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That portion of the Broad Mountain, called the “Fiery Mountains,” from the fact of the anthracite coal at "that point being on fire— which has been burning for the last fifteen years, is situated about five miles from Mi-nersville and fifteen, from Schuylkill Haven. It is now considered a very dangerous expe riment to travel over the mountain, as it is supposed that in many places the surface is a mere superficial crust or shell, the coal having been consumed up to the surface, and hence the least pressure thereon, it is presumed, might break through and let the adventurer down into the fiery chasm below. At the base of the mountain, in one place, a stream of water almost boiling hot, comes out. The surface of the mountain presents a desolate I appearance as far as the eye can reach. The mountain is either cracked, burned or broken into enormous and fearful depths by the ap proach of the fires to the upper stratum; roots and trunks of the lofty trees are charred and blackened, mingling their pyroligneous odor with the sulphurous vaporsfrom the hot caves and crevices around. The calcinpd bones of birds, reptiles, and small quadrupeds, lie fiere and there, half mixed with'the mineral ashes, to fill up the blasted view, while amidst the ', vast scene of desolation may be seen a solita ry wood-flower, springing from this perpetual " hot-bed," and presenting, in the uncongenial atmosphere, a mockery of bloom.
