80 UlSTOfeY () 



sink back half way. Upon arriving near the sUm- 

 mit, ashes and snow, with an ill-assorted conjunc- 

 tion, present nothing but objects of desolation. 

 Nor is this the worst ; for, as all places are co* 

 vered over, many caverns are entirely hidden 

 from the sight, into which, if the inquirer hap- 

 pens to fall, he sinks to the bottom, and meets 

 inevitable destruction. Upon coming to the edge 

 of the great crater, nothing can sufficiently re- 

 present the tremendous magnificence of the scene. 

 A gulf two miles over, and so deep, that no 

 bottom can be seen ; on the sides, pyramidical 

 rocks, starting out between apertures that emit 

 smoke and flame ; all this accompanied with a 

 sound that never ceases, louder than thunder, 

 strikes the bold with horror, and the religious with 

 veneration for Him that has power to controul its 

 burnings. 



In the descriptions of Vesuvius, or Hecla, we 

 shall find scarcely any thing but a repetition of 

 the same terrible objects, but rather lessened, as 

 these mountains are not so large as the former. 

 The crater of Vesuvius is but a mile across, ac- 

 cording to the same author; whereas that of 

 jEtna is two. On this particular, however, we 

 must place no dependence, as these caverns every 

 day alter ; being lessened by the mountains sink- 

 ing in at one eruption, and enlarged by the fury 

 of another. It is not one of the least remarkable 

 particulars respecting Vesuvius, that Pliny the 

 naturalist was suffocated in one of its eruptions ; 

 for his curiosity impelling him too near, he found 

 himself involved in smoke and cinders when it 



