212 MEXICO. 
gigantic shadows of the volcano lay over the western levels even to the 
distant horizon. 
At half-past eight the party had attained the Pico — and in the shelter 
of the porphyrytic rock that shoots upward near two hundred feet, they 
made a slight and comfortable breakfast. But as no promises could in- 
duce the Indians to go farther, they were obliged to leave behind many 
of their most valuable instruments, and among them, a theodolite, with 
which they had designed making some interesting observations and ex- 
periments on the summit. They took, however, a barometer and a 
Daniell's hygrometer, and set out, accompanied by Mr. Egerton's servant, 
(a youth of eighteen) the only person who mustered courage to accom- 
pany them. 
A spur of rocks which strikes upward from the Pico del Fraile impeded 
their progress in a direct line, and it became necessary to strike off east- 
wardly through a deep ravine formed by one side of this spur or crest, 
and a similar spur that descends in that direction from the summit. 
This ravine faces the south, and through its comparatively warmer bed 
the melting snows discharge themselves into the vale of Amilpas. They 
continued ascending over the bottom of the barranca at an angle of thirty- 
five degrees, finding but little snov/, although the eternal limit of it was 
two or three thousand feet below them. After three hours of difficult and 
dano-erous labor, on the sharp and slippery surface of the rocks, they 
reached the upper end of the gorge where it terminates in the solid lava 
forming the dome of the volcano. Thenceforward their path was con- 
stantly over snow, and, although they frequently sank through it up to 
their waists, they describe the difficulties as less than while passing the 
slippery rocks and sands of the washed barranca. Over these snows 
they zig-zagged for a while longer — stopping at almost every step to 
gather strength and breath, until, at half-past two, they stood upon the 
lofty summit. 
Until that moment they had observed no symptoms of a crater ; — but the 
vast gulf now burst upon them at once, yawning at their feet, filled with 
curling vapors that rose to near the edge and mingled with the clouds. 
The highest point of the crater is described by Mr. Von Gerolt as lying 
to the westward, and the lowest to the east. Its shape is that of an 
irregular ellipse, the greatest diameter of which is between the NE. and 
SE. This he estimates to be nearly five thousand feet, while the shorter 
is about a thousand less, making the whole circumference of the crater, 
therefore, nearly a league. Its rough walls plunge to a depth of a thou- 
sand feet, and the bottom (although of the same shape) has not the same 
huge dimensions as th^ upper rim. 
As the sun penetrated the lowest depths of the crater, our travellers 
distinctly saw its base, from which two fountains of sulphur constantly 
poured forth a whitish smoke that rested on the rocks of the steep walls, 
and deposited its residuum among the cracks and crannies. The base 
and sides appeared to be entirely crusted with sulphur, and they judged 
