There was no deep hole or bottomless gouffre as we
expected, but that it formed a crater with a sort of slant and not
exceeding thirty feet in depth to the bottom, which looked exactly like a
lime-kiln, being of a dirty white appearance, and in continual agitation,
as it were of limestones boiling; so that a person descending to the bottom
of this crater would probably be scorched to death or suffocated in a few
minutes, but would infallibly be ejected and thrown into the air at the
first eruption. I mean by this that he would not disappear or fall into a
bottomless pit (as I should have supposed before I viewed the crater), but
that his friends would be sure of finding his body either yet living or
dead, outside the brink of the crater, within the radius made by the
erupted stones and ashes.
Our guide now begged us for God's sake to descend, as an eruption might be
expected every minute. We accordingly glided down the exterior surface of
the cone among the ashes, on our breech, for it is impossible to descend in
any other way and in a few seconds we reached its base. Finding ourselves
on a little level ground we began to run or rather wade thro' the ashes in
order to get out of reach of the eruption, but we had not gone thirty yards
when one took place. The stones clattered down with a frightful noise and
we received a shower of ashes on our heads, the dust of which got into our
eyes and nearly blinded us. On reaching the brink of the old crater we
stopped half an hour to enjoy the fine view of Parthenope in all her glory
at sunrise. We then descended rapidly, sometimes plunging down the ashes on
our feet and sometimes gliding on our breech till we arrived at the place
where we had descended from our mules, and this distance, which required
one hour to ascend, cost us in its descent not more than seven minutes.
We then walked to the hermitage in about an hour and a quarter, and arrived
there with no other accident than having our shoes and stockings totally
spoiled, our feet a little singed, the hands of Mr. R.D. severely burned
and both begrimed with ashes like blacksmiths. The ecclesiastic gave us a
breakfast of coffee and eggs and a glass of Maraschino, and we gave him two
scudi each. Before we departed he presented to us his Album, which he
usually does to all travellers, inviting them to write something. I took up
the pen and feeling a little inspiration wrote the following lines:
Anch'io salito son sul gran Vesuvio,
Mentre cadsa di cineri un diluvio;
Questo cammin mi piace d'aver fatto,
Ma plu mi piace il ritornare intatto.
which pleased the old man very much to see a foreigner write Italian verse.
I pleased him still more by letting him know that I was an enthusiastic
admirer and humble cultivator of the Tuscan Muse, and that having read and
studied most of their poets, particularly il divino Ariosto, I now and
then caught a scintilletta from his verse. We now took a cordial farewell
of our worthy old host, mounted our mules and descended the mountain. On
arrival at Portici we dismissed our guide Salvatore with a scudo pour
boire, besides the stipulated price. Salvatore asked me to give him a
written certificate of his services, which he generally sollicits from all
those whom he conducts to the Volcano. I asked him for his certificate
book, and begged to know whether he would have it in prose or verse. He
laughed and said: Vostra Excellenza e padrone. I took out my pencil and
wrote the following quatrain:
Dal monte ignivomo tornati siam stanchissimi,
E del buon Salvator siam tutti contentissimi;
Felice il pellogrin che a Salvator si fida,
Che di lui non si puo trovare un miglior guida.
I never saw any body so delighted as Salvatore appeared when I read to him
what I had written in his book.
I have another observation to make before I take leave of this celebrated
mountain, which is, that the liquid lava which it ejects is far more
dangerous and destructive than the eruption of stones and ashes; the lava
flows from the flanks of the mountain in a liquid stream. Sometimes there
will be an eruption and no lava flowing: at other tunes the lava flows from
the flanks of the mountain, without any eruption from the crater; at other
times, and then it is most alarming, the eruption takes place accompanied
by the flowing of the lava. All this demonstrates that the volcano is the
effect of the efforts of the subterraneous fire to get some vent and escape
from its confinement. This time I did not observe any lava flowing, except
a slight vein of it on the spot where Mr R.D. fell down and burned his
hands; but it is easy to observe on the side of the mountain the course and
route taken at different times by the lava, which has become hardened and
is very plainly to be distinguished, as it resembles a river (if I may
use the word) of slate meandering between the green sward of the mountain
and descending toward the sea. You can plainly distinguish the course and
direction of the lava which destroyed part of Torre del Greco and swept it
into the sea.
At Portici, having washed ourselves at the inn from head to foot in order
to get rid of our blacksmith's appearance, and having purchased a new pair
of shoes and stockings each, we visited the Royal Palace and Museum with a
view principally of examining the objects of art and valuables discovered
in Pompeii.
