202 DESTRUCTION OP 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 deep. 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 kind in the oldest pave- 
ments of modern cities." 
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 bones 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 
walls 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- 
