scoriæ and the huge pieces of rock thrown out of this volcano and spread over the neighboring valleys would form, says Humboldt, were they heaped together, a colossal mountain. A remarkable volcanic explosion in Mexico has been recorded by Humboldt, when the volcano of Jorullo (having an elevation of between 1500 and 1600 feet above the surrounding plain) was raised in one night. Until the middle of the 18th century the plain from which this volcano rose consisted of cultivated fields. It was surrounded by basaltic mountains which seemed to indicate anterior volcanic convulsions. In June, 1759, frightful sounds proceeded from beneath the ground, accompanied by frequent earthquakes. These lasted fifty or sixty days, but had for some time ceased, when, on the 28th of September, they recommenced, and on the 29th, from three to four square miles rose up like a bladder. Flames spread over an area of from one to two miles square. Fragments of burning rock were thrown to prodigious heights; and, through a dense mass of cinders, the ground was seen by the light of the volcanic fire to be agitated like the sea. Two rivers, which before watered the plain, were precipitated into the burning crevices, and so incited the flames, that they were perceived on an extensive plain more than 4000 feet above the plain of the volcano. Eruptions of mud and clay, enclosing rounded masses of basalt, followed. Thousands of little cones, from six to nine feet high, rose from the surface, which, when visited by Humboldt, nearly fifty years afterwards, had a temperature of 203°; from some of them issued subterranean sounds, like those of a fluid in ebullition. Besides the chief mountain of Jorullo, five other hills, varying in height from 1200 to 1500 feet, rose from the same crevice. Immense quantities of lava, both scoriaceous and basaltic were discharged, and the eruptions did not cease till the following February. The houses in Queretaro, 144 miles distant, were covered by the cinders thrown up. It seems that the great event we have described was due to the maledictions of certain capuchin monks, who, having been badly received by the owner of the land where the fires broke out, took this mode of repaying his inhospitality. The great heat is to be succeeded by as great cold. So, at least, relate and believe the native Indians of that country. No less worthy of attention than the eruption of Jorullo, are those which unceasingly occur from the volcanic mountain situated on Stromboli, one of the Lipari islands. This volcano has been in activity from the earliest times. It discharges at present only scoriaceous rock, for though lava constantly bubbles up in its crater, it does not pass beyond the brink. The island is about twelve The formed on the surface. Before the lava reaches the edge of the crater, these bubbles burst with a loud report, and quantities of red-hot scoriæ, accompanied by smoke and ashes, are thrown out with extraordinary swiftness. The liquid mass then, as if relieved, sinks again within the crater. scoriæ, which are occasionally of several feet in diameter, are sometimes thrown to a height of 1500 feet. They either fall back again into the crater, or, being projected in a red-hot shower beyond the brink, roll into the sea. No flame is seen in the interior of the crater even at night, nor is the bursting of the globular masses accompanied by any appearance of this kind. A cloud of smoke always hovers over the crater, and the sulphurous ingredients mingled with it frequently render approach inconvenient. Vapors arise not only from the crater, but from numerous apertures in other parts of the mountain. Quantities of dust pervade the air and fall at some distance from the foot of the mountain in showers like small hail. It appears to be produced by the trituration the scoriæ undergo, one against the other, either in the air or in the course of their descent towards the sea. It is remarkable that, notwithstanding the incessant discharge of scoriaceous matter into the sea, its depth at the foot of the volcano appears to be unaltered. No doubt the frequent and violent storms, to which this part of the Mediterranean is subject, partly explain the circumstance. These seas appear, indeed, to have borne the same character from the earliest times; for the islands now known as the Lipari islands, formerly as Æolia, were the throne of Æolus, the god of the winds. Here, says Virgil * Vasto, rex Æolus, antro Luctantes ventos, tempestatesque sonoras But there is no allusion to a volcano, unless the lines immediately following Illi indignantes, magno cum murmure montis have reference to volcanic sounds. Stromboli is a most useful beacon to sailors navigating the neighboring sea. Its light is visible, at night, at a distance, it is said, of 100 miles. A curious variety of volcanic eruption is when an island is raised from the sea. This remarkable occurrence has occurred more than once within recent times. Two new islands were raised from the sea near the Kurile Isles, in the beginning of the present century, one of which had an elevation of 3000 feet. These islands rose from a sea more than 200 fathoms in depth. Two