VESUVIUS. 173 



occasioned, I suppose, either by a sudden gust of air 

 which impelled it, whose force decreased as it advanced 

 upwards, or else the cloud itself, being pressed back 

 by its own weight, expanded in this manner. The 

 cloud appeared sometimes bright, at others dark and 

 spotted, as it was more or less impregnated with earth 

 and cinders.' 



These extraordinary appearances attracted the curi- 

 osity of the elder Pliny. He ordered a small vessel 

 to be prepared, and started to seek a nearer view of 

 -the burning mountain. His nephew declined to ac- 

 company him, being engaged with his studies. As 

 Pliny left the house, he received a note from a lady 

 whose house, being at the foot of Vesuvius, was in 

 imminent danger of destruction. He set out, accord- 

 ingly, with the design of rendering her assistance, and 

 also of assisting others, c for the villas stood extremely 

 thick upon that lovely coast.' He ordered the galleys 

 to be put to sea, and steered directly to the point of 

 danger, so cool in the midst of the turmoil around i as 

 to be able to make and dictate observations upon the 

 motions and figures of that dreadful scene.' As he 

 approached Vesuvius, cinders, pumice-stones, and black 

 fragments of burning rock, fell on and around the 

 ships. ' They were in danger, too, of running aground, 

 owing to the sudden retreat of the sea; vast frag- 

 ments, also, rolled down from the mountain and 

 obstructed all the shore.' The pilot advising retreat, 

 Pliny made the noble answer, ' Fortune befriends the 

 brave,' and bade him press onwards to Stabias. Here 



