/ 



3^7 



MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 



vJ' 



cannon firecl from the caftlc, not three hundred yards from 

 xne, is a mere whifper to thefe explofions. My little houfe- 

 hold had retreated to the rooms hackward, built againft 

 the hill, and I made moft of my obfervations in the door- 

 way of my neweft and thickeft wall. One or two, how- 

 ever, the moft fevere of thefe ftiocks, that raifed my man, 

 who 'till then had kept by me, from the ground, caufed 

 me to hefitate, and think of making a prudent retreat ; ^^ 

 but It occurred to me on a little refleftion, that the ftreets 

 might have been equally dangerous from mixing with a tu- 

 multuous concourfe of people, thronging after the piitures 

 of Madona, and of the faints carried in proceffion, with 

 which the whole city was crowded all night: I thought it 

 moft prudent, therefore, to keep out of the way. The 

 fhocks afterwards abated, or I was more ufed to them, and 

 a moft comfortable t lava made Its fally, from a feeming 

 opening in the whole fide of the mountain at once, and 

 ruftied forward with an impetuofity that in two hours, 

 brought it within two miles of Portici;};, which quieted me 

 for that night. The King was then at his palace there, 

 which Vefuvius feemed to be reclaiming from his Majcfty's 

 encroachments. The place was by no means held tenable 

 againft him; and the King, the courtiers, and numbers 

 of families, then in thefe environs at their Villeglatura§, 



were put to the route at midnight : Some of the court 

 thought themfelves not fecure even when they reached 



Naples, and, I am told, continued their flight to Cafertall. 



The 



* " Tn rommnne cor.fultant, intra tcdanc fubfiftant, an in aperto vag-cnmr; nam crcbnB 

 ■vafticiue trcmorlbus tebba niitabant. & quafi emoLa fcdibuB Aiis, nunc hue, nunc iIJuc abire aut 

 rcfcrri videbantur." Plinii EpifloL \x. lih. m. , 



+ The mcltud fiery matter thrown out by Vefuwrn, which jrrows hard as it cools,ant! ap- 

 pears to be a femi-vitrlfied fubftance. It is here called comfortabk, becauie tlie mountain ge- 

 nerally becomes more (pnet upon its being call out. 1 •. 1 -u 



± Portia ■ a fmall town on the bay of Naples, at about fix miles difiancc from that city, bm It 

 on the ruins of or rather diredly over, the ancient Hercidaneum. His Sicilian Majeliy has a 

 palacehere, furnifiied with many curiolities, found in Herculaneum, and frequently keeps hi5 

 court at Portici. ^ , , , . r i ■ ■ 



5 This is an Italian word, which fignifics the being in the country, or the time of being m 



the country to take one's pleafure. ,^ r- ■ t i i • 



[j A town twelve miles from Naples, on the contrary fide from Vefuvius, where tlie king 



fometimes holds his court. 



I 



