DR. DAUBENY ON THE ERUPTION OF VESUVIUS. 155 



which issuing forth from the foot of the great cone on the spot called Coutrel, flowed 

 over the preceding one. 



On the morning of the 26th, an immense column of black and dense smoke served 

 as the prelude to the bursting forth of a new current of lava from the same point as 

 before, as well as from several others in the neighbourhood ; and the whole of this 

 molten mass poured down the mountain in a single narrow stream, circumscribed 

 within the boundaries of a hollow way or water-course. Here, its progress being 

 favoured by the rapid slope of the declivity, it very soon reached Mauro, and took 

 possession of the road leading from Bosco-tre-case to Ottayano. 



On the 27th it was augmented by two fresh currents emitted from points not far 

 distant ; but now, instead of flowing on in a single stream as before, it became di- 

 vided into three. The largest of these currents, going straight in the direction of 

 Mauro, spread over some lands belonging to the hamlet of Torcigno ; the second 

 covered the cultivated fields above Bosco-reale ; and the third invaded the upper part 

 of the village of Bosco-tre-case. 



It was the first, however, of these currents which effected the greatest damage. 

 Widening as it descended, it had acquired, by the time it reached the base of the 

 mountain, a breadth of nearly half a mile, retaining even there a depth which aver- 

 aged from fifteen to eighteen feet. 



At Mauro, the Casino of the Prince of Ottayano formed its precise boundary to 

 the north, and one wall of that mansion was swept away by it, whilst all the rest of 

 the building stood uninjured. From this point the lava proceeded to the road which 

 leads from Torre del Annunziata to. Ottayano, which it completely blocked up, and 

 moving still further to the eastward, swept away in its course several detached ham- 

 lets included in the Commune. 



It is calculated, that 180 houses, the abode of about 800 persons, were destroyed 

 by the current, and that 500 acres (moggie) of land were covered over and reduced 

 to sterility by it. 



Among the remains of the houses overthrown by the lava, which I was able to exa- 

 mine, no traces of fusion were visible, and the lava seemed to have acted merely as 

 so much dead weight pressing upon them from without. These, however, it is to be 

 remarked, were on the verge of the stream, where the lava was least hot ; for in the 

 interior of the current I was unable to discover any vestiges of the houses that had 

 been destroyed. 



At the time that the eruption occurred, the villages in the neighbourhood were 

 covered, to the depth, it is said, of two inches, by a shower of capilli ; and from one 

 account which I have seen, it would appear that torrents of hot water were poured 

 down from the crater on the 28th. 



The flow of lava from the crater continued all the 29th ; but subsequently to that 

 date no further eruption was perceived, and the principal current already described, 

 being no longer urged forwards or augmented by fresh streams from above, gradually 



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