C 27 ] 
“ nolfe like very loud thunder : the fire that ifiued 
from this mouth, went towards the walls of the 
“ unfortunate city ; the fmoke was partly black and 
partly white, the black was darker than darknefs 
“ itfelf, and the white was like the whiteft cotton ; 
“ thefe fmokes, rifing in the air, feemed as if they 
“ would touch the vault of heaven ; the ftones that 
followed, were, by the devouring flames, con- 
“ verted to pumice, the fize of which (of fome I fay) 
“ were much larger than an ox. The fliones went 
“ about as high as a crofs-bow can carry, and then 
“ fell down, fometimes on the edge and fometimes 
“ into the mouth itfelf. It is very true that many of 
“ them in going up could not be feen, on account 
of the dark fmoke ; but when they returned from 
“ the fmoky heat, they fliewed plainly where they 
“ had been by their flrong fmell of fetid fulphur, 
“ juft like ftones that have been thrown out of a 
“ mortar, and have pafl'ed through the fmoke of in- 
“ flamed gunpowder. The mud was of the colour 
** of allies, and at firft very liquid, then by degrees 
“ lefs fo, and in fuch quantities, that in lefs than 
twelve hours, with the help of the abovementioned 
ftones, a mountain was raifed of a thoufand paces 
in height. Not only Pozzuolo and the neighbour- 
“ ing country was full of this mud, but the city of 
“ Naples alfo, the beauty of whofe palaces were, in 
“ a great meafure, fpoiled by it. The afhes were 
“ carried as far as Calabria by the force of the 
“ winds, burning up in their paflTage the grafs and 
“ high trees, many of which were borne down by the 
“ weight of them. An infinity of birds alfo, and 
‘‘ numberlefs animals of various kinds, covered with 
E 2 “ this 
