G. Foulett Scro^je — On Vesimiis. 245 



the minor extravasations and ejections that had been so long going on 

 from the summit, could not suffice for its relief. Violent ebullitions 

 broke forth at some point in these lower recesses of the volcanic 

 chimney, and vi^ith terrific eructation the evacuation of the contents 

 of all its upper portion began. Shock succeeded shock, till those 

 vrho looked at the mountain from a distance saw the colossal trunk 

 of the pine-cloud reaching to a height of many thousand feet above 

 the mountain top, in the usual double ascending column, one of 

 white globular masses of vapour, the other of scoriae black by day, 

 but red-hot by night ; while streams of incandescent lava gushed 

 forth from several openings on the fl.a,nk and at the base of the great 

 cone. 



Of many pers&ns who, on the night of the 26th, ascended the 

 mountain from Naples and its environs, for the purpose of witnessing 

 so grand and unusual a spectacle, several who had incautiously 

 entered the Atrio were caught by a sudden increase in the violence 

 of the eruption and the outburst of a new stream of lava close to 

 them, and perished miserably ; the bodies of some never being re- 

 covered. This stream of lava flowed rapidly at first down the 

 south-western slope of the mountain, below the Hermitage, and by its 

 advance the entire village of San Sebastiano and a portion of that of 

 Massa were destroyed. The population of Torre del Greco, Kesina, 

 and the other towns which line the sea-coast at the base of the 

 mountain, naturally supposed themselves in danger of the same fate, 

 and, deserting their homes, crowded the road to Naples. Their 

 fears, however, proved groundless, since the lava stopped its course 

 two miles short of Torre del Greco. The roaring and shocks of the 

 detonations were especially loud and fearful, as heard and felt even 

 at Naples — more so, it is said, than on any former occasion within 

 living memory. They were particularly violent on the 26th, and 

 again on the 29th, by which last day, however, the force of the 

 eruption had in other respects considerably diminished. Even on the 

 27th the outflow of lava had apparently ceased. The other pheno- 

 mena, namely, the ejection of scoriae and ash from the main vent, 

 continued some days longer, and increased, if not in violence, at least 

 in their unpleasant character to the inhabitants of Naples. The 

 wind, which had up to that time blown from the S.W., changed to 

 S.E. on the 29th, and brought the cloud of ashes over Naples, 

 obscuring the light of the sun, and giving to the atmosphere the 

 appearance of a London smoky fog. This fine dust fell in the streets 

 and on the house-tops to the depth of an inch or more, and heavy 

 rains accompanying its fall, made the circumstance more disagree- 

 able. With regard to these fragmentai'y ejecta, some incorrect notions 

 are perhaps entertained, even by geological writers, who seem to- 

 suppose them to be originally thrown out from the volcano in the 

 comminuted state in which they finally fall to the ground. The fact 

 I believe to be that they are first thrown up by the explosions, 

 proceeding from the surface of the lava within the crater, as coarse 

 crusts (scoriae) or even large liquid drops (bombs) of lava. These 

 cooling and hardening in the air as they ascend, in part fall again 



