AN ASCENT OF VESUVIUS. 125 



a person were only inclined to let himself go. It is a most forcible 

 illustration of the art of sinking. It shows how easily and instanta- 

 neously one may slide from an eminence which has been gained by 

 unsparing toil and unflinching exertion. 



The day of our ascent up Vesuvius happened to be a very fine 

 one, which came after a course of stormy weather; and in returning 

 to the Hermitage we met numerous parties who were taking advantage 

 of this change in the season. Some were provided with torches to 

 pass part of the night aloft on the summit ; others had merely their 

 luncheon, to eat and return immediately. In fact, the side of Vesu- 

 vius had become a highway for nations. As each set of strangers 

 passed us, the 'guide amused himself with guessing to what country 

 they belonged, and his decision was correct in almost every instance. 

 "These," he said, " are English there goes a German princess 

 look at that party of Frenchmen," and so on. I asked him how he 

 could tell one nation from another. He laughed, and said, " Oh ! we 

 see so many that the instant we look at their faces we know what they 

 are. All the world comes to Vesuvius." 



After dining at the Hermitage first, and then gazing from its little 

 platform at a most glowing sunset thus mixing together both ^the 

 substantial and the romantic pleasures of life we completed the re- 

 mainder of the descent by starlight. Though only the month of 

 March, the air was soft and still, and the sky blue and cloudless. On 

 turning round at the foot to take a last look at the mountain, its black 

 form stood out in strong relief against the transparent horizon, the 

 deep red fire of the crater was reflected by the vapour that hung over 

 it, and a procession of torches, like a string of tiny sparks, were wind- 

 ing up its side, lighting the pathway to those travellers who intended 

 sacrificing their_sleep to the nobler pleasures of enquiry and adven- 

 ture. 



Since the above sketch was written the eruption which was then 

 brewing in the interior of the mountain burst out on the 1st of April, 

 1835. Happening in the evening, and before the moon had com- 

 pleted her first quarter, it was particularly effective, but only lasted a 

 few hours. Not the slightest injury was done either to life or pro- 

 perty. The lava ran out on the side towards Pompeii, and conse- 

 quently was not visible from Naples ; but a great deal was also shot 

 up into the air in large red-hot masses, which at that distance looked 

 like a fountain of spangles, and some of them could even be seen af- 

 terwards to roll down the side of the mountain without losing their 

 colour. A large quantity of cinders and ashes were also discharged ; 

 but they were not visible by night, and, owing to the direction of the 

 wind, none fell in Naples. On driving two days afterwards through 

 Torre del Greco, which lies between Vesuvius and the sea, we found 

 the ground and the tops of the houses quite black, as if a shower of 

 soot had fallen. And afterwards, on visiting the island of Capri, 

 which in a straight line cannot be less than three or four and twenty 

 miles from Vesuvius, we found that the ashes had fallen there not 

 much less abundantly than they had at Torre del Greco, at the foot 



