f 72 VOLCAKOS. [Lesson xxxrr. 



heard, which continued increasing; the fire and 

 smoke also augmented in intensity, and towards 

 evening the horizon was obscured. Thebree,e, 

 usual in these parts, having blown from the south- 

 east, dissipated the accumulated clouds. The 

 mountain continued to vomit lava and a dense 

 smoke, which even at a distance was strongly sul- 

 phureous : the hollow noise in the sides of the 

 mountain continued to increase. 



" Curious to witness as near as possible one of 

 the most astonishing phenomena of Nature, and 

 forgetting the misfortune of Pliny, I set out" (says 

 an English traveller) " from Naples, and at eight 

 in the evening I reached Portici. From thence to 

 the summit of the mountain, the road is long and 

 difficult. About half way there is a hermitage, 

 which has long served for refuge and shelter to the 

 traveller: a good hermit has there fixed his resi- 

 dence, and takes care to furnish, for a moderate 

 sum, refreshments, which to the fatigued traveller 

 are worth their weight in gold. The environs of 

 this hermitage produce the famous wine called 

 Lachryma Christi. - From the hermitage to the 

 foot of the cave there is a long quarter of a league 

 of road, tolerably good; but in order to reach from 

 thence the crater, it is necessary to climb a moun- 

 tain of cinders, where at every step you sink up to 

 the mid-leg. It took my companions, myself, and 

 our guides, two hours to make this ascent j and it 

 was already midnight when we reached the crater. 



"The fire of the Volcano served us for a torch 

 the noise had totally ceased for two hours: the 



flame 



