VESUVIUS. 1/5 



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, * 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, 

 .5 insomuch,' says the younger Pliny, * that they threat- 

 ened 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 Caprese. Ashes fell around 

 the fugitives. On every side ' 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 fate, another that of his family; 



