MOUNT VESUVIUS. 34Q 



The walls of inclosures and of houses, calcined by the heat, Late emotion 

 crumbled to pieces before this moving mountain, or were thrown °^ '!ount\e- 

 down by the force ot the impulsion. Sumetimes, however, instead 

 of overturning an obstacle, the lava turned aside, and lett it 

 standing; for this variety of action it is impossible to assign 

 any reason. 



After we had contemplated this dismal and astonishing; sight, 

 we went up to the convent of the Camaldulenses, situated on a 

 kind of peak, of coubiderable height, which overlooks the whole 

 plain, that extends from the south to the west, from the 

 foot of JNIount Vesuvius to the sea. This building has 

 hitherto been spared, as well as the thick wood in which it is 

 €/nbosomed. It is one of the nearest points to Vesuvius, and 

 that from which you are best able to discover and trace the 

 progress of the lava. It is the asylum to which tiie wretched 

 inhabitants of the desolated plain have often fled with their most 

 valuable effects; to which they have driven their flocks, and 

 conveyed their wives and children. 



Here we staid a considerable time : our view extended over 

 the declivity of Vesuvius, from which ran several currents of 

 lava, that issued from the sides of the mountain; while enor- 

 mous flames of fire, of which we had a nearer prospect the 

 oight before, darted continually from its summit. We had 

 likewise a view of the plain, in which appeared the long wind- 

 ings of the livers oi fire. The reddish reverberation of the 

 lava, and the conflagration in the plain, illuminated the land- 

 scape. On every side appeared the image of desolation : but 

 yet it exhibited a picture so splendid, a scene so magnificent, 

 that the ravages with which it was attended, were entirely 

 forgotten in the contemplation of its picturesque and poetic 

 beauty. In short, when my mind figures to itself those fiery 

 torrents, the motion of the lava, the subterraneous thunders, 

 those continual hissings, so many wonders, so many subjects of 

 grief and admiration, I should think that a dream had deceived 

 me, if the imagination, which produces such dreams, wej-e 

 capable of creating images so awful and so grand. 



On the 3d, ihe eruption continued, and the lava still advanc- 

 ed ; the detonations were louder, and more frequent, than the 

 preceding day. In the evening, the flames shot to a still 



greater: 



