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TERRITORIAL ENTERPRISE

Thursday . . . August 27, 1868

THE VOLCANO.--Hundreds of persons yesterday visited the summit of Mount Butler to examine for themselves the strange conflagration going on in a sort of cave or large crevice among the rocks. All brought back specimens of the stuff which they found burning there, and there were a thousand and one opinions in regard to the nature of the same. It seems to be a sort of conglomerate of pitch, pine leaves and sticks, the ordure of various small animals and loam--the accumulation of hundreds of years, perhaps. Parties who visited it yesterday say that in the back part of the cavern--which is 30 or 40 feet deep, from two to six feet wide, and 15 to 20 feet high in the highest part--they found a strong flame issuing from a mass of burning matter, which flame reached up to the roof of the cavern, and was deflected forward, like flames in an oven. The whole place was exceedingly hot, yet some ventured in so far that the flames reached over their heads, and at the risk of a scorching raked out specimens of the burning matter. We have conversed with gentlemen here who say that there are caves in Humboldt County in which the same matter has accumulated to a depth of not less than 40 feet. At Cave Rock, Lake Tahoe, there is a deposit of the same stuff which is supposed to be nearly 100 feet deep, and at Silver City, Lyon County, in what is called Table Mountain, is a cave which contains a large quantity of the same material. The singular compound is doubtless formed of pine burs, sticks and leaves carried into the caverns by squirrels, mountain rats, and other small animals where the wood has decayed, having the indestructible pitch to mingle with and cement together, the ordure and decomposed vegetable fibre. This process being continued for ages would result in the accumulation of immense masses of such stuff as has been found in the Mount Butler cave. To have volcanoes of the same kind through the country it is only necessary to set fire to the combustible matter i the various caverns. A gentleman in this city informs us that some boys, who were out hunting some goats, saw the fire burning in this cavern on Mount Butler some eight weeks ago, though it was then burning in a feeble and smouldering way.