islands also rose, at different times, near the coast of Iceland. In 1811 an island (Sabrina) was thrown up to a height of 300 feet, off St. Michael's, in the Azores; but it soon disappeared. Graham Island rose from the sea in 1831. About a fortnight before the island appeared above the surface, shocks as of an earthquake were felt in a vessel passing over the spot. This was followed by waterspouts, and a risen 1800 feet into the air. Finally, a crater made its appearance. When first seen, it had a height only of twelve feet; it discharged scoriæ and immense columns of vapor. This was on the 18th of July. By the 4th of August, it had risen to 200 feet; after which it began to diminish, until, in miles in circumference, and the volcano is situated at the north western side of it; the present crater being about half way up the acclivity. The total height of the mountain is nearly 3000 feet, and it has two conical peaks; between them lies a plain, which appears to have formerly been a crater of eruption. The present crater is of a circular form, and has a circumference of about 340 feet. The discharge of dense steam, which was said to have sides are composed of a confused mass of lavas, scoriæ, and sand, and contract internally to form an inverted cone. To a person looking into the crater from above, the appearances are as follow: Redhot liquid matter resembling melted brass is seen whirling tumultuously round, which by degrees rises towards the brink, whilst huge bubbles are * Æneid, 1. v. 12, et seq. October, the island was nearly level with the sea. In 1833 there still existed a dangerous reef over the spot. The matter ejected by this crater consisted of scoriæ, pumice, and lapilli. No flow of Java occurred above the surface of the ocean, and the masses of matter rarely exceeded a foot in diameter; but from nine to eleven feet under water, the reef was found (in 1833) to consist in part of a black rock, which probably points out the line to which the solid material of the island rose. The changes which have taken place in the Santorin Archipelago within historical times, afford perhaps the most interesting examples we have of the elevation of new islands. The history of this volcanic group begins as far back as the year 233 в. с., which, referring to the Roman annals, would be in the time intervening between the first and second Punic wars. At this time, as we are informed by Pliny, the island of Therasia was separated from Santorin (the chief island of the group) by a great earthquake. Thirtyseven years afterwards, there arose a new island in the bay of Santorin. This island was christened, of the White Island; the other, being composed of brown trachyte, was called, by contrast, the Black Island. The former island was subsequently covered, in great part, by the matter ejected from the latter, and the two islands now form one island, called Nea Kameni, (the Newburnt Island,) which has a cone 330 feet above the sea. There is no reason to suppose that any diminution has taken place in the volcanic force having its seat under the archipelago of Santorin; it will not, therefore, be surprising should further changes take place, and other islands be added to the present number. Within the past half century, a striking change in the sea-bottom between the small Kameni and the island of Santorin has occurred. For, in 1830. MM. Virlet and Bory found a depth of only We or four fathoms where, twenty years before, the depth had been fifteen fathoms; and this elevation had taken place over a limited area only of 800 by 500 yards, beyond which the sea deepened rapidly on all sides. Reasoning from the analogy of Vesuvius, whose present crater is within the much more extended cra Hiera-Nesos-" the Sacred Island"-and still goes teriform depression of Somma, it is contended by by the name of Hiera. In the year 19 of our era, Sir C. Lyell, that the islands of Santorin, The a smaller island made its appearance close to the island of Hiera, to which it was subsequently united. In 726 and 1427, activity was displayed in increasing the size of Hiera. In 1573, a small island known as Micra-Kameni (the little burnt island) was added to the group. This island has a small cone and crater, 100 feet high. Concerning the subsequent changes, we have more detailed information. M. de Thévenot, who visited the island of Santorin in 1655, relates what was told him of an eruption which occurred about rasi, and Aspronisi, which encircle the present gulf, are portions of a truncated cone, which forınerly bounded one vast volcanic crater. He likens the formation of the small islands in the interior of the gulf to that of the modern cones of Vesuvius. By others the archipelago is considered to have been "a crater of elevation"-of the theory involved in which expression more will be said hereafter. It is a remarkable fact, that the southern part of Santorin is formed of granular limestone and argillaceous schist; the island being eighteen years before. He says that the inhabitants otherwise entirely composed of volcanic matter. were surprised one night by a violent noise, like The two formations are considered by Sir C. Lyell distant