VESUVIUS. l8l 



the loudest thunder. The stones which followed were 

 by the flames converted to pumice, and some of these 

 were larger than an ox. The stones went about as high 

 as a cross-bow will carry, and then fell down sometimes 

 on the edge, and sometimes into the mouth itself. The 

 mud was of the colour of ashes, and at first very liquid, 

 then by degrees less so ; and in such quantities that in 

 less than twelve hours, with the help of the above- 

 mentioned stones, a mountain was raised of a thousand 

 paces in height. Not only Pozzuoli and the neighbour- 

 ing country were full of this mud, but the city of Naples 

 also ; so that many of its palaces were defaced by it. 

 This eruption lasted two nights and two days without 

 intermission, though not always with the same force ; 

 the third day the eruption ceased, and I went up with 

 many people to the top of the new hill, and saw down 

 into its mouth, which was a round cavity about a 

 quarter of a mile in circumference, in the middle of 

 which the stones which had fallen were boiling up just 

 as a cauldron of water boils on the fire. The fourth 

 day it began to throw up again, and the seventh day 

 much more, but still with less violence than the first 

 night. At this time many persons who were on the 

 hill were knocked down by the stones and killed, or 

 smothered with the smoke.' 



And now, for nearly a century, the whole district 

 continued in repose. Nearly five centuries had passed 

 since there had been any violent eruption of Vesuvius 

 itself; and the crater seemed gradually assuming the 

 condition of an extinct volcano. The interior of the 



