they were the same distinct, primitive peo- | walked. Three days before the nuptials were ple. to have been celebrated, a party, including our couple, rode to the base of the volcano, and stopped to rest at a beetling precipice, where an ascent was deemed impossible. Josefa playfully announced her intention to discard her suitor if he did not place her bouquet on a certain lofty crag within a given time. Νο sooner said than away sprang the young Indian, and in the course of three hours reached the place indicated, where he stood a moment, a mere speck on the summit, and then disap days of anxious suspense, during which Josefa was effectually cured of coquetry, a number of their friends ventured up to seek the missing bridegroom. On the giant crag he had been commanded to crown, bolt upright sat Mariano, bouquet in hand, and staring off into the air with fixed and glassy eyes. He had died of rupture of the lungs. Avalanches, both of snow and sand, are among the dangers of the volcano. Within a few years several Indians have been overwhelmed by the sliding of snow upon the smooth lava dome. The percolation of water during the warm months detaches the mass, which the unsuspecting native has only to tread upon to set in motion. In an instant he is flying down the declivity with frightful speed, and at last, launched into mid-air with the wreck of his ice-chariot, descends like an æro-peared. He returned no more; and after two lite into the sands below and is crushed to death. Equally dangerous is the shifting of the steep fields of sand and ashes which may be started by the tread of a single person. Several hundred yards square are seen to move without any apparent cause, increasing in momentum, and gliding noiselessly, unless arrested by some slight wave or undulation. These sand - slides occur without We commenced the descent a few minutes warning, and sometimes attain velocity suf- before three in the afternoon, having passed ficient to bury any party happening to be in nearly an hour at the crater. This is not only their track. Storms of hail, often attended of itself intensely fatiguing, but the exertion with terrific thunder and lightning, are com- must be made when the muscles are yet quivmon in the summer months, At such times ering after consecutive hours of climbing. The the electricity darts in fiery fluid along the me- staves, which hitherto had done us but slight tallic sands, lighting up the declivities with service, now came into use. Springing across fearful effect. Some years ago three Indians the slippery ridges, sometimes sprawling at full were descending the frozen snow, when one oi length, or oftener assuming decidedly emphatthem chose to follow a depression or furrow, ic if not classical positions, with heels up and at one side, which seemed to offer an easier arms extended, we reached the lower belt of route. Suddenly he shot out of sight. The snow in less than a quarter of the time we had others made toward the place to learn the fate taken to climb the steep ascent. Here we of their companion, when the crust commenced rested a few minutes before launching into the sinking, and they had scarcely time to scram-sand-fields, and then, being in ignorance of ble away before several rods of the surface had fallen into a gloomy, unfathomable abyss. The missing man was never again seen. A curious phenomenon, often occurring in the dry season, are columns of dust and ashes, which seem to rise from the extensive sand-fields at the base of the volcano, and appear to be connected with the lower strata of clouds. From the snow line we counted several of these-some incomplete, and two perfectly formed. The nearest, which bended down from the clouds, was shaped like the inverted trunk of an elephant. It moved rapidly, swaying from side to side, and seemed to draw up sand and scoria in its path. They apparently originate in whirlwinds caused by counter currents of air among the mountain fastnesses, and increase in height and size by a process similar to that by which water-spouts are formed on the ocean. We were shown at Ameca the grave of an amorous victim of woman's caprice, and the fair one herself, still in mourning for her lost lover. Thus runs the narrative: their shifting propensities, we started into the yielding mass intent only upon reaching terra firma. At times the rapidity of the descent was alarming. To avoid pitching end over end we locked arms, and throwing the body back allowed the natural momentum to bear us onward at a quick run, but keeping pace in regular strides, sinking at each step nearly to the knees, and stopping every five minutes to catch breath. The specimens of volcanic sulphur, porous lava, and many-colored stones with which we had stuffed every pocket rather accelerated our speed. Our two Indians followed in the same order, and it was only when our mad race brought up at La Cruz that they told us of the sliding sands. But we were now past the steepest places and beyond danger. After several such spells we made out with the glass our little cavalry escort winding like a caravan of mice along the brink of the lower barranca, evidently coming to meet us. We soon gained the level plains of scoria, and in half an hour more were mounted and trotting through the Mariano and Josefa were betrothed, and the moss-clad pines to Tlamacas, where we arrived next Sunday was to see them happily united. at half past five, pale, haggard, coated with Frijoles were prepared, fiddlers and guitarists dirt, and trembling with sheer exhaustion. The engaged, fandangoes practiced, and the mount-soldiers had watched us early in the day crawlain village was in as great a ferment as was ing up the volcano till our forms were lost in