has long remained in comparative quiet, it was very active at the
time of the Spanish invasion under Cortes. Of the first approach of
the Spaniards to this volcano, and of the attempts made by some of
them to climb to the top, Mr. Prescott, in his history of the
conquest of Mexico, gives the following graphic account:--

"They were passing between two of the highest mountains on the
North American continent, Popocatepetl, 'the hill that smokes' and
Iztaccihuatl, or 'white woman;' a name suggested, doubtless, by the
bright robe of snow spread over its broad and broken surface. A
puerile superstition of the Indians regarded these celebrated
mountains as gods, and Iztaccihuatl as the wife of her more
formidable neighbour. A tradition of a higher character described
the northern volcano as the abode of the departed spirits of wicked
rulers, whose fiery agonies in their prison-house caused the
fearful bellowings and convulsions in times of eruption. It was the
classic fable of antiquity. These superstitious legends had
invested the mountain with a mysterious horror, that made the
natives shrink from attempting its ascent, which, indeed, was, from
natural causes, a work of incredible difficulty.

"The great _volcan_, as Popocatepetl was called, rose to the
enormous height of 17,852 feet above the level of the sea; more
than 2000 feet above the 'monarch of mountains'--the highest
elevation in Europe. During the present century it has rarely given
evidence of its volcanic origin, and 'the hill that smokes' has
almost forfeited its claim to the appellation. But at the time of
the conquest it was frequently in a state of activity, and raged
with uncommon fury while the Spaniards were at Tlascala; an evil
omen, it was thought, for the natives of Anahuac. Its head,