IX TA CCIHA UTL. 113 



measurements of Ixtaccihuatl. On the day following we 

 started with three guides and carriers. 



Our road was at first the same as that upon which we 

 travelled on our way to Popocatepetl, but soon branched off 

 to the left, and continued in a direction at right angles to 

 that road. We soon entered a path bordered on either side 

 by hedges of trees and shrubs, and with a viaduct on our 

 right, through which a stream of clear water was running. 

 The path was very stony and the riding uncom'^ortable, but 

 the scene about us interesting enough to compensate for 

 this. The trees, in one spot, met above, forming a perfect 

 arbor. 



This path led to a wider one which crossed a stream, 

 and then began to gently ascend. As we turned a corner, 

 a beautiful field of green grass met our view on the left. 

 The road soon became very steep, and difficult to ascend. 

 By the roadside were many beautiful flowers, and we vvere 

 tempted now and then to dismount and pick some of them. 

 We soon entered a thick forest of pine and spruce, and for 

 a time the scenery was much like that on Popocatepetl. 

 When about half way up w^e passed, on our right, an ex- 

 tinct crater with shattered and jagged walls, looking as if 

 the volcano had given one last eruption and blown the 

 crater wall away. Birds were very numerous here, but were 

 the same as those seen on the other mountains. 



About the middle of the day we came to a position in 

 the road which skirted a deep gorge on the left, and here 

 the scenery was grand. Way off on the other side were 

 huge, basaltic columns, standing out in bas-relief against 

 the face of the lava field. The lava fields here were ter- 

 raced, the terraces running back almost as far as the eye 

 could reach. Over one part of this field a little stream was 

 coursing, and as it reached the last terrace, dropped to the 

 valley below in a beautiful waterfall several hundred feet in 



