info the CraUr of Mount Vefuvhis. i 135 



rcfeTNt'd for eifflit Frenchmen to hazard tliis dangerous enter- 

 prifc, and to fuccecd in it cumpleiely, notwiih landing the 

 tiniiility of their guides, the inijX)Hibility which ilie Neapo- 

 litans attached to it, and the inftanccs they mentioned of 

 raOi travellers who had loii; their hves in the attempt, and 

 been fwailowed up bv tlie volcano. 



To be able to appreciate the danger of this enterprife, it 

 win be necelFary to have a corrcO;! idea ol the form and pofi- 

 (ion of \'eluvius, and of the matters which it throws up. 

 This volcano has the form of a truncated cone, and a part 

 of its bafe, which is altogether three hagues in circumfer- 

 ence, is waflied by the Mediterranean; its month, or upper 

 bafe, which is a little inclined to the axis, is 5723 feet in 

 circumference. The earth from the bafe to lialf the height 

 confiltsof vciretablc monld mixed with lava and ilones which 

 have not been attacked by the fire, tufas, pumice, and cal- 

 careous ftones, different in their nature and colour according 

 to the different degrees of impreflion which have been made 

 on them by the fire. 



The half of the height next the fummit is conipofed chiefly 

 of |Hire adics, but coarfer than our common aflies. Till the 

 prefent time, there have been twenty-lour eruptions recorded 

 in hiftorv. The firll took place in the year 79 after the 

 Chriltian sera : by thefe eruptions volcanic matters have been 

 fucceffively accumulated, but by that of 1779 the lituation of 

 the crater and of the aperture was entirely changed. The 

 focus or crater is now funk 200 feet below the upper edges 

 of the mouth of the volcano. 



To arrive at the crater, and to obferve the numero'.is fpi- 

 racles, long crevices, and fires which iffue from them in fe- 

 veral places, and alfo the variegated and itill fmoking matters 

 of which the crater is compofed, it was neccffary to pals over 

 this fpace of 200 feet. 



The inner fides of the volcano arc nearly perpendicular, or 

 exceedingly (ieep, and compofed of allies, lava, and large caU. 

 careous Itones ; but thele lava and flones, as they form no 

 connctlion with the aflies, cannot ferve as any point of fup- 

 port ; and w hen any one is fo imprudent as to adhere to this 

 kind of rock, the leail motion, the lealt difplaccment of any 

 part, makes the whole crumble to pieces. Befides, from the 

 fummit of V'eiuvius to the crater, the declivity, being exceed- 

 ingly rapid, cannot be traverfed but on all fours, and iuffering 

 vourfelf to elide down amidR a torrent of adies and lava. But 

 the moft dangerous obUacles are thole awtul excavations, 

 which caimot be paffed over without great trouble and dif- 

 iiciilty. 



1 4 Difrcgarding 