the that in which "La Sonnambula" dreamed and distance. Off to the right we heard the roar ing of water at the mouth of an immense bar- | catepetl-caught him asleep, scaled his iceranca leading up to a cleft in the side of the throne at an advantage, and that he was now mountain; and we found that what had been arousing himself to an indignant consciousness frozen solid in the morning when we left was of the fact. We staid not to witness his regal now a formidable torrent, created by the melt-wrath, but drank some hot coffee which cur ing of the snows, dashing over rocks and preci- good genius Colonel Cañedo had directed his pices with a voice that echoed far and wide. men to have ready for us; and then, as the During the night it would freeze again; and shadows of night began to deepen in the valthis alternation of melting and congealing goes ley, our cavalcade started again for Ameca. on forever. We looked up toward the crater, | At midnight, drenched with the rain and hail but it was hidden in threatening clouds that which had overtaken us among the mountains, were hurrying toward the peak as a storm-ren- we clattered into the silent village despondent dezvous; and already, muttered thunder and and weary, thoroughly satisfied with our twenfaint glimmerings of lightning told of the com-ty-two hours' adventure, and fully Tesolved ing snow and hail tempest. It seemed as if we never to advise a friend to attempt the ascent had fairly stolen a march on old King Popo- of Popocatepetl. L THE MONKS OF BASLE. I tore this weed from the rank, dark soil I trimmed it close, and set it again ONG years ago, when the Devil was loose. A breeze as pure as the breath of heaven Blushed rose o'er the cloister glades. But scorning the lures of summer and sense, In the tough grim talk of the monkish days And whether "Just," or "Justified," Was the Church's mystic Head The song had power on the grim old monks And as they listened the years rolled back, The years rolled back, and they were young, But the eldest monk soon broke the spell: "To be turned from talk of holy things By a bird's cry from a tree. "Perchance the enemy of souls Hath come to tempt us so : Let us try by the power of the awful Word To heaven the three monks raised their hands. "We charge thee, speak!" they said, And whether the Bread was changed to God, "By His dread name who shall one day come Or God became the Bread. But of human hearts outside their walls They never paused to dream, To judge the quick and the dead "Who art thou, speak!" The bird laughed loud: "I am the Devil," he said. And they never thought of the love of God The monks on their faces fell; the bird That smiled in the twilight gleam. As these three monks went bickering on A wordless carol of life and love, And the three monks paused in the evening shade, Away through the twilight sped. A horror fell on, those holy men And one by one from the face of earth : So goes the tale of the monkish books; "Not all in vain with beauty and love THE WALKER RIVER COUNTRY. M Walker River expedition preparations for the were on a scale of more than usual grandeur. On this occasion I was resolved to travel in a dignified style, according with the gravity and importance of the undertaking. Certain coal and iron mines, recently discovered in that region, had aroused in me that spirit of speculation which had received so disastrous a check in Washoe. I was resolved, since gold and silver ignored my friendly advances, to try what sympathetic virtue there tmight be in coal and iron. Scouts were sent out all over the town of Aurora to secure the best wheeled vehicle the community could afford; pref erence to be given to a thorough-braced ambulance of Concord manufacture. If that was beyond the resources of enterprise an ordinary furniture wagon might be made available, or at the worst a butcher's job-cart. It so happened that a heavy drain had been made upon the livery-stables by the recent exodus of citizens to the Montgomery district. Wagons of all sorts were in great demand for the transportation of goods, wares, and honest miners to the argentiferous paradise; and the long-continued drought, high price of forage, and constant demand for animals had nearly exhausted the whole horse-creation. Skeleton emigrant horses, scrag-tailed mustangs, galled mules and burros, were in requisition at prices that inspired in the owners sentiments of profound affection for their property. My scout-in-chief, one Timothy Mason, was a man of unlimited genius in his way. Though small in stature he carried a large nose, which enabled him to scent out horses with unerring instinct. He penetrated the wigwams of the Aurorians; dodged into the back-yards and byways; smelled every spot where there was a suspicion of hay, grain, or horse-flesh; and in due course of time announced the glad tidings that he had succeeded in securing a conveyance worthy of President Lincoln "or any other man.' It was a wagon which had crossed the plains during the summer, and could therefore be recommended as thoroughly dried and not likely to fall to pieces by the action of the sun's rays. The bed was somewhat shattered; the springs broken here and there; a few spokes out of the wheels; the hubs cracked, and the tires gone in at occasional intervals; but it was a remarkably tough wagon nevertheless, capable of being stretched or contracted at pleasure without materially injuring its appearance or powers of locomotion. I rather liked Timothy's descrip BOUND FOR WALKER RIVER, tion of the wagon. There was something pleasant in the idea of traveling in such a wagon as that. "You are sure it won't break down, Timothy?" said I, somewhat dubiously. "Well, 'tain't likely a wagon that's just come all