296 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



from the crater. They all ran for tlicir lives. ^Nlr. Pheliis bid under an over- 

 hanging rock, vvlik'h sheltered him from the rocks Avhich brushed past him as 

 they fell. T.aiice firaham was a few feet away and was struck by a flying rock, 

 which cut a great gash in his shoulder, piercing the thoracic cavity, and broke 

 his collarbone. He was left on the mountain for dead for a time, but was after- 

 ward removed witli great difficulty, and is now recovered. Another of their 

 party ran (h>wn the niouiitnin and, coming to a snowdrift, slid down the mountain 

 like a shot. The cloud of smoke kept pace with him, and when he reached the 

 bottom of the snowdrift he found a clump of bushes and, diving into it, buried 

 his face in the snow to keep out the blinding smoke and ashes. The smoke is 

 described as c;iusing the blackest darkness, black as the darkest night. 



The six photographs taken of tliis eruption bv ]\[r. T^ioomis from a 

 point at an elevation ol about 5,000 feet and nearly six miles to the 

 northwest oL' Ijasscn I'eak are among the best that have been taken. 

 The view icprfxhiced in figure 2 is numl)er three of the series and shows 

 the steaui and a<li at about one half the height to which the}' were jDro- 

 jected some ten or fifteen minutes later. 



The writer's first trip to the mountain since the eruptions began 

 was made by the Southern Pacific I'aiiroml to lied Bluff, thence by stage 

 to Morgan Springs, a resort nine nulcs southerly in an air line from 

 the peak and locati'd in a valley nearly .-),000 feet aiiove the sea. The 

 week froui dune 21 to 28 during which uo eruption occurred was spent 

 on the mnuuiain or at its base. Some of tlie hot springs and solfataras 

 at the base of Lassen Peak were visited on the twent3'-first and found to 

 exhibit no unusual activity (see Figs. 7 and 8). From June 23 to 25, 

 rainstorms, with snow on the higher levels, jjievented a visit to the 

 crater, with any jjossibility of photographic work. ()n the twenty-sixth, 

 and the twenty-eighth, the sky was clear, and the new crater was visited 

 and photographed from various points of view. Both tri|)s were made 

 from the hotel at Morgan as a l)ase. The ride on horsel)ack to tlie foot 

 of the volcanic cone proper at that time took almost four houi's, the 

 latter half being over snow from ten to twenty feet deep. After leav- 

 ing the boi'ses the climb to the top can be made in less than an hour. 

 The new crater has frequently been described as being located on the 

 south slope of the north peak; this peak. hoAvever. is merely a fragment 

 of the northern portion of tlie walls of the ancient ci'ater. The rela- 

 tions of the new opening to the old volcano are better appreciated by 

 describing it as an ojiening not in the center, but on the north side of 

 the much eroded l)owl of the crater. The central depression of the old 

 crater is ])r<)bably over three hundred feet below the higher points of 

 the old rim. Tlie wall of the old crater has been deeply l)reacbed both 

 on the east and on the west, and in sunnner the melting snow in the 

 depression now drains westward, altlKuigb there is not enotigh surface 

 water to make any regular channel. A'olcanic dust or '" ash "' from the 

 different eruptions has been rejiorted as falling from ten to twenty 

 miles fioni the peak, the anionni and direction varying with tlie wind. 



