32 
MEMOIR OF PEINY. 
of it. He accordingly ordered a liglit vessel to be 
prepared, and offered me the liberty, if I thought 
proper, to accompany him. I rather chose to conti- 
nue the employment in which I was engaged ; for it 
happened that he had given me a certain writing to 
copy. As lie was going out of the house, he re- 
ceived a note from the commissary of marines at 
Retina, wlio were in the utmost alarm at the immi- 
nent danger which threatened them (for that villa 
was in the immediate neighbourhood, and there was 
no means of escape except by sea), imploring him to 
rescue them from their perilous situation. He ac- 
cordingly changed his original intention, and instead 
of gratifying his philosophical spirit, he resigned it 
to the more magnanimous principle of aiding the dis- 
tressed. With this view' he ordered the gallies im- 
mediately to put to sea, and went himself on board, 
intending to assist not only Retina, but other villas 
which stood extremely thick on that beautiful and 
salubrious coast. Hastening, therefore, to the place 
from whence others had fled with the utmost terror, 
he steered his course direct to the point in danger ; 
and w'ith so much calmness and presence of mind, 
as to be able to make and dictate his observations 
upon the appearance and progress of that dreadful 
scene. He was now so near the mountain, that the 
cinders grew thicker and hotter as he approach- 
ed, together w'ith calcined stones like pumice, 
and broken pieces of black burning rock. They 
were likewise in danger not only of being a-gi'ound 
