VESUVIUS. 



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dead ; suffocated, I suppose/ says his nephew, ' by 

 some gross and noxious vapour, for he always had 

 weak lungs and suffered from a difficulty of breathing.' 

 His body was not found until the third day after his 

 death, when for the first time it was light enough to 

 search for him. He was found as he had fallen, e and 

 looking more like a man asleep than dead.' 



But even at Misenum there was danger, though 

 Vesuvius is distant no less than fourteen miles. 

 The earth was shaken with repeated and violent 

 shocks, ' insomuch,' says the younger Pliny, ' that 

 they threatened our complete destruction.' When 

 morning came, the light was faint and glimmering ; 

 the buildings around seemed tottering to their fall, 

 and, standing on the open ground, the chariots which 

 Pliny had ordered were so agitated backwards and 

 forwards that it was impossible to keep them steady, 

 even by supporting them with large stones. The sea 

 was rolled back upon itself, and many marine animals 

 were left dry upon the shore. On the side of Vesuvius, 

 a black and ominous cloud, bursting with sulphurous 

 vapours, darted out long trains of fire, resembling 

 flashes of lightning, but much larger. Presently the 

 great cloud spread over Misenum and the island of 

 Capreae. Ashes fell around the fugitives. On every 

 side c nothing was to be heard but the shrieks of 

 women and children, and the cries of men : some were 

 calling for their children, others for their parents, 

 others for their husbands, and only distinguishing 

 each other by their voices : one was lamenting his own 



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