SUMMER DAYS AT MOUNT SHASTA 



we look in vain for any sure plan of an ancient 

 crater. The extreme sununit is situated on the 

 southern end of a narrow ridge that bounds 

 the general sununit on the east. Viewed from 

 the north, it appears as an irregular blunt point 

 about ten feet high, and is fast disappearing 

 before the stormy atmospheric action to which 

 it is subjected. 



At the base of the eastern ridge, just be- 

 low the extreme summit, hot sulphurous gases 

 and vapor escape with a hissing, bubbling 

 noise from a fissure in the lava. Some of the 

 many small vents cast up a spray of clear hot 

 water, which falls back repeatedly until wasted 

 in vapor. The steam and spray seem to be 

 produced simply by melting snow coming in 

 the way of the escaping gases, while the gases 

 are evidently derived from the heated interior 

 of the mountain, and may be regarded as the 

 last feeble expression of the mighty power that 

 hf ted the entire mass of the mountain from the 

 volcanic depths far below the surface of the 

 plain. 



The view from the sununit in clear weather 

 extends to an immense distance in every direc- 

 tion. Southeastward, the low volcanic portion 

 of the Sierra is seen like a map, both flanks as 

 well as the crater-dotted axis, as far as Lassen's^ 

 , * An early local name for what is now known as Lassen 

 53 