cannonading, whence it was supposed that to be quite independent of each other. The vola naval engagement had taken place between the canic mass which composes the islands consists of Venetian fleet and the Turks. It appeared, how- alternate beds of trachytic lava and tuff, which dip ever, that the sounds proceeded from beneath the on every side from the centre of the bay towards harbor. From morning till night pumice was thrown up with great violence and continued noise, and in such quantities that, when certain winds prevailed, the smallest vessels required the assistance of long poles to make a way for themselves out of the harbor. The air, too, was infected, so that several persons (says Thévenot) died, and many temporarily lost their sight. The sounds were heard on the island of Chios, distant more than 100 miles. Not only in Santorin, but at Chios and Smyrna, says the same authority, "all the silver became red, whether kept in coffers or in the pocket; and the religious who resided in those places told me that all their chalices became red. After some days the infection ceased, and the silver returned to its former color." In 1650, after violent earthquakes, an eruption took place at some distance outside the bay of Santorin. No new island was raised, but the bottom of the sea was greatly elevated. Noxious vapors again made themselves known by killing more than fifty persons in Santorin, besides many the circumference, and in Santorin present precipices of from 800 to 1000 feet towards it. All the islands are covered with a white tufaceous rock, from forty to fifty feet in thickness. We now return to the Vesuvian type of volcanic eruption, of which the following are interesting examples. The island of St. Philip, better known since 1680 as Iltra do Fogo, (the Island of Fire,) belongs to the group of Cape Verde islands. It is nearly circular, and has a diameter of about fifteen miles. Until the year 1680, it was not suspected to contain within it a destructive power. In that year, however, a great earthquake, followed by a volcanic eruption, took place, and so alarmed the inhabitants, that some of them passed over to the neighboring island of Brava. From that time until 1799, the island of Fogo has suffered much from volcanic eruptions. They proceed from a peak in the middle of the island, which has an elevation of about 9000 feet. The eruption of 1785 has been described by Sr. J. da Silva Feijo, animals. A wave fifty feet high arose, which in a memoir presented to the Royal Academy of broke on several of the neighboring islands. In Santorin it overthrew two churches, and exposed to view two villages, which had previously been overwhelmed by volcanic eruptions. Sciences at Lisbon. He states that a great subterranean commotion, felt over the whole island, and accompanied by the loudest thunder-like noises, was the first sign of this eruption. The peak then opened perpendicularly, and having darted into the In 1707 and 1709, the submarine powers showed renewed activity, the consequence being the forma-air, at intervals, columns of scoriæ, cinders and tion of two other small islands. The one was stones, closed again. Between the peak and the composed of white pumice, and obtained the name sea, on the eastern side, numerous other vents made their appearance, whence flowed torrents of | Atlantic ocean and Europe together number fourJava, as well as cinders and smoke; the latter teen or fifteen. Two volcanic mountains rising in the air, and darkening the whole neigh- believed (on the testimony of Chinese authorities) borhood. The principal mouths were at the base to exist in the Thian Shan mountains, in Central of the peak on the eastern side, and gave rise to Asia. In the Elburz chain of mountains to the are four new mountains in the same line. These new elevations also opened vertically, and threw out immense quantities of lava, which, descending towards the east, divided into two rivers of fire, one of which filled up a large and very deep valley, and the other overflowed a wide plain, where there were houses and plantations. These were for the most part overwhelmed. The streams which flowed from vents nearer the sea also inundated a large portion of land; some entered the sea, and formed a rocky projection of considerable height, where formerly there has been a bay of from thirty to forty feet in depth. This eruption lasted thirtytwo days. A subsequent eruption of the same mountain (in 1799) has been described by Dr. Castilho. The second eruption began as usual by subterranean thunder, when a great vent opened on the skirts of the peak, giving issue to smoke, cinders and sand, and producing such an obscurity that the sun seemed to have set. Half an hour afterwards it began to rain sand, which covered the whole island to a depth of from four to five inches. A mixture of sand and cinders reached the island of Maio, distant nearly ninety miles. During the night the whole island appeared illuminated, and it was perceived in the town, at a distance of twenty-one miles from the volcano, that a great quantity of lava had begun to flow from the vent which had previously ejected only cinders and