Wonders of Creation by Anonymous
page 58 of 94 (61%)
page 58 of 94 (61%)
![]() | ![]() |
|
natives call them, there rose six large masses, the highest of
which is sixteen hundred feet in height, and constitutes the volcano of Jorullo. The eruptions of this central volcano continued till February 1760 with extreme violence--the crater throwing out large quantities of lava; but in the succeeding years it became less turbulent in its activity. It still, however, continues to burn; and the mountain emits from the wide crater at its summit several jets of vapour. The foregoing woodcut gives a view of this volcano, and of the little steaming ovens which stud the whole ground around it, giving it at a distance the appearance of the sea in a storm. And now confess that Mr. Jorullo's monument is far grander than the pyramid of Cheops. Surely the loss of his farm was amply compensated to him, by the perpetuation of his memory and his name, through the rearing of such a marvellous cenotaph. For a long time after the first eruption, the ground for a great distance round the volcano was too hot to be habitable or capable of cultivation. It is now, however, so much cooled down, that it is once more covered with vegetation; and even some small portions of the raised ground containing the ovens have been again brought under culture. Besides this volcano, so recent in its origin, Mexico contains other five--Orizaba, Toluca, Tuxtla, Popocatepetl, and Colima. What is rather remarkable, these five, together with Jorullo, all lie nearly in a straight line running east and west. The tracts of country which these volcanoes have desolated with their lavas are called by the Mexicans the "Malpays." The most remarkable of these mountains is Popocatepetl. Although it |
|