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"Though they couldn't smell methane, they did put a match to the fissures from where the gas was oozing, and set it on fire."

You can't smell methane - it's an odorless gas. The methane you use for cooking ("natural gas") has an odor added to it artificially for safety.

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Naturally occurring natural gas typically contains impurities such as thiols, mercaptans, and hydrogen sulfide which are strongly smelling. These impurities are not always present though, and they tend to be removed during industrial processing, which is why additional odorants are added.

Canaries should know this very well ;)

As for what they smelled, maybe they are other gasses as well considering what those rocks and earth went through (sulfur?)

They're smelling hydrogen sulfide, which is a volcanic gas also found in combination with raw natural gas. It's the "rotten egg" smell.

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