115 
ERUPTION. 
Judging from these appearances, I warned my family not to be suddenly alarmed, as I had 
reason to expect an earthquake; and curiosity led me to visit the mountain. It was about noon on the 
20th of October, 17O9, when on a sudden I heard an uncommon bellowing within its cavity, and about 
a quarter of a mile from the place where I stood, the mountain was split in twain, and with much 
noise from this chasm a fountain of liquid tire shot up many feet high, and like a torrent rolled on 
directly towards where I stood. The earth shook, at the same time that a volley of pumice stones fell 
thick upon us; in an instant, clouds of black smoke and ashes caused almost a total darkness; the 
explosions from the top of the mountain were much louder than any thunder I ever heard, and the 
smell of the sulphur was very offensive. My guide, alarmed, took to his heels; and I must confess, 
that I was not at my ease. I followed close, and we ran near three miles without stopping; as the 
earth continued to shake under our feet, I was apprehensive of the opening of a fresh mouth, which 
might have cut off our retreat. I also feared that the violent explosions would detach some of the 
rocks off the mountain of Somma, under which we were obliged to pass; besides, the pUmice-stones, 
falling upon us like hail, were of such a size as to cause a disagreeable sensation upon the part where 
they fell. After having taken breath, as the earth still trembled greatly, I thought it most prudent 
to leave the mountain, and return to my villa; where I found my family in a great alarm, at the 
continual and violent explosions of the volcano, which shook our house to its very foundation, the 
doors and windows swinging upon their hinges. 
The noise and smell of sulphur increasing, we removed from our villa to Naples; and I thought 
proper, as I passed by Portici, to inform the court of what I had seen; and humbly offered it as my 
opinion, that his Sicilian Majesty should leave the neighbourhood of the threatening mountain. How¬ 
ever, the court did not leave Portici till about twelve of the clock. I observed, in my way to Naples, 
which was in less than two hours after I had left the mountain, that the lava had actually covered 
three miles of the very road through which we had retreated. It is astonishing that it should have 
run so fast; as I have since seen, that the river of lava, in the Atrio di Cavello, was sixty and seventy 
feet deep, and in some places near two miles broad. When his Sicilian Majesty quitted Portici, the 
noise was greatly increased; and the concussion of the air from the explosions was so violent, that, in 
the king’s palace, doors and windows were forced open; and even one door there, which was locked, 
was nevertheless burst open. At Naples, the same night, many windows and doors flew open; in my 
house, which is not on the side of the town next Vesuvius, I tried the experiment of unbolting my 
windows, when they flew wide open upon every explosion of the mountain. Besides these explosions, 
which were very frequent, there was a continued subterraneous and violent rumbling noise, which 
lasted this night about five hours. I have imagined, that this extraordinary noise might be owing to 
the lava in the bowels of the mountain having met with a deposition of rain water; and that the 
conflict between the fire and the water may, in some measure, account for so extraordinary a crackling 
and hissing noise. Padre Torre, who has wrote so much and so well upon the subject of Mount 
Vesuvius, is also of my opinion. And indeed it is natural to imagine, that there may be rain-water 
lodged in many of the caverns of the mountain; as, in the great eruption ot Mount Vesuvius in 1031 , 
it is well attested, that several towns, among which Portici and Torre del Greco, were destroyed, by 
a torrent of boiling water having burst out of the mountain with the lava, by which thousands of 
lives were lost. About four years ago. Mount Etna in Sicily threw up hot water also, during an 
eruption. 
The confusion at Naples this night cannot be described; his Sicilian Majesty’s hasty retreat from 
Portici added to the alarm; all the churches were opened and filled; the streets were thronged with 
processions of saints: but I shall avoid entering upon a description of the various ceremonies that were 
performed in this capital, to quell the fury of the turbulent mountain. 
Tuesday the 20th, it was impossible to judge of the situation ot Vesuvius, on account of the 
smoke and ashes, wfliich covered it entirely, and spread over Naples also, the sun appearing as through 
a thick London fog, or a smoked glass; small ashes fell all this day at Naples. The lavas on both sides 
of the mountain ran violently; but there was little or no noise till about nine o clock at night, when 
the same uncommon rumbling began again, accompanied with explosions as before. 
Wednesday twenty-first, was more quiet than the preceding days, though the lavas ran briskly. 
