Part 17

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An interesting geological phenomenon is noticed in the district of Izium, in Kharkoy, Russia. In consequence of the heat this summer the ground broke open in many places and deep ditches formed, at the bottom of which subterranean water appeared. Geologists who examined the ground think that the subterranean water comes from the same source which supplies the Slavinskoye salt lakes of the neighborhood.

A HIVE OF VOLCANOES.

OVER THREE THOUSAND ACTIVE VOLCANOES IN LOWER CALIFORNIA.

SAN DIEGO, Cal., July 25.--The San Diegan to-day publishes a descriptive account by Colonel I. K. Allen, the well-known engineer, of a phenomena in what is known as the volcano region of the Cocapah Mountains, situated sixty-five miles southwest of Yuma in Lower California. Colonel Allen says there are over three thousand active volcanoes there, one-half of which are small cones, ten or twelve feet at the base, the remaining half five to forty feet at the base, and fifteen to twenty-five in height. The whole volcanic region is encrusted with sulphur. One peculiar feature of the region is a lake of water jet black, which is a quarter of a mile in length and an eighth of a mile in width, seemingly bottomless. The water is hot and salty.

A TUNNEL A LIME KILN.

THE SANTA FE MAY HAVE TO ABANDON ITS JOHNSON CANYON ROUTE.

LOS ANGELES, Cal., Jan. 31.--The Fairview tunnel through the mountains at Johnson’s canyon, near Williams, Ariz., is again on fire and the officials of the Santa Fe Pacific fear that they may be compelled to abandon the tunnel, as they are at a loss to devise means to extinguish the flames. Investigation shows conclusively that the new fire was caused by spontaneous combustion. The tunnel is now nothing but the flue for an immense lime kiln. The mountain through which the tunnel passes is chiefly limestone of a high degree of purity.

VOLCANIC OUTBURST PROBABLE.

SAN FRANCISCO, Cal., July 1.--News from Susanville, in the Sierra Nevadas, says that slight earthquake shocks continue and that the people have been so accustomed to the constant trembling of the earth that they pay no attention to it. The shocks, however, have revived recollections of old settlers who predict volcanic disturbances in the extinct craters, such as there were in 1850.

Susanville lies in a highly mountainous walled valley directly east of Lassen Butte, an extinct volcano 10,000 feet high. From its summit no less than forty extinct craters can be seen. Cinder Cone, which rises 600 feet above the level of the plateau, was in eruption in 1850. Two prospectors examined it and found Lake Saltafara, miles south of Cinder Cone, a center of volcanic forces. The lake was a mass of boiling water and mud and from it vast columns of flames shot up at intervals. The timber in the vicinity was on fire. Within the last few years there has seemed renewed activity in the internal fires and the present shocks point to the possibility of another great volcanic outburst which will find vent through some of the old craters.

DESOLATED BY ERUPTIONS.

FIFTEEN NEW CRATERS DESTROY MANY HOMES AND RUIN A WIDE AREA IN CHILI.

PANAMA, April 26.--Regarding the eruptions in the Lunahuana district of Chili, the Lima Opinion National has published the following letter dated March 30:

“This beautiful valley has experienced a topographical change, and I may now call a desert that which was formerly a delightful spot. Fifteen craters have been continually at work since Sunday, the 22d, throwing out masses of mud, which, in its precipitate descent and with the monstrous strength of the current, is carrying ruin in all directions and sweeping houses before it, together with their inhabitants and the cattle, vineyards, farms, and irrigation works. All the roads north and south of here have been converted into ditches, through which water is continually pouring, and all communication between Canete and Chincha is interrupted, while the bridge across the river has been swept away. Hundreds of families have been left without homes and are camping out on the hillsides, the only clothes they have being those in which they escaped. They are preparing to cross the ravines, as the floods may sweep down upon them at any moment.”

GLACIER ICE.

Glacier ice is not like the solid blue ice on the surface of the water, but consists of granules joined together by an intricate network of capillary water, filled fissures. In exposed sections and upon the surface of the ice can be observed “veined” or “banded” structure veins of a denser blue color alternating with those of a lighter shade containing air bubbles. The cause of this peculiar structure has been the subject of much theorizing among investigators, but hitherto the greatest authorities consider that the explanation of the phenomenon is yet wanting.--Goldthwaite’s Geographical Magazine.