sand. The current flowed for twenty-seven days. It broke up large stones in its course, and filled up a river, converting it, by the cooling of the lava, into an oblong elevation. It carried away many houses as well as cattle, and destroyed farms. Finally it entered the sea at a distance of about thirty feet. A bay was also formed where formerly there had been a beach. south of the Caspian Sea, a lofty peak-the Peak of Demavend-is said to be an active volcano. The Island of Zibbel Teir in the Arabian Gulf, and that of Ormus in the Persian Gulf, are also said to have exhibited volcanic activity. There is no certainty of the existence of any active volcanoes on the continent of Africa. The islands of Bourbon on its eastern side, and the islands of the South Atlantic (noticed below) on its western, contain active volcanoes. The arrangement of the volcanoes in the basin of the Pacific, nay be compared to the letter Q, the right-hand side of the letter being formed by the volcanoes of the American continent, and the lefthand by those which skirt the Asian continent and Australia, bending round again towards the point whence they began. The volcanoes of South America are arranged in linear groups. They commence with the Chilian group, in lat. 42°. The most southern of this group is Mount Osorno; the most northern, Maypu, which is not far from Santiago. Villarica, a volcano in constant activity, belongs to the group, which embraces at least five well-authenticated cases of active volcanoes. Just on the skirts of this district, in south lat. 32° 39', occurs the Nevado Aconcagna, which exceeds 24,000 feet in height, and is probably the highest in the world. Between 33o and 23° south lat., there do not occur any active vents. The next centre of volcanic power is in Bolivia, between 18° 10' and 16° 20', where the Andes change their direction from being parallel to the meridian to one making an angle of 45° with that line. The mountains enclose the table-land of Zitacaca, and rise to immense elevations. The Nevado de Sorata, not an active volcano, but the second highest mountain in South America, is found among them. Sehama and Somarape, which give slight symptoms of activity, also belong to the group. The volcano of Anguipa is found on the southern extremity of Peru, in lat 16° 24'. We conclude this sketch of volcanic eruptions by mentioning the catastrophe which occurred in 1772, in the island of Java, when part of Papandayang, one of the loftiest volcanoes in the island, suddenly fell in, carrying with it about ninety We must pass over 13o of latitude to reach the square miles of ground. Forty villages were destroyed on the occasion; some being engulfed, and others covered up by ejected matter. Nearly 3000 of the inhabitants are said to have perished. THE NUMBER, GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION, AND HEIGHTS of the volcanoes now in action next demand our attention. So long as part of the earth remains unexplored by scientific persons, the actual number of volcanoes must be doubtful. All the calculations hitherto made must be regarded as approximations only to the truth. Accounts differ as to the number of volcanoes, even in parts of the world fully explored; some travellers classing as extinct, mountains which others regard as active; some giving as separate volcanoes what others next group of active mountains. They extend in a meridional line over 34°, and are found on both sides of the equator. The Peak of Sangay is the most southern, and that of Pastos the most northern volcano of the group. Six of them surround the table-land of Quito-Cayambe, Cotopaxi, Richincha, Antisana, L'Altar, and Tunguragua. Cayambe, whose summit is 19,535 feet above the sea, situated on the equatorial line. Cotopaxi is a most formidable mountain, by the frequency and magnitude of its eruptions. To the north of the equator occur Imbabura, Chiles, Cumbal, Tuqueres, Pastos, Sotara, and Purace. We now pass to that portion of territory lying between the Isthmus of Darien and the Isthmus of Tchuantepec, which is called Central America. class as vents subsidiary to some central mountain. It is divided into three distinct parts-Costarica, Mr. Johnson* gives the total number of active Honduras, and Nicaragua, and Guatemala-each volcanoes as 270, which is probably the best approx- of which has a share of the thirty-nine active volthere are only five active volcanoes in Mexico- ern Atlantic ocean and those in the West India imation. Of this number, about three fourths occupy the islands or the shores of the Pacific ocean. A large number (about sixty) are found in the Indian ocean, occupying the Sunda Islands, The * Physical Atlas, canoes which occupy the whole. These volcanic mountains are generally lower than those of the southern continent, and they are remarkably active. The district of Guatemala contains seventeen volcanic vents. The cities of Old and New Guatemala are situated at the foot of three of the most considerable-Agna, Pacayo, and Fuego. The former pours out boiling water and stones, and has twice destroyed the old city. The lake of Nicaragua is separated from the Pacific by a line of active