may judge by the ruins that lie scattered about, by the numerous tombs on the hills and in the valleys, and by the great quantity of pottery brought to light by excavations. some antiquarians who have made researches here think that the cradle of the human race is to be found in mexico, and that the people of this region gave the arts and sciences to egypt and the rest of the old world.
this conundrum was a perplexing one for our young friends. they did not try to solve it, but contented themselves with investigations on their own account.
the first object of their attention was monte sacro, which is in the town of amecameca. it is a volcanic hill about 300 feet high, and contains a grotto that was turned into a hermitage at the time of the conquest. a church was built there and a cemetery laid out, and as the traditions of the old time became mingled with those of later days, the
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place acquired great sanctity. it abounds in tombs, some of them very old, and there were strange figures upon many of these resting-places of the dead, which none of the party could decipher.
ruins of tlalmanalco.
at tlalmanalco, a few miles from amecameca, there are the ruins of a convent which was begun in the time of cortez, but was never finished. there are the fragments of walls, with a portico formed by five arches; these arches are supported by slender columns, which are covered with delicate carvings and suggest an oriental character; they reminded our friends of what they had seen in temples in india, and fred was so interested in them that he made a sketch of the ruins. according to m. charnay, the carvings were executed by indian artists, after designs furnished by the spaniards. that the arches have stood so long is proof of the excellence of their construction.
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burial-ground of tenenepanco.
all around this place great quantities of pottery have been unearthed. the story goes that thousands of vases and other precious things were found during the construction of the railway; they were divided among the contractors and are widely scattered, few, if any, of them ever having reached the national museum.
vases found at tenenepanco.
quantities of so-called antiquities were offered to our friends, but they had been warned long before and did not purchase any. the "antiquities" are modern, and so great is the demand for them that a considerable number of people is employed in their manufacture. the dealers heighten the imposition by enjoining great caution on the part of the purchaser, lest the government shall ascertain that he is in possession of the precious relic, and despoil him of it.
a few years ago an enterprising antiquarian spent several days in
[pg 309]
the neighborhood of tlamacas, on the very foot of popocatepetl. among other places, he examined the cemetery of tenenepanco, which seems to have been of considerable extent; he opened a great many tombs, and found that the bodies had mostly been buried in a sitting posture, after the manner of many ancient people. a curious circumstance which he discovered was that while the bones were so decayed that they crumbled to dust on being touched, the brain was very often intact and well preserved. he attributed this condition to the high elevation and the peculiar salts in the soil; one brain in particular was in perfect condition, while all the skull was mouldered away. he was in some doubt at first, but an examination showed that there was no mistake; the two lobes were there, and the lines of the blood-vessels were distinctly traceable. the same chemical combination that destroyed the bones preserved the soft tissues of the body.
he took out a great number of vases, cups, marbles, necklaces, toy chariots, kitchen utensils, beads, caricatures of warriors, and many other things illustrating the life of the people who made them. some of the cups were beautifully decorated, but unfortunately their exposure to the air caused the colors to fade. ordinary utensils of earthen-ware were very soft when brought to light, and had to be handled with the greatest care, but they hardened by exposure and were solid enough after a few hours.
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caricature of an aztec warrior.
the youths learned that one tribe of indians was accustomed to worship the great volcano as a deity at the time of the conquest, and the practice is still maintained. they have caves in the forest on the easterly side of the mountain, and once a year they go there to perform their worship; no stranger is allowed to accompany them, and any one who persists in following them runs the risk of his life. some years ago, so the story runs, an inquisitive white man followed a party of these indians into the forest, and was never seen again. what became of him is a mystery; the indians claimed that they knew nothing of his fate, and there is no positive proof to the contrary.
frank had an experience of the skill of the mexican thief during his stay at amecameca. he had dismounted from his horse in front of the hotel ferrocarril, and while he was busy arranging the stirrup on one side of the saddle, a thief crept up and stole the other one. he not only stole the stirrup but the strap that held it, and the youth was obliged to invest in another.
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"i'm surprised you've had nothing of the kind before," said the proprietor of the hotel when he heard of the occurrence. "that was the work of a ratero."
"what is a ratero?" frank asked.
"he's a thief peculiar to this part of mexico," was the reply, "or rather, i should say he belongs to the whole country, and the finest quality of him is produced around here. he will open and rob a trunk while carrying it on his back between the hotel and the railway-station; he will cut off the lining of a railway-carriage in less than two minutes, steal railway-ties, and anything else that he can lift; and as for ordinary thefts, his superior cannot be found anywhere. several years ago the authorities of this town decided to light it with petroleum lamps, but the very first night they did so the lamps were stolen by the rateros, and the town was in darkness as it had been before."
frank was able to add a few notes to what he and fred had already ascertained about mexican thieves. the youths discussed the subject, and came to the conclusion that the tropics produced more adroit pilferers than the temperate zones, at least such had been their experience.
"it is no wonder," said fred, "that these people have become experts in stealing. think how they have been despoiled by the spaniards, who stole their country and all it contained, and reduced the people to the condition of a subject race. no wonder they have sought to revenge themselves on their conquerors, and their mildness of conduct is to be greatly admired, in view of what they have suffered. the condition of a mexican peon is such that, if i may be permitted the paradoxical statement, he is obliged to steal in order to make an honest living."
thus musing, they returned to the city with the doctor and their late companions in the ascent of popocatepetl.