THE LONGEST GLACIER IN THE TEMPERATE ZONE ASCENDED BY MR. CONWAY.

Mr. W. M. Conway, who was sent out by the Royal Geographical Society of London last spring to explore the Kara Koram Mountains and their mighty glaciers north of Cashmere, has accomplished the most brilliant feats of mountain and glacier climbing that any explorer has achieved in years. He has sent to the society a report of his ascent of the Baltoro glacier, over forty miles in length and the longest glacier that is known in temperate regions, and of his ascent of an ice-covered mountain over 23,000 feet high at the upper end of the glacier.

He began the ascent of the Baltoro glacier on Aug. 5. He had little idea on starting of the discomforts before him. His party included three Englishmen besides himself, an Alpine guide, and four Sepoys detailed from an Indian regiment. Fully two-thirds of the entire length of the glacier was so completely covered with stone debris that the ice was not visible except where lakes or crevasses occurred. He was unable to ascend along the banks at the sides of the glacier, for they were not traversable. He was therefore forced to go up the horrible middle of the ice. The surface was not flat, but was a series of prodigious mounds. He measured one of them, which was over 200 feet high, and it was usually easier to climb over these mounds than to circumvent them. The stones that rested upon the ice were constantly giving way under foot. The consequence was that the progress of the heavily laden Sepoys was slow and the marches had to be short.

The party was nearly two weeks ascending this icy river, four days of which time they remained in camp on account of stormy weather. When they finally turned up a tributary glacier in order to ascend the mountain, they had reached a height of 16,000 feet above the sea. All through the journey the cold was very severe. The party was very heavily laden because in addition to their food supplies it was necessary to carry a quantity of fuel.

It was not until Aug. 25, twenty days after they had left the foot of the glacier, that they began the assaults upon the icy peak which they intended to surmount. Two or three of the party had become disabled by cold and fatigue, and had to return to a camp established on the glacier. The party complained of some discomforts which travelers among the Himalayas have often mentioned. The sun, day after day came out with scorching power, and while their feet were numbed with cold, their bodies were far too hot to be comfortable. Mr. Conway says the great variations between biting cold and grilling heat are the chief impediments to mountaineering at high altitudes in those regions. Not only the cold and the heat alike are hard to endure, but the change from one to the other seems to weaken the forces and render the whole body feeble.

Ascending the steep slope of the final peak, their climbing irons were of the greatest assistance. They found to their dismay after climbing a few hundred feet that the upper part of the peak was not of snow, but of hard, blue ice, covered with a thin layer of snow. Every step they took had to be cut through the snow into the ice. The ice was too hard for the steel points of the climbing irons to penetrate until it had been prepared by a stroke or two of the ax. The Alpine guide said the work of step cutting was far more fatiguing than he had ever experienced in Switzerland. One of the Sepoys was overtaken by mountain sickness and had to be left behind. Now and then a puff of air inspired the party with a little life. Most of the time they suffered from the rarefication of the air.

Reaching the top, about 23,000 feet above the sea, Conway named the mountain Pioneer Point. He saw the most glorious views on every side. The whole panorama of valley, mountain, glacier, and snow has an effect, at an elevation, of majestic repose. The observers were far above the noises of avalanches and rivers and nature’s forces were reduced to mere insignificance as they gazed thousands of feet below them upon the scenery. Many of the mountains they saw had not before been seen by human eye.

ANOTHER GULF STREAM FROM SAME SOURCE.

In many respects the North Pacific ocean resembles the North Atlantic. A great warm current, much like the Gulf Stream, and of equal magnitude, called the Black Stream, or Japan current, runs northward along the eastern shore of Asia. Close to the east coast of Japan it flows through a marine valley which holds the deepest water in the world. It was sounded at a depth of 5¼ miles by the United States steamer Tuscaroa in 1875, while surveying for a projected cable route between the United States and Japan. The heavy sounding weight took more than an hour to sink to the bottom. But trial was made of a chasm yet more profound, where the lead did not fetch it up at all. It is the only depth of ocean that remains unfathomed.--San Francisco Examiner.

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At the head of Onion Valley, in Inyo County, Cal., are two abrupt mountains, one 13,000 and the other 14,000 feet high. Tumbling down the side of one is a cataract 500 feet high, which in the distance resembles falling snow, and two other waterfalls of equal height are visible from the head of the valley.