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cast, the extremities began to crust, and turn into porous? 

 stones, resembling huge cakes of sea coal, full of a fierce 

 fire. These came roiling over one another, and where 

 any thing opposed, filled up the space and roiled over* 

 But they bore down any common building, and burnt 

 up all that was combustible. This inundation went on 

 about a furlong a day, for nineteen or twenty days. It 

 overwhelmed fourteen towns and villages. The noise 

 of the eruption was heard sixty miles. 



On Sunday, March 9, 1755, about noon, Mount jEtna 

 began to east, from its mouth a great quantity of flame 

 and smoke, with a most horrible noise. At tour o'clock 

 the air became quite dark and covered with black clouds : 

 at six a shower of stones, each weighing about three 

 ounces, began to fall over all the city of Mascali and its 

 territories. This shower lasted till a quarter past seven; 

 and was succceeded all night by a shower of black sand. 

 On Monday morning at eight, there sprang from the 

 bottom of the mountain a river of scalding-hot water, 

 which in half a quarter of an honY, overflowed all the 

 rugged land that is near the foot of the hill, and sud- 

 denly going off, left the whole a large plain of sand. 

 The stones and sand which remain wherever this water 

 reached, differ in nothing from the stones and sand of 

 the sea, and have even the same saltness. After the 

 water was gone, there sprang from the same opening^ 

 small stream of fire, which continued for four and twenty 

 hours. On Tuesday, about a mile below this opening, 

 there arose another stream of fire, which being in breadth 

 about four hundred feet, overflowed all the adjacent 

 country. 



6. On the 3d of December, 1754, a stream of liquid 

 fire began to run down the side of Mount Vesuvius, 

 from an opening on the east-side. But it soon ceased 

 running from this orifice, and burst out from a much 

 larger one, about two hundred yards below it. After- 

 ward it burst out from a third orifice, and having ran some 

 space with great fury, the surface then began to cool 

 and incrust, as it ran over gently-declining ground, till it 