the way from Iowa with a family of women and children in it 'll be taken with a breakin' down between this and Walker." Horses Thus was every doubt removed. were the chief trouble. Timothy had secured a couple of very fine bloods, rather mortifying in appearance, but of wonderful endurance, since they had lived throughout the entire drought of summer on nothing but sage-brush and alkali and were not yet dead. If I had any pride about the matter of appearance he would borrow a pair of shears and clip their wool a little before we started. "On the contrary, Timothy," said I, "it would be a downright sin to disfigure such noble animals as you have described. I am addicted to the picturesque in nature. I like starved, galled, and woolly-skinned horses. What they lack in flesh and symmetry they will doubtless make up in spirit and variety of outline. So fetch along your nags, Timothy-and don't forget the wagon!" When, in due time, my remarkable equipage appeared in the main street of Aurora ready for a start, I was not surprised that the entire population, without distinction of age or sex, crowded out from every door to enjoy the spectacle. Timothy sat perched upon the remains of the front seat with undisguised triumph beaming from every feature. Sooth to say, I enjoyed the sight myself as much as any body. It was a source of infinite satisfaction to me to be able to travel in such distinguished style, after having roughed it on horseback over in the Mono country. Above you have both wagon and horsesnothing extenuate nor aught set down in malice. In addition to Timothy I had secured the lime formations, and several lime-kilns have services of one Dr. Fanning as guide, caterer, been established close by. The rugged cliffs on and purveyor-general to the expedition. An each side of the cañon are diversified by a reoverflowing, generous, genial soul was the Doc-markable variety of colors, indicating mineral tor; an experienced mountaineer, who had deposits of various kinds. roughed it all over the gold regions of Idaho; a man of intelligence, and withal as unsophisticated as a child. I liked him from the beginning. Whatever he did he did with all his heart and soul. He purveyed and catered without regard to reason, expense, or the everlasting fitness of things. When the wagon was ready to receive its cargo, I found my friend Fanning up to his neck in business at one of the principal grocery stores. He was diving into pickles, wallowing in clams and sardines, luxuriating in jellies, reveling in spiced sauces, and rejoicing in various bottles, jugs, and demijohns of brandy and whisky of the most famous brands. When I surveyed his list of purchases I was glad my English friends, whose outfit in Iceland I had attempted to describe a few years ago, were not present. Here was a pretty catalogue of comforts and conveniences for a week's journey! Boxes of cigars, pipes, bags of tobacco, preserved meats, jellies, desiccated vegetables, brandy, wine, vinegar, and crockery without limit. I was about to ask the Doctor how many years he expected me to be absent, and what he meant by this reflection on my powers of endurance in a rough country, when I perceived, from certain undulations in his motion and an extravagantly benevolent expression in his features, that it would be no use. The fact is, his arduous labors as caterer had proved a little too much for his equilibrium. He had tasted too many strong mixtures, and his mind was becoming a little bewildered by the multitude of his responsibilities. So that when the wagon - was freighted to its utmost capacity, the driver on his seat cracking his whip, and the horses fast asleep, the Doctor had taken a new kink, and was off about town in search of an additional brick to put in his hat. "Never mind," quoth Timothy, the whipster, "he will overtake us on the road. He is only taking a parting smile at the snakes. Wake up, Abe! Git along, Ulyssus!" Up the hill of Aurora we toiled and tugged, till, by the united efforts of Timothy, myself, and the two horses, we reached the summit; from which we enjoyed a parting view of the town while we stopped to regain our breath. A little below to the right, in a pleasant green flat, stands the quartz-mill of the famous pioneer, speculator, miner, and prospector, once chief owner in the Comstock ledge, John D. Winters. The mill was busily at work crushing quartz, and presented a very lively and picturesque scene. A splendid turnpike has been made within the last two years from Aurora to the valley stretching along the base of the Sierras. Stunted pine grows on the sides of the mountains, which are otherwise exceedingly barren. A mile or two from the summit the road passes some curious About a mile beyond the end of the cañon we reached the Five-mile House, a pleasant rural station, conveniently situated as a wateringplace for man and beast. Here, in a desert flat, the effects of irrigation have been made apparent. It is difficult to conceive that a blade of grass could be made to grow in so barren a spot; yet, by the introduction of a small stream from the neighboring hills, the enterprising proprietor has succeeded in making quite a thrifty little farm. His vegetable garden is really a curiosity. Cabbages, beets, potatoes, and greens of various sorts flourish with a luxuriance that would do credit to California. I had seen before, in the neighborhood of Aurora, and mention it now as one of the anomalies of this strange country, some very remarkable examples of the natural fertility of this sage-desert soil. All it requires is irrigation to make it as productive as the best soil in any country. The climate seems highly favorable to vegetable products; and the time is approaching