1894 
Volcano of 
Tuxtla 
i 
the hushes and scrubby trees made dense thickets. Prom 5000 ft. up the 
f r - S ' , Y , J $ -,'V 1 1 ' ^ . <• • > t , t 
main vegetation is in the form of bushes among tdiich are great patches 
of the Arreyan 
■whose winter green-like odor 
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filled the air. Great patches of orchids growing on the ground imbedded 
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in masses of ground pine were passed over and in many places spongy mosses 
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■ " , ’ \ )\ '] * ’ ’ v • t i ' > ; . j t . 
a foot or more deep carpetted all the ground among the close-growing low 
trees and bushes. Finally we came out on the sum it and could look down 
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4 , , ■ t , ♦ ;♦ , > ‘ > 1 ; 
into the crater. 5fhere are two of these.- one of which, the later one 
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i • - 
\ _ ■ , t 
lying on the southwest side, is the most perfect and has out off a par- 
tion of the older crater. The southern and southwestern walls are much 
the highest and form the highest point of the mountain,- 5650 ft, on SW 
side. On these sides are some cliffs, on other sides the craters are 
of easy access down easy slopes and the walls have a rounded top. The 
* " ’ i 
sides and tops of crater walls are overgrown with grass, bushes, and 
small trees and the bottoms are rather open and covered with grass. The 
most recent crater is about 600 by 500 yards in size and must be 700 or 
f ■' . .* i 
800 ft. deep from the top of the highest point cm border. The last two 
eruptions of this volcano were within historical time. The first in 
1664 and the last March 2, 1793. The entire country to the south and 
southwest of this volcano for 6 or 8 miles in a straight line is covered 
with layers of volcanic sand of unknown depth, The vegetation on the 
sides of the volcano grows in this sand and has made only 1 to 2 or 3 
inches of vegetable mould during the past century. In many places the 
mossy and orchidaceous growth may be stripped off in large flakes several 
feet across leaving the unmixed sand of the last eruption exposed. All 
about the slopes of the volcano and adjacent ridges nothing but sand can 
be seen but at the base of the main slopes about the grassy llanos al¬ 
ready mentioned are some broken lava beds. The forest on the sloping 
plain from base of the volcano toward San Andres contain numbers of 
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