Four Mexican Volcanoes. loi 



point about half way between the gap by which we had 

 entered and the peak, where we dismounted and con- 

 tinued on a level around the inside of the crater wall, 

 crossing some rocks and tongues of snow, to a point 

 almost directly beneath the summit where we began the 

 ascent straight up over rocks and ash. As I said before, 

 Mr. Andrew Lawson's card was at the top, together with 

 a number of other signatures, mostly of Mexicans, bear- 

 ing various dates. The previous night we had met at 

 Calimaya two Frenchmen who had just made the ascent, 

 but they had not left their names. The view was good. 

 The land slopes down to the "Hot Country" on the south 

 and west ; to the north lies the level valley of Toluca, and 

 to the east the range which divides it from the valley of 

 Mexico. Clear beyond are beautiful snow-covered Ixtac- 

 cihuatl and Popocatepetl. 



In descending we made straight for the large lake, 

 running and jumping down over the ash-covered slope. 

 It was growing late, and as the sun went down behind 

 El Pico del Aguila, wonderful colors spread over the rocks 

 and danced on the ash-covered crater walls. Half of the 

 lake lay deep sea-green in the sunlight while half melted 

 back into the purple shadow of the rocky wall. The sun 

 was still shining when we reached the gap, but darkness 

 overtook us before we reached the level and we passed 

 from the cold of the summit to the warmer atmosphere 

 of the gently sloping sides. We missed the Toluca train 

 by an hour and had to spend another night at the little inn 

 in Calimaya; but a good hot bath when we reached 

 Toluca next morning made up for that. 



Who does not remember reading about Popocatepetl 

 in his school geography ? What a fascinating sound that 

 word Popocatepetl (that's the way they pronounce it 

 here) has ! It is only one of the many strange names 

 that lie scattered over the map of Mexico. I formerly 

 imagined Popocatepetl to be a small, conical mountain, 

 with a bottomless, perpendicular hole a yard or two in 

 diameter in the middle of it. Perched on the edge of the 



