OF VOLCANOS. 229 



Resina, Torre del Greco, Torre del Annunziata, and Bosche 

 Tre Case, a remarkable phenomenon was witnessed. 

 Throughout the whole of that part of the country the air 

 was so filled with ashes as to cau k -e in the middle of the 

 day profound darkness, lasting for several hours : lanterns 

 were carried in the streets, as has so often been done at 

 Quito during the eruptions of Pichincha. The flight of the 

 inhabitants had never been more general : lava currents are 

 regarded by those who dwell near Vesuvius with less dread 

 than an eruption of ashes, a phenomenon which had never 

 been known to such a degree in modern times; and the 

 obscure tradition of the manner in which the destruction of 

 Herculaneum, Pompeii, and Stabise took place, filled the 

 imaginations of men with appalling images. 



The hot aqueous vapours which rose from the crater 

 during the eruption and spread themselves in the atmo- 

 sphere, formed, in cooling, a dense cloud, surrounding the 

 column of fire and ashes, which rose to a height of between 

 nine and ten thousand feet. So sudden a condensation of 

 vapour, and even, as Gay-Lussac has shewn, the formation 

 of the cloud itself, augmented the electric tension. Flashes 

 of forked lightning, issuing from the column of ashes, darted 

 in every direction ; and the rolling thunders were distinctly 

 heard, and distinguished from the sounds which proceeded 

 from the interior of the volcano. In no other eruption had 

 the play of the electric forces formed so striking a feature. 



On the morning of the 26th of October, a surprising 

 rumour prevailed, to the effect that a torrent of boiling 

 water was gusliing from the crater, and pouring down the 



