VESUVIUS. 



its environs. At this inflant, on the wellern bafe of the 

 cone, at the fpot called La Pedamentina, and from the 

 midll of ancient torrents, a new mouth difgorged a dream of 

 lava. This opening was 2375 feet in length, and 237 in 

 breadth. Scarcely had the llream of lava begun to flow, 

 before four conical hills, each having its fmall crater, (the 

 third alone excepted, which had two djllinft mouths,) arofe 

 out of the ftream itfi-lf. From thefe different mouths ftones 

 were darted into the air with great noife, and in a (late fo 

 highly ignited, that they refembled real flames ; the explo- 

 fions indeed were fo quickly repeated, that they feemed but 

 one, and formed a continued fheet of fire in the air, which 

 received no other interruption than wliat was occafioned by 

 the inferiority of force of fome of the ejeftions. They 

 fometimcs vomited fubftances, I may fay, in a fluid llatc, 

 for they expanded in the air hke a foft paftc, fo that one 

 may imagine they were either a part of the running lava, or 

 mafles of old lava fufed and projected. Some of thefe hills 

 were contiguous one to the othe" ; and it fecms as if the 

 force by which they were produced had met with obilruc- 

 tion to the difgorgement of the fubftances at one point, and 

 confequently effefted feveral iflues in the fame hne. The 

 lava flowed in one body for fome time, and at intervals 

 flafhes of light arofe from the furface of it, produced by jets 

 of hydrogenous gas, which difengaged itfelf from the lava, 

 precifely in the fame manner as the gafes expand from the 

 furface of a fluid. Its fiiil direction was towards Portici 

 and Refina, fo that the inhabitants of Torre del Greco 

 already bewailed the fate of their neighbours, and began 

 their thankfgivings to the Almighty for their efcape. Col- 

 leAed together in the church, they were ftill finging hymns 

 of joy, and expreffing their gratitude, when a voice an- 

 nounced to them the fatal news of their altered deftiny. 

 The ftream of lava, on flowing down a declivity it met in 

 its way, divided ilfi-lf into three branches ; one, bearing 

 towards Sta Maria de Pughano, traverfed a fpace of 2063 

 feet ; another, direding its courfe towards Refina, flowed to 

 the diftance of 3 181 feet ; while the remainder of the 

 ftream, falhng into the valley of Malomo, flowed towards 

 La Torre. On reaching the chapel of Bolzano, it formed 

 a branch towards the fouth-cail, which terminated in the 

 territory of Aniello Tirone, after having run tiie length 

 of 1490 feet ; the rcfidue of the lava purfuing its courfe 

 flowed upon Torre, prefenting a front from 1200 to 1500 

 feet in breadth, and filling feveral deep ravines. 



" On reacliing the firfl: houfes of the town, the ftream 

 divided according to the different flopes of the ftreets, 

 and the degrees of oppofilion prefented by the buildings. 

 An idea may eafily be formed of the accidents confequent 

 on fuch a Hood of fire ; accidents which bear relation to the 

 fcite of the manufaftories, the ihicknefs of their walls, arid 

 the manner in wliich they were aflailed by the lava. Had 

 not the mafs of the ftream fuffered a diminution from the 

 diflercnt divergencies noticed, not a fingle houfe would have 

 been left ftanding in Torre del Greco. The lava, after a 

 Terpentine courfe through the town, at length reached the 

 fea-fliore. The contadt with the water diminiflied the fpetd 

 of its courfe : ftill the current flowed into the fea in a body 

 1 127 feet in breadtii, and advanced into it a diftance of 362 

 feet. Its entrance into the fea was not marked by any lin- 

 gular phenomenon ; it began to ifliie from the volcano at ten 

 at night, and reached the fea-(horc by four in the morning ; 

 continuing a very flow progreffive movement into the lea 

 throughout the whole of the i6th, and the following night. 

