DESCRIPTION OF A VOLCANIC ERUPTION. 131 and other substances, were thrown up to the supposed height of 2000 feet. The liquid lava, having cleared the rim of the crater, flowed down the sides of the mountain to the distance of four miles. The air was darkened by showers of reddish ashes, blended with long filaments of a vitrified matter resembling glass. On the 7th, at midnight, a fountain of fire shot up from the crater to an incredible height, casting so bright a light that the smallest objects were clearly distinguishable at any place within six miles of the volcano. On the following evening, after a tremendous explosion, which broke the windows of the houses at Portici, another fountain of liquid fire rose to the surprising height of 10,000 feet, (nearly two miles,) while puffs of the blackest smoke accompanied the red-hot lava, interrupting its splendid brightness here and there by patches of the darkest hue. The lava was partly directed by the wind towards Ottaiano, on which so thick a shower of ashes, blended with vast pieces of scoriæ, fell, that, had it been of longer continuance, that town would have shared the fate of Pompeii, It took fire in several places; and had there been much wind, the inhabitants would have been burned in their houses, it being impossible for them to stir out. To add to the horror of the scene, incessant volcanic lightning darted through the black cloud which surrounded them, while the sulphureous smell and heat would scarcely allow them to draw their breath. In this dreadful state they remained nearly half an hour. The remaining part of the lava, still red-hot and liquid, fell on the top of Vesuvius, and covered its whole cone, together with that of La Somma, and the valley between them, thus forming one complete body of fire, which could not be less than two miles and a half in breadth, and casting a heat to the distance of at least six miles around. The eruption of 1794, happened on the 15th of June, at ten o'clock at night, and was announced by a shock of an earthquake, which was distinctly felt at Naples. At the same moment a fountain of bright fire, attended with a very black smoke and a loud report, was seen to issue, and rise to a considerable height, from about the middle of the cone of 132 DESCRIPTION OF A VOLCANIC ERUPTION. Vesuvius. It was hastily succeeded by other fountains, fifteen of which were counted, all in a direct line, tending, for the space of about a mile and a half downward, towards the towns of Resina and Torre del Greco. This fiery scene-this great operation of nature was accompanied by the loudest thunder, the incessant reports of which, like those of a numerous heavy artillery, were attended by a continued hollow murmur, similar to that of the roaring of the ocean during a violent storm. Another blowing noise resembled that of the ascent of a large flight of rockets. The houses at Naples were for several hours in a constant tremor, the doors and windows shaking and rattling incessantly, and the bells ringing. At this awful moment the sky, from a bright full-moon and starlight, became obscured; the moon seemed eclipsed, and was soon lost in obscurity. The murmur of the prayers and lamentations of a numerous population, forming various processions, and parading the streets, added to the horrors of the scene. On the following day a new mouth was opened on the opposite side of the mountain, facing the town of Ottaiano. From this aperture a considerable stream of lava issued, and ran with great velocity through a wood, which it burnt; but stopped, after having run about three miles in a few hours, before it reached the vineyards and cultivated lands. The lava, which had flowed from several new mouths on the south side of the mountain, reached the sea, into which it ran, after having overwhelmed, burnt, and destroyed the greater part of Torre del Greco, through the centre of which it took its course. This town contained about 18,000 inhabitants, all of whom escaped, with the exception of about fifteen, who, through age or infirmity, were overwhelmed in their houses by the lava. Its rapid progress was such, that the goods and effects were entirely abandoned. It was ascertained some time after, that a considerable part of the crater had fallen in, so as to have given a great extension to the mouth of Vesuvius, which was conjectured to be nearly two miles in circumference. This sinking of the crater was chiefly on the west side, opposite Naples, and, in all probability, occurred early LOWLINESS OF MIND.-INCANTATION OF SERPENTS. 133 in the morning of the 18th, when a violent shock of an earthquake was felt at Resina, and other places situated at the foot of the volcano. The clouds of smoke which issued from this now widely-extended mouth of Vesuvius, were of such a density as to appear to force their passage with the utmost difficulty. One cloud heaped itself on another, and, succeeding each other incessantly, they formed in a few hours such a gigantic and elevated column, of the darkest hue, over the mountain, as seemed to threaten Naples with immediate destruction, it having at one time been bent over the city, and appearing to be much too massive and ponderous to remain long suspended in the air. LOWLINESS OF MIND -OH! I would walk A weary journey to the farthest verge What is the pomp of learning? the parade INCANTATION OF SERPENTS. THERE is not any doubt of its reality (the incantation of serpents): the Scriptures are full of it; and those who have been in Egypt have seen as many different instances as they chose. Some have suspected that it 134 MORAL INFLUENCE OF SPRING. " was a trick, and that the animals so handled had been first trained, and then disarmed of the power of hurting; and, fond of the discovery, have rested themselves upon it, without experiment, in the face of all antiquity. But I will not hesitate to aver, that I have seen at Cairo (and this may be seen daily, without trouble or expense) a man who came from above the catacombs, where the pits of the mummy birds are kept, who has taken a Cerastes with his naked hand, from a number of others lying at the bottom of a stub, has put it upon his bare head, covered it with the common red cap he wears, then taken it out, put it on his breast, and tied it about his neck like a necklace; after which it has been applied to a hen, and bit it, which has died in a few minutes; and, to complete the experiment, the man has taken it by the neck, and, beginning at the tail, has eaten it, as one would do a carrot, or a stock of celery, without any seeming repugnance. However lively the snake may have been before, when he is seized by any of these barbarians, he seems as if taken with sickness and feebleness, frequently shuts his eyes, and never turns his mouth towards the arm of the person who holds him. On their being questioned how they are exempted from its attack, the gravest and most respectable among the Egyptians reply that they were born so; while the lower sort talk of enchantments by words and by writing. They all pretend to prepare any person by remedies, that is, by decoctions of herbs and roots. Be this as it may, the records of history attest, that where any country has been remarkably infested by serpents, there the people have been screened by a secret of some kind. Thus it was with the Pyslli and Marmarides of old, "Tame at whose spell the charm'd Cerastes lay." MORAL INFLUENCE OF spring. WHAT is this mighty breath, ye sages! say, That, in a powerful language, felt, not heard, Instructs the fowls of heaven? Oh, what but God ? MORAL INFLUENCE OF SPRING. Inspiring God, who, boundless spirit all, 135 But come, ye generous minds! in whose wide thought With warmest beam, and on your open front Can restless goodness wait; your active search Blows spring abroad. For you the teeming clouds |