LIFE OF JAMES DWIGHT DANA 



earthquake was perceived near Pompeii. There was a con- 

 siderable swell on the sea during the day, which, as there 

 had been calm weather for several days, I had imputed, 

 without a knowledge of the earthquake, to a distant gale. 

 Possibly the earthquake was the cause. At night, the 

 bursts of incandescent matter from the crater were far 

 more brilliant and extensive than on former nights. At 

 many of these expirations (if I may use the term : it 

 seems to convey best the idea of these slight eruptions, 

 which are not unlike the spouting of some huge leviathan 

 in a fiery liquid), small streams of lava ran down the 

 northern side of the small cone. On Saturday, smoke 

 was continually rolling from the crater to the north. 

 In the evening I observed that a new source of light 

 had arisen to the north of the small cone, and towards 

 the southeast a line of light extended partly down the 

 mountain towards Pompeii, arising probably from the 

 same stream of liquid lava which I saw when there, now 

 enlarged. The crater itself was by far less active than 

 usual. During Sunday, Vesuvius was in quite a dull 

 state. At night but little light was to be seen, and the 

 fiery expirations were not frequent. As we were leaving 

 the harbor on Monday (June 8th), a blacker and more 

 abundant smoke issued from the crater, and at night the 

 stream to the southeast shone with increased brilliancy. 

 The next morning Vesuvius was far below the horizon. 



" It would have been a source of no little gratification, 

 could I have witnessed Vesuvius exhibiting her immense 

 fireworks on her grandest scale. However, the slight ex- 

 hibitions of the past few days were, as seemed to me, full 

 of grandeur; and they made a faint impression of the 

 power that now is nearly dormant. Yet they passed off 

 entirely unnoticed by the mass of the inhabitants of the 

 country. It is astonishing with what an absence of fear 

 they rebuild their destroyed cities, whence just before they 

 ran for their lives, driven by these tremendous torrents of 

 fire. Thus Torre del Greco, although mostly buried by 

 the fiery torrent of 1794, has again risen from its ruins, 

 and now contains 15,000 inhabitants. The foot of the 

 mountain is crowded with towns, and it would be diffi- 

 cult for a current now to reach the sea, its usual course, 

 without destroying some buildings. 



' While contemplating Vesuvius, it is natural to dwell 



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