243 THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA. 



the older cone of Vesuvius, tells the same tale of a time not 

 approachable by date, and of which there is no tradition. 

 The history of the present Vesuvius, so active in every suc- 

 ceeding century, begins but with the time of Pliny, and the 

 destruction of those cities which we are now disentombing at 

 its foot.* A similar attestation of age we have in the various 

 extinct volcanic districts of Italy and of Sardinia. Closely 

 contiguous again to the marble isle of Paros in the Archi- 

 pelago, which has furnished such noble material to Grecian 

 sculpture, we find the dark igneous rocks of Santorin, thrown 

 up by successive eruptions, some of which are historically 

 known to us. Of these several volcanic areas in the Medi- 

 terranean we would especially direct attention to the Lipari 

 Islands, as replete with interest both from the number and 

 singularity of their igneous minerals, and from the extraor- 

 dinary volcanic scenery amidst which these are found. The 

 steam-boat, however, now guides the course of all maritime 

 travel, as the railroad does that by land. The lofty cone of 

 Stromboli, ever projecting forth its smoke or flame, occa- 

 sionally indeed arrests the voyager's eye. But no regular 

 steamer visits these islands ; and they are left unseen save 

 by some stray geologist, who, deserting for a moment his 

 Silurian or Tertiary Strata, comes to the study of these more 

 recent changes which have acted on and disturbed the present 

 crust of the globe. 



In close physical relation to its volcanoes are those great 

 Earthquakes by which in all ages the basin of the Mediter- 



* We speak here by a willing anticipation of what may ye.t be done at 

 Herculaneum under the auspices of a better government. If we may hope ever 

 to fill up from papyri any of the lacunae in the Greek works of antiquity, the 

 buried ruins of this city offer the best chance of success. What has hitherto 

 been obtained from it might seem to belong to the library of some litterateur 

 of the Alexandrian school. Future excavation may perchance afford us (and 

 possibly under better preservation of the papyri rolls) fragments of ^Eschylus, 

 Sophocles, or Menander, or portions of the lost books of Livy ; treasures of 

 greater value than the writings of any grammarians or sophists. 



