394 DOMAIN XII. VOLCANIC. 



when the flames began to appear, they were en- 

 veloped in vapours of intolerable heat ; they ima- 

 gined the mountain was sinking into the abyss 

 from which it sprung : part of the inhabitants 

 abandoned the village, and consternation was 

 universal ; the volcanic matter retained a heat 

 which it communicated to the atmosphere, and 

 the air was loaded with reddish vapour ; the rain 

 that fell ruined the vineyards and trees of the 

 middle region, the latter in many parts having 

 nothing but the trunk left standing. 



" From Bronte we had information that, du- 

 ring the night of the 18th of July, a current of 

 lava from the crater surrounded a wood in the 

 neighbourhood of the town ; and from its having 

 made a progress of several miles in very little 

 time, it caused there the greatest alarm. 



" Feeling a desire of examining on the spot 

 the effects of this eruption, the more extraordi- 

 nary from its having proceeded from the summit, 

 and not occasioned any opening in the flanks of 

 the mountain, I repaired in the beginning of 

 Bronte. August to Bronte : this town, situated north- 

 west of the crater, stands at the distance of six 

 miles from it, in a direct line ; within the inter- 

 val are several volcanic mountains, and currents 

 of lava which have traversed and laid waste a 

 thick wood of fir, whose deep roots were fixed 