 The main ftream, from the point wiiere it iftued from the 

 rolcano to that at whicli it flopped in tlie fea, meafurid 

 i2,<j6l feet. Its brcudlh varied greatly ; in fome places it 



fcarcely exceeded 322 feet, but in the plain it fpread to 1 1 1 T ; 



and at a medium, without rifle of any great error, it may 

 be computed to have been 725 feet broad. In thicknefs 

 alfo it differed according to the depth of the hollows it 

 filled ; in the plain it was conftantly from twenty-four to 

 thirty-two feet thick : and if its mean thicknefs be rec- 

 koned at the latter number of feet, it may poffibly be neareft 

 the truth. According to thefe data, the mafs of molten 

 matter is 1,869,627 cubic fathoms. During the eruption 

 the convulfion of the mountain was fo great, that even the 

 houfes in Naples were fliaken by it. Still it was not con- 

 Itantly alike. At the beginning the trembling was conti- 

 nual, and accompanied by a hollow noife, fimilar to that oc- 

 cafioned by a river falling into a fubterranean cavern. The 

 lava, at tlie time of its being difgorged, from the impetuous 

 and uninterrupted manner in which it was ejcdled, by ftriking 

 agaiiift the walls of the vent, occafioned a continual ofcil- 

 lation of the mountain. Towards the middle of the night 

 this vibratory motion ceafed, and was iucceeded by diftindl 

 (hocks. The fluid mafs, diminiflied in quantity, now preflfed 

 lefs violently againft the walls of the aperture, and no longer 

 iftued in a continual and giifliing ftream, but only at intervals, 

 when the interior fermentation elevated the boiling matter 

 above the mouth. About four in the morning the (hocks 

 began to be lefs numerous, and the intervals between them 

 rendered their force and duration more perceptible. One 

 might compare them to the thunder heard in Italy during 

 ftorms in fummer, tlie loudeft claps of which are fucceeded 

 by rumbling founds, which gradually die away. 



" While I was making my obfervations on this grand 

 eruption at the foot of Vefuvius, its fummit was tranqui), 

 and no phenomena were vifible about its crater. I pafted 

 the night at fea, between Calaftro and La Torre, to have a 

 nearer view of this great operation of nature, and to prove 

 the truth of the opinion generally received, that great erup- 

 tions are accompanied by extraordinary phenomena in the 

 fea. A more grand fpeftaclc there could not be. On one 

 of thofe ferene and brilliant nights, known only in the de- 

 lightful cHmate of Naples, a majellic ftream of fire, 1 1 ,868 

 feet in length, and 1483 in breadth, was feen at tlie foot of 

 Vefuvius ; its reflefted furface formed in the atmofphere a 

 broad and brilliant aurora borealis, regularly fpread and ter- 

 minated at its upper part by a thick and dark border of 

 (moke, which, dilating itfelf in the air, covered the difc of 

 the moon, the (hining filvery light of which was enfeebled 

 and obfcured. The fea again reflefled the illuminated flvy, 

 the furface of it correfponding with this portion of the at- 

 mofphere appearing as red as fire. At the fource of this 

 river of fire, inflamed matter was inceftantly fpouted out to 

 a prodigious elevation, which, as it diverged on all fides, 

 refembled an immenfe fire-work. On tlie fea-fliore, finally, 

 the mournful fpeftacle of the conflagration of La Torre 

 completed the pidure. The vaft clouds of thick black 

 fmoke which rofe from the town, the flames which occa- 

 fionally crowned the fummits of the houfes, the ruins of the 

 buildings, the noife of the falling palaces and houfes, the 

 lumblinfj of the volcano, — thefe were the principal incidents 

 of this horrible, yet fublime fcene. The ruins of Pompeia, 

 buried beneath heaps of droftes and powders, did not cer- 

 tainly prefent a fpeftaclc near fo ftriking. To thefe objeAs, 

 fo powerfully calculated to fix the fenfcs, was added an- 

 other, which forcibly touched the heart : this was a doleful 

 group of fifteen thoufand perfons, bewailing the dcftruftion 

 of their city and property, who li.id had but a moment's 

 notice to flee and abandon their homes for ever, and were 

 reduced to become wanderers, and dipendent on the world 

 for refuge. 



R a " About 



