350 Ruined State of the Country. [Book VI. 



rifle. The crater of Vefuvius, except at fhort inter- 

 vals, had been continually obfcured by the volcanic 

 clouds from the i6th, and was fo on that day, with 

 frequent flashes of lightning playing in thofe clouds, 

 and attended as ufual with a noife like thunder ; and 

 the fine afhes were ftill falling on Vefuvius, but ftill 

 ,more on the mountain of Somma. Sir William went 

 up the ufual way by Refina, and obferved, in his way 

 through that village, that "many of the ftones of the 

 pavement had been loofened, and were deranged by 

 the earthquakes, particularly by that of the 1 8th, which 

 attended the falling in of the crater of the volcano, and 

 which had been fo violent as to throw many people 

 down, and obliged all the inhabitants of Refma to quit 

 their houfes haftily, to which they did not dare return 

 for two days. The leaves of all the vines were burnt 

 by the afhes that had fallen on them, and many of the 

 vines themfelves were buried under the afhes, and 

 great branches of the trees that fupported them had 

 been torn off" by their weight. In fhort, nothing but 

 ruin and defolation was to be feen. The afhes at the 

 foot of the mountain were about ten or twelve inches 

 thick on the furface of the earth, but in proportion as 

 he afcendcd, their thicknefs increafed to feveral feet, 

 not lefs than nine or ten in feme 'parts ; fo that the fur- 

 face of the old rugged lavas, that before was almoft 

 impracticable, was now become a perfect plain, over 

 which he walked with the greatefl eafe. The afhes 

 were of a light-grey colour, and exceedingly fine, fo 

 that by the footfteps being marked on them as on 

 fnow, he learnt that three fin all parties had been up 

 before him. He faw likewife the track of a fox, 

 which appeared to have been quite bewildered, to 

 judge from the many turns he had made. Even the 

 traces of lizards and other little animals, and of in- 



fedtsj 