when Nevada will prove not only a rich mineral country, but be noted for its agricultural resources. At a point called the Elbow, four miles beyond this station, we reached another oasis in the desert, where we concluded to camp for the night. A good and substantial frame- house, with stables, corrals, and various out-buildings, has been erected here for the accommodation of travelers; and the scene, upon our arrival, was lively and characteristic. Freight trains were drawn up in front of the tavern, the teams tied to the wagon-poles, with piles of hay before them which they were devouring with great relish; groups of dust-covered teamsters sitting around the glowing camp-fires; an emigrant family a little to one side, weary and way-worn, but cheered by the prospect of soon reaching the end of their journey; a stage just arrived from Wellington's, with a noisy delegation of politicians from Carson; some half a dozen stray miners on broken-down horses, from unknown parts, and bound to unknown districts; while here and there dust-covered pedestrians, whose stock in trade consisted of a pick, shovel, pan, and blanket, were scattered about on the ground, taking their ease after their dreary walk across the deserts. While my trusty man Friday was engaged in unhitching the horses I selected a pleasant little grassy slope near some running water, fringed by willows, as a suitable place for our tent. The next thing was to gather up some dried willow-wood and make a big fire, which presently blazed and crackled with a cheerful glow, illuminating our camp in the most picturesque and satisfactory manner. At this altitude the evenings are always cool, notwithstanding the heat of the day; and a good fire after sunset is one of the chief comforts of life. We struck our tent without delay, and then went to work try a strangely variegated aspect, and filled the and cooked such a supper of oysters, potatoes, coffee, and other luxuries as would have made old Nestor smile. I was sorry for the Doctor. At every pause in the feast we sighed for his genial presence. It was evident he had lost his way-or his equilibrium, which amounted to the same thing. He did not make his appearance during the night, nor had we the satisfaction of seeing his familiar countenance in the morning. What could have happened? Bright and early we struck our tent, hitched up our team, packed our wagon, and set forth on our journey across a broad desert valley stretching to the eastward. It was eight miles of a dreary drag through sand and gravel to the first pass in a range of mountains which separates this district from the Walker River Country. Our poor animals, jaded and starved, had a very hard time of it. I walked most of the way rather than impose my weight upon them. Timothy laughed at my scruples of conscience, and assured me the horses were not near dead yet; that they could travel across the plains on sage-bush. Going asleep and giving out was only a way they had. mind with vague notions of undiscovered treasure beneath the earth's surface. Yet wild and rugged as it is, Nature seems to have formed this country with some regard for the convenience of man. In the midst of withering barrenness that sternly forbids his approach, natural roads open out through the mountains, in many places so well defined and so perfectly graded as to resemble the best turnpikes. Slowly descending the cañon-for our load was heavy and our wagon not the strongestwe entered upon the dried bed of a stream, which formed our road during the principal part of the way through. The towering walls of rock on each side converge till they form a winding pass, almost like an irregular street of some old city in the interior of Germany. There were breaks here and there, where we had to plunge over precipices that sorely tried the shattered frame-work of our wagon. At one place we had to take out the horses and lower our precious vehicle down a rocky pitch about ten feet deep by means of ropes. It broke away from us when half-way down, and never stopped running till it came in contact with a point of rocks After a long and heavy pull we ascended the about fifty feet below, where it wound up in a dividing range, and had a fine view of the sur- crash of matter that caused us the most prorounding country. To the right stands, in tow-found concern for our absent friend, the Docering grandeur, a peak of the Sierras appropriately named Mount Grant, after our distinguished Lieutenant-General. Passing over the divide we entered a cañon through which the road winds for a distance of five miles. The sides are rocky, barren, and evidently of volcanic formation. Very little timber is to be seen, save here and there a gnarled and stunted pine. If ever there was a mineral country rendered attractive by a pervading spirit of desolation this was one. Every rock and tree, every ledge and fissure, looked the impersonation of strife between heaven and earth. The rich and varied colors of the mineral strata that cropped out in seams and ledges gave the whole coun tor. Demijohns were smashed; brandy, whisky, match-boxes, and powder poured together in fearful conglomerate; salt and sugar, paper and ink, boiled shirts and molasses, pickles and preserves-all mixed up in the general amalgamation. I had secured a sketch of Mount Grant under the cushion of the scat. Cushion, seat, and all were pitched overboard. When I dragged forth my sketch from the wreck I was struck with its changed appearance. A bottle of whisky, a can of oysters, some lucifer matches, and the contents of a loose powder-flask had been mixed over it. Timothy was knocked speechless at the immensity of the disaster. He had the most profound respect for my genius as an |