VOLCANIC ERUPTION. 33 



versally felt ; and when at last the people 

 rose, they were still more alarmed by finding 

 the air filled with a fine impalpable greyish- 

 black powder, which, entering the respira- 

 tion, eyes, nose, and ears, produced a perfect 

 gasping for breath. The first remedy was to 

 shut up doors and windows as close as pos- 

 sible, but it was soon found worse than 

 useless, as the powder was so subtile that it 

 penetrated into every apartment, and the 

 exclusion of air made the rooms insupport- 

 able. Possibly half a dozen persons in the 

 country might have heard of the last days of 

 Pompeii, and perhaps might have anticipated 

 being discovered in some future ages, in a 

 good state of preservation ; but the remain- 

 der put their trust in the Virgin Mary, and 

 their different patron saints, especially Saint 

 Lorenzo, who is supposed to have a special 

 interest in volcanos, eruptions, and burnings 

 of every sort.* 



The doors and windows were thrown open, 



* Even in Chili the miners cannot be persuaded to 

 work on St. Lorenzo's day. They say, that if they do, 

 they are sure to be burnt by their gunpowder blasting 

 during the ensuing year, and if a man does get hurt 

 they always inquire whether he had worked the last St. 

 Lorenzo's feast. 