volcanoes. The volcanoes hitherto noticed have generally been arranged in a line with the great chain of the Andes. The Mexican volcanoes, which come next under notice, occupy a transverse position-and stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, at an average distance of about sixteen miles south of the city of Mexico. According to Humboldt The volcanoes of Europe consist of three groups -the Italian, the Icelandic, and the group of Santorin. The first consists of Etna, Vesuvius, Stromboli and Epomeo, the last being situated on the island of Ischia, and not having broken out since the year 1302. The Icelandic group comprehends the two islands of Iceland and Jan Meyen. On the former are reckoned six volcanoes, one of which, Kraabla, is in constant activity, and on the latter, one. The third group has already been fully noticed. It remains to notice the volcanoes of the south Tustla, Orizaba, Popocatapetl, Jorullo, and Colima. Later authorities add to these Iztaccihuatl and Toluca. The peak of Orizaba is constantly in a state of ignition, and from its appearance, when seen at a distance, it has obtained from the Indians the name of the "Mountain Star." It does not appear that any active volcanoes occur in California. One, St. Helens, is found on the banks of the Columbia river. Another, Mount Edgcumbe, occurs in about north latitude 56°. Whether Buen Tempo and Mount Elias, still further north, are active volcanoes, is doubtful. A region of great volcanic activity next occurs. It extends over the peninsulas of Alayska and Kamtschatka and the Aleutian Islands. It has been estimated to contain at least fifty-seven active volcanoes. The volcanic girdle next includes the Kurile islands, in which eighteen active volcanoes are reckoned. The islands composing the empire of islands. The Azores, Canaries and Cape Verde islands, situated almost on the same parallel of longitude, contain active volcanoes. Among the West Indian islands active volcanoes occur on St. Vincent, Guadaloupe, and St. Christopher, besides some active ones on sotne of the other islands. It has often been noticed, that, with hardly any exceptions, the active volcanoes of the world are found either on islands, or, if on continents, in situations near the sea-shore. There are, it is true, exceptions to this rule, both in Central Asia and in America. But it is thought to remove the objection in the former case, that those mountains are situated in the neighborhood of large lakes. In the latter case, also, though some of the volcanoes are distant 100 miles or more from the sea, the chain of which they form a part can be traced to near proximity with it. The same rule appears to hold good in regard also to the seats of extinct igneous action. The ancient volcanoes of Au Japan contain a still greater number. A few vol-vergne, of the Rhine Valley, of Hungary and canoes, which occur in small islands lying to the Transylvania, and of the Cuejernean islands were south of Japan, connect the Japanese group with neighboring to wide expanses of fresh water, or to the volcanoes of the Philippine islands, and the Moluccas. Thence branches off the remarkable chain of volcanoes beginning with the island of Timorlant, passing through Java and Sumatra, and ending at Barren Island in the Bay of Bengal. The greater part of these vents lie between 7o and 9o south latitude, and the volcanic forces are very energetic. The island of Java, where thirty active volcanoes are reckoned by some, and thirty-eight by others, has suffered from eruptions of unusual frequency and magnitude. The mountains, which rise to great elevations, are detached and situated on the eastern part of the island. Some are in perpetual ignition. One has a large crater filled with boiling water. Returning to the Molucca islands, we find the volcanic chain continuing eastward through the northern part of New Guinea, through New Britain New Ireland, and the Solomon islands. Thence it turns south-east towards New Zealand, with which it is connected by volcanoes in the New Hebrides. the sea, when the powers now extinct were active. It is also deserving of notice that earthquakes appear to follow the same law of geographical distri bution as volcanoes. "Almost all the great earth! quakes," says Mrs. Somerville,* "have their origin in the bed of the ocean;" and, where this is not the case, they generally have their seat near the coast. The heights of sixty-three principal volcanoes of the world have been given by Mr. Johnston in his "Physical Atlas," namely, in Europe and Atlantic islands, Asia and neighboring islands, Central America, South America, Australia and Polynesia, 9 14 12 10 11 7 The peak of Teneriffe, whose ex- 10,000+ Mount Etna, the exact height being One... Fogo, in the Cape de Verdes. Besides the immense loop thus formed by the 12,000+ volcanoes which fringe the Pacific, there are other volcanoes scattered over islands in the interior of the basin. Almost all the islands of the Pacific which attain a considerable height are of volcanic origin. The Friendly islands, the Sandwich islands, the Ladrones, and the Galapagos islands are subject to volcanic eruptions. The antarctic continent, discovered by Sir James Ross, is volcanic. In latitude 77° 31', and longitude 167° 1', a mountain was discovered which discharged dense columns of black smoke. Its altitude was 12,367 15,000+ feet. It has been named Mount Erebus. An ap- 14,000+ parently extinct crater near to it, of almost equal elevation, was named Mount Terror. Mt. Bereen in Island of Jan Meyen. Two... Mt. Hecla and Kötlugia in Iceland. One... Vesuvius, exact height 3,948 ft. ASIA AND NEIGHBORING ISLANDS-FOURTEEN. of Hawaii. 