NOMB VII. VOLCANIC INTRITE. 485 



these were the principal incidents of this hor- 

 rible yet sublime scene. The ruins of Pompeia, 

 buried beneath heaps of drosses and powders, 

 did not certainly present a spectacle near so 

 striking. To these objects, so powerfully cal- 

 culated to fix the senses, was added another 

 which forcibly touched the heart; this was a 

 doleful group of fifteen thousand persons, be- 

 wailing the destruction of their city and pro- 

 perty, who had had but a moment's notice to 

 flee, and abandon their homes for ever; and 

 were reduced to become wanderers, and de- 

 pendent on the world for refuge. 



" About dawn the summit of Vesuvius ceased cl d of 



powders. 



to be visible ; it was covered with a thick cloud, 

 frequently furrowed with lightning. This cloud 

 gradually spread itself, and in a little time over- 

 shadowed the gulf, the city of Naples, and its 

 vicinage. It was formed of a large quantity of 

 that fine sand called ashes, and prevented all 

 sight of the fire of the volcano. The sun, as it 

 appeared above the horizon, presented a still 

 more dismal picture. From the abundance of 

 ashes in the air it seemed more pale than during 

 the strongest eclipse, and a black scarf appeared 

 to be spread over the whole of the gulf and the 

 country. At the extremity of the horizon, to- 

 wards the west, the day was more clear, while 



