Two Nights in a Crater [pp. 308-316]

Two Nights in a Crater.
and sulphur fumes began to reach us, and
these together with the rarefied air soon
played sad havoc with our party. Intense
fatigue with throbbing pains in head and
limb made life a burden. Sport, romnance,
spirit of adventure went to the winds. It
was now grim labor and the instinct of selfpreservation. Not even the glorious panorama of God's earth beneath us had power
to divert us from our sufferings. Conklin
finally gave out. He had complained at the
snow line of pains in the chest, but kept
pluckily on. Now he could go no further.
To go back was out of the question, so we
placed him in charge of two Indians, with
instructions to get him up the best way they
could. Step by step and inch by inch the
rest of us kept on, and at last, five hours after
passing the snow line, we found ourselves on
the verge of an awful chasm.
The first view of the crater is startling.
There is no preparation for it; nothing in
sight as you struggle upward to indicate its
presence. You find yourself suddenly
stopped on the edge of a wall of ice, and
looking into a smoking gulf two thousand
feet deep. It is a perfect picture of death
and desolation, and as you stand there with
throbbing temples -wonder stricken the
gloomy abyss seems still more death-like from
contrast with the beautiful world on every
side.
The form of the crater is nearly circular
- slightly elliptical with the elongation
extending from north to south. It is entered
from the north, where the lip of the opening
is lower than at any other point. Although
in reality over three miles in circumference,
its immense depth and abrupt sides make it
appear smaller. One might fancy he could
throw a stone across it, but he could not.
On every side the mountain rises to a sharp
comb, bordering on the chasm, and in one
or two places only is there sufficient room for
a man to stand. The highest peak of the
volcano is the southern lip of the crater which
rises to a knife-blade edge. It is not possible to walk around the crater's rim to arrive
at this point; so, if you would reach it, you
must go down the mountain and come up
again on the other side. As a consequence
of this condition of things he who would enter
the crater cannot reach the supreme sky
point; and, vzice verisa, he who reaches the
sky point cannot get into the crater. This
difficulty may, of course, be overcome by
making two trips up the mountain; but the
man with sufficient ambition to do so for
pleasure is not yet on record. As it happens,
the difference in altitude between the northern and southern lips will not exceed two
hundred feet, and pilgrims to the lower point
are generally content with their achievement.
Marion and I had been the first to reach
this dizzy goal, and stretching ourselves along
the icy rocks we waited for the stragglers to
come up. Conklin's condition filled us with
anxiety, and we noticed with apprehension
that his attendants literally carried him as
they neared the summit. We hoped, however, that rest would restore him, and did not
anticipate the more serious experiences yet
awaiting him.
At three o'clock in the afternoon every one
was up, and a consultation was held as to
future movements. We had all made the
ascent with the expectation of spending the
night in the crater, but Conklin's condition
made us hesitate about lowering him into the
inferno. It seemed, however, that the only
alternative was to spend the night where we
were, which meant to freeze to death. To
descend the mountain was not practicable, as
the guides were all servants of GeneralOchoa,
and could not be spared. Besides, as the
General explained, it was too late in the day to
attempt the descent with a crippled man, and
would certainly result in disaster. Our best
plan, therefore, seemed the original one, and it
was decided to get down to the caves of the
sulphur miners at the bottom of the crater as
soon as possible. These dismal abodes could
not be distinguished from where we stood,
but far down into the depths of the smoking
abyss could be seen human figures moving
about like ants among the rocks, and we
were told that their burrows were close at
hand.
Waving adieu to the world, we clambered
down the wall of ice and found ourselves on
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[Mar.