13,000+... Two These are situated in the Island Mount Erebus and Sesarga, (in 12,000+... Two 10,000+.... One 3,000+ One 454+... One the Salomon Isles.) In Hawaii. Tanna, in the New Hebrides. Respecting the average frequency of volcanic eruptions on the globe, it may be stated that, according to Sir Charles Lyell, about fifty eruptions occurred during the last century within the five European volcanic districts of Vesuvius, Etna, Lipari Isles, Santorin, and Iceland. Computing these to be about one fourth of the volcanic groups of the globe, which latter are considered to have about an equal activity, he reckons that about two thousand volcanic eruptions occur on the globe in the course of a century; or about twenty every year. The reader having learned from what precedes the general distribution of the volcanoes of the world, and the heights which the most remarkable of them attain, and having gained a general idea of the phenomena exhibited during eruptions, will be interested in the following outlines of narratives of the ascent of two among the highest volcanic mountains in the world-Popocatapti in Mexico, and Mauna Loa in Hawaii, (one of the Sandwich islands.) It will thus appear in what state these mountains are generally found. Popocatapetl, or the smoke-mountain, is the highest volcanic mountain of the Mexican group. Its elevation exceeds 17,000 feet. It is situated about fifty miles to the east-south-east of the city of Mexico. It is in the shape of a truncated cone. It is situated on the edge of the elevated plateau on which the city of Mexico stands. On one side, therefore, it rises almost from the level of the sea, and on the other from an already high plateau. The appearances of the two sides of the mountain correspond to their difference of position. The whole of the north-west side is clothed below the snow-line with forests of firs, which mingle at the foot with corn, maize and the other European plants which are cultivated at that elevation. On the opposite side, also, occurs a zone of forest trees; but below it other zones occur, which change at almost every step you descend, till in the valley itself, the region of the cactus, the sugar-cane, and the palm would be reached. The snow-line is lower on the northern than on the southern side. In October, 1519, Cortez and his army passed by Popocatapetl; they were then on their way to besiege the capital of Mexico. Attracted by the novelty of a huge mountain discharging smoke, he sent ten of his most courageous soldiers to "find out the secret." They did not succeed, however, in reaching the summit, owing to the snow and Omitting the irregularly active volcanic centre the discharge of cinders. Subsequently, in 1522, of Santorin and the volcano of Epomeo, which has after the capture of the city, the Spaniards suconly once broken out within record, we may con- ceeded in reaching the crater; and, either from this sider the active volcanoes of Europe to be three. or some other volcanic mountain, sulphur was proThe volcanoes of the world amount, as before cured for the manufacture of gunpowder. Cortez, stated, to 270. Comparing the heights of Vesu- in one of his letters to his sovereign, states this to vius and Etna (Stromboli is lower than either) have been effected by letting a man tied to a cord with the other heights just given, we find that out down into the crater. Humboldt, who records of sixty-three elevations, there are thirty-two these facts, further relates that a certain Dominiwhich exceed Etna, and fifty-two surpassing Ve- can, Blasde Iñena, armed with an iron spoon and suvius. The mean height of Vesuvius and Etna is 7,411 feet. The mean height of the sixty-one others is 10,677 feet. Mounts Somarape and Sehama are more than twice the height of Mount Etna, and more than five times that of Vesuvius. * The great difference between the height given by Mr. Johnston to this mountain and that given by Mr. Stephens, may probably be accounted for by the heights having been taken at different times. We may here remark, however, that authorities seldom quite agree regarding the height of mountains. pail, caused himself to be let down in an osier basket into the crater of the Cerro de Massaya, in Granada, for the purpose of gathering gold. Το what extent he would have enriched himself, we are left to infer, his pail having unfortunately been melted by the heat. What became of the spoon we are not informed; the osier basket reached the top with difficulty, bringing a poorer, but perhaps wiser, man. The dean of the chapter of the town of Leon obtained formal permission from the court of Madrid " to open the same volcano, and to gather |