THE GREATEST VOLCANOES OF MEXICO 



749 



NO. 9. the: picturesque costumes oe the guides 



ferent from the majestic wilderness of 

 the average large mountains. 



Easily accessible, it is often climbed. 

 It is only a pity that lack of enterprise 

 should so far have prevented the build- 

 ing of observatories at its summit, or 

 even proper accommodations at its base 

 for the mountain climbers. 



Photo No. I. Popocatepetl, with a 

 heavy mantle of clouds, as seen from the 

 summit of Iztaccihuatl. The opening of 

 Popo's crater is plainly visible. 



Photo No. 2 of Popocatepetl, 17,520 

 feet high, was taken from the half-way 

 house, at Tlamacas ranch, at an altitude 

 of about 11,500 feet. The peak on the 

 right, ''El Fraile," is about 15,000 feet 

 high. Its brick-red, vermilion, and black 

 rocks contrast with the glistening white 

 cone above and the slopes below, which, 

 covered with a layer of many feet in 

 thickness of fine volcanic dust of a gray- 

 ish black, give the mountain a quaint 

 'Velvet" look. 



The half-way house, now an aban- 

 doned shack, some 25 years ago served 



as a storage house for the sulphur smel- 

 ter installed at this point. All sulphur 

 taken from the crater at that time was 

 refined here, being native and of easy 

 treatment. 



Photo No. 3. "El Fraile" (The Friar) 

 peak. About 15,000 feet. It offers op- 

 portunity for the most difficult alpine 

 climbing. Below is seen the beginning 

 of a great gulch, showing on its sides 

 the extremely fine volcanic dust. 



Photo No. 4. The south and western 

 walls of the crater of Popo. The highest 

 point shown on the left is the summit of 

 the mountain, 17,520 feet above sea-level. 

 Along these walls are numerous steam 

 vents. At the foot of the walls on the 

 eastern side are located the sulphur vents, 

 from which thick white sulphur smoke 

 constantly issues, and whence the native 

 sulphur is taken. The crater, from the 

 highest point seen to where the camera 

 stood, its widest part, is estimated to be 

 over 2,700 feet in diameter, being almost 

 round in shape. Its depth to the lowest 

 point visible is about 900 or 1,000 yards. 



