Four Mexican Volcanoes. 



97 



Nevado de Toluca, or Xintecatl 



Ixtaccihuatl 



Popocatepetl 



Pico de Orizaba, or Citlaltepetl 



15,170 feet 

 17,340 feet 

 17,520 feet 

 18,700 feet 



They are alike in many ways. They all rise from level 

 plateaus excepting Orizaba, which has a plateau on the 

 west, but slopes down to low country on the east. With 

 the exception of Ixtaccihuatl, which is at least three miles 

 long and has no crater, they are cone-shaped, as volcanoes 

 are wont to be ; have smooth, sloping sides and lack the 

 gorges, rocky cliffs, and other water and ice-formed 

 features that characterize the Sierra. Water is scarce. 

 What few streams there are issue low down on the 

 mountainside and are quite small. Ixtaccihuatl is built 

 of more solid rock than the other three. Consequently 

 small streams come out from under the glaciers and flow 

 above ground, instead of sinking through ashes and por- 

 ous lava. Like most volcanoes, each stands alone, un- 

 supported by smaller companions. I am not enough of a 

 geologist to describe the rocks of which these mountains 

 are composed ; but they are, of course, entirely of igneous 

 origin: andesites, porphyries, etc., and their color is dull 

 gray or brownish. It is the snow that makes the mount- 

 ains good to look at, and snow, being the same the world 

 over, needs no description. There is little volcanic ash, 

 for which the climber is duly thankful. 



The lower slopes are well covered with soil, which 

 supports forests composed of one or two varieties of pine 

 and a species of fir. The trees are small, or of moderate 

 size, and there is no underbrush. The ground is well 

 covered with a kind of bunch-grass called zacaton. There 

 are few flowering plants, and animal life is almost en- 

 tirely lacking. In all my trips I have seen but one 

 rabbit, no squirrels or chipmunks, and few birds. There 

 may be deer or coyotes, but I have not seen any. Snakes 

 of all kinds are scarce in this part of Mexico, in spite of 

 the fact that school histories state the incident depicted 



