BASE OF POPOCATEPETL. 



201 



while every other part of the outline was perfectly clear 

 and well defined.- , 



I have mentioned elsewhere, that Diego Ordaz, one 

 of the officers of Cortez, made an attempt to reach the 

 crater, on their first advance to the capital. He was, 

 however, forced to leave his hardy project unachieved, 

 the mountain being in a state of actual combustion, He 

 must have been a bold adventurer, for in those days, a 

 volcano in eruption was not considered a thing to play 

 with, by crowds of well-dressed gentlemen and ladies, 

 as in the present age. 



I have elsewhere given the height of Popocatepetl, 

 as determined by Humboldt and Bonpland, at 17,884 

 feet* 



At San Mateo, we were courteously received and 

 entertained by the simple Indian inhabitants, under the 

 authority of their alcalde, an old man, speaking no 

 language but that of his race. We were lodged in a 



* It may interest the reader to know that four days after our visit the 

 ascent to the volcano was effected by the gentlemen above named. 



On the morning of the 27th of April, Baron Gros, M. de Gerolt, and 

 Mr Egerton, set out from Zacualpam Amilpas, and reached Ozumba 

 on the afternoon of that day. Here they procured guides from the 

 village of Alautia, and commenced the ascent the following morning, 

 reaching the Vaqueria, a chalet which is the highest point inhabited, at 

 one p.m. At three p.m., after passing through a zone of noble oaks, 

 firs, and larch, they attained the limit of vegetation. Here, at about one 

 third of the ascent, commence tracts of deep purple sand, strewed with 

 blocks of porphyry. They spent the night just within the shelter of the 

 dwarf forest, Fahrenheit's thermometer standing at fifty degrees. 



On the 29th, at three a.m., they resumed the climb in the moonlight, 

 with three guides and Mr. E's servant, proceeding in a zigzag up the 

 sand. At nine they reached the Pico del Frayle, a pile of red rocks, of 

 about a hundred feet in perpendicular elevation. Here the Indian 

 guides abandoned the enterprise. Thus far the way had been fatiguing, 

 but not dangerous. After one hour's rest they proceeded, finding the 

 ascent much more difficult, till they reached the snow line. At this 

 time all suffered severely from the rarity of the air. M. de G. finally 

 reached the highest point at half past two, and his companions scon fol- 

 lowed. They describe the crater to form an abyss of a circular form, and 

 three miles in circumference, with perhaps a depth of a thousand feet. 

 There is a break towards the east. The side walls are perpendicular. 

 Vapours rise from several orifices, but rarely reach the edge of the 

 crater. Here the adventurers staid one hour, and then, at five p.m., 

 descending, reached their halting place in the wood. The following 

 day, the 30th of April, they returned to the foot of the mountain. They 

 state distinctly that Iztaccihuatl exhibits no signs of a crater, 



