VESUVIUS. 193 



riosity 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, " 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 " 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 

 fragments, 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 onward to Stabise. Here 

 he found his friend Pomponianus in great consterna- 

 tion, already prepared for embarking, and waiting only 

 for a change in the wind. Exhorting Pomponianus to 

 be of good courage, Pliny quietly ordered baths to be 

 prepared ; and " having bathed, sat down to supper 

 with great cheerfulness, or at least (which is equally 



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