hoisted to the mouth of the crater. The Indians tie
these packages together; then, making a cushion of their serapes, they
slide down the mountain as far as the snow extends, dragging the mats
after them. On the north side of the volcano, near the limit of tree
growth, the sulphur is distilled in iron retorts, and is then ready for
the market. The crater's mouth is huge in dimensions, being half a mile
in diameter, and the amount of native sulphur deposited there is
enormous,--practically inexhaustible. This profitable sulphur mine is
owned, or was, a few months since, by General Ochoa, a resident of the
capital. It is said that when Cortez had expended his supply of
gunpowder, he resorted to the crater of Popocatepetl for sulphur to make
a fresh supply, and that the natives had never ascended the mountain
until the Spaniards showed them the way. Earthquakes are not uncommon,
even to-day, near the base of this monarch mountain; but no eruption has
taken place since 1692. Earthquakes have always been more or less common
in Mexico, but never very serious in the capital; otherwise, with its
insecure foundations, it must have suffered seriously. Smoke is reported
to have been seen bursting forth from the crater of Popocatepetl several
times at long intervals, but no positive volcanic action has taken place
since the date named. Its actual height is given by the best authorities
as being but about two hundred feet less than eighteen thousand.

One is apt to speculate mentally, while gazing upon it, as to the
possibility of this sleeping volcano one day awaking to destructive
action. That it still lives is clearly seen by the smoke and sulphurous
breath which it exhales, and the occasional significant earthquakes
which occur about its widespread base. There are seventeen or eighteen
mountains in the republic which rise more than ten thousand feet above
the level of the sea, four of which are over fifteen thousand feet in
height, Popocatepetl being the loftiest of them all. Parties ascend on
horseback to the snow line, and from thence the distance to the summit
is accomplished on foot. Some adventurous people make the descent into
the crater by means of the bucket and windlass used by the
sulphur-gatherers, but the most inquisitive can see all that they desire
from the northerly edge of the cone. The expeditions for the ascent are
made up at Amecameca. The time necessarily occupied is about three days,
and the cost is twenty-fi