X LIFE AND WRITINGS OF PLINT. 



The ashes were now falling fast upon the vessels, hotter 

 and more and more thickly the nearer thej approached the 

 shore ; showers of pumice too, intermingled with black 

 stones, calcined and broken by the action of the flames : 

 the sea suddenly retreated from the shore, where the debris 

 of the mountain rendered landing quite impossible. After 

 hesitating for a moment whether or not to turn back, upon 

 the pilot strongly advising him to do so : — " Fortune favours 

 the boldV said he, " conduct me to Pomponianus." Pom- 

 ponianus was then at Stabise, a place that lay on the other 

 side of the bay, for in tliose parts the shores are winding, 

 and as they gradually trend away, the sea forms a number 

 of little creeks. At this spot the danger at present was not 

 imminent, but still it could be seen, and as it appeared to be 

 approaching nearer and nearer, Pomponianus had ordered 

 his baggage on board the ships, determined to take to 

 flight, if the wind, which happened to be blowing the other 

 way, should chance to lull. The wind, being in this quarter, 

 was extremely favourable to his passage, and my uncle soon 

 arriving at Stabiae, embraced his anxious friend, and did his 

 best to restore his courage ; and tlie better to re-assure him 

 by evidence of his own sense of their safety, he requested the 

 servants to conduct him to the bath. After bathing he took 

 his place at table, and dined, and that too in high spirits, or 

 at all events, what equally shows his strength of mind, with 

 every outward appearance of being so. In the mean time 

 vast sheets of flame and large bodies of fire were to be seen 

 arising from Mount Vesuvius ; the glare and brilliancy of 

 which were beheld in bolder relief as the shades of night 

 came on apace. My uncle however, in order to calm their 

 fears, persisted in saying that this was only the light given 

 by some villages whicli had been abandoned by the rustics 

 in their alarm to the flames : after which he retired to rest, 

 and soon fell fast asleep : for his respiration, which with him 

 was heavy and loud, in consequence of his corpulence, was 

 distinctly heard by the servants who were keeping watch at 

 the door of the apartment. The courtyard which led to his 

 apartment had now become filled with cinders and pumice- 

 stones, to such a degree, that if he had remained any longer 

 in the room, it would have been quite impossible for him to 

 ^ " Fortes fortuna juvat." 



