202 DESTRUCTION OF HERCULANEUM. 



near half repaired. In some few places the pave- 

 ment had sunk in, but in general it was undisturbed, 

 consisting of large, irregular flags of lava joined 

 neatly together, in which the carriage-wheels have 

 often worn ruts an inch and a half deepc In the 

 wide streets, the ruts are numerous and irregular; 

 in the narrower, there are only two, one on each 

 side, which are very conspicuous. It is impossible 

 not to look with some interest even on these ruts, 

 which were worn by chariot-wheels more than 

 seventeen centuries ago ; and, independently of 

 their antiquity, it is remarkable to see such deep in- 

 cisions so continuous in a stone of great hardness. 

 We observe nothing of the kmd in the oldest pave- 

 ments of modern ciiies." 



It seems that the inhabitants not only had time 

 to escape, but also to take most of their effects 

 with them. The skeletons of two soldiers were 

 found in the barracks at Pompeii, chained to the 

 stocks, and in the vaults of a country house in the 

 suburbs were the skeletons of seventeen persons, 

 who probably fled there to escape the shower of 

 ashes. They were found enclosed in an indurated 

 tuff, and in this matrix was preserved a perfect cast 

 of a woman with an infant in her arms. Nothing 

 but the skeleton remained. Around the neck a 

 chain of gold was suspended, and on the hones of 

 the fingers were rings, with jewels. A long row of 

 earthen amphorae was ranged along the sides of 

 the same vault. 



The writings scribbled by the soldiers on the 

 wails of their barracks, and the names of the own- 

 ers of each house, written over the doors, are still 

 perfectly legible. The colours of fresco-paintings 

 on the stuccoed walls in the interior of buildings 

 are almost as vivid as if they were just finished. 

 There were discovered public fountains decorated 

 with shells ; also a large collection of shells, be- 

 longing probably to a naturalist ; abundance of fish- 



