ntain.

"Unfortunately, one of the last three Indians sent back had in his
pocket all the chocolate, an article almost indispensable to the
comfort of a party climbing a high mountain, and, unconscious of our
loss, we continued our way until it was too late to remedy this loss.
The basaltic rock which we had now reached was covered with the icicles
which I have described, and we found no little difficulty in placing
our feet between them, and guiding ourselves with the iron-pointed
sticks which had been furnished us; while the dizziness caused by
looking back upon the world we had left behind added to our troubles.

"Mr. Corchado, to draw off our attention from our own hardships,
related to us the story of the death of six of his workmen, who
undertook to make the journey down the mountain by night. Each of them
had a load of stolen brimstone on his head. The day after this rash and
criminal attempt, their dead bodies were found in such a situation as
to indicate plainly the manner of their death. Stiffened with the
intense cold, and impeded by their heavy burdens, they had stumbled in
the darkness, and had fallen upon the sharp ice. One had his cheek
pierced, and the others had divers wounds and bruises marked upon them
as they lay frozen in death. The story of these unfortunates was not
calculated to inspire us with very pleasant reflections, in case the
weather should change while we were on the mountain.

A NIGHT UPON THE SUMMIT.

"We climbed on, having reached the basaltic rock at an elevation of
16,805 feet, and with exhausting labor we traveled upon it until toward
evening, when we came to that immense yawning abyss, the crater. The
mouth was about three miles in circumference, of a very irregular form.
Into this we entered, and soon arrived at the house which was to be our
lodging for the night. This house was a curiosity in its way; as it was
not built like any other house, and could not be, on account of the
rarity of the atmosphere at this elevation of 17,125 feet, and the
impossibility of obtaining sufficient oxygen, in a closed room, to feed
combustion. It was therefore built in the form of a miniature volcano.
There was an outside and an inside wall, of a circular form, the
outside wall sloping inwardly, and the inside wall, which rested on
pillars, sloping outwardly, until it met the outside wall. The fire was
built in the open court, in the centre of the building, and the party
sat under the arches