“The fluid lake that works below,
Bitumen, sulphur, salt, and iron scum,
Heaves up its boiling tide. The lab’ring mount
Is torn with agonizing throes. At once,
Forth from its sides disparted, blazing pours
A mighty river; burning in prone waves,
That glimmer through the night, to yonder plain.
Divided there, a hundred torrent streams,
Each plowing up its bed, roll dreadful on,
Resistless. Villages, and woods, and rocks,
Fall flat before their sweep. The region round,
Where myrtle-walks and groves of golden fruit
Rose fair; where harvest wav’d in all its pride;
And where the vineyard spread its purple store,
Maturing into nectar; now despoiled
Of herb, leaf, fruit and flower, from end to end
Lies buried under fire, a glowing sea!”—MALLET.
This celebrated volcano, which has for so many ages attracted the
attention of mankind, and the desolating eruptions of which have been so
often and so fatally experienced, is distant, in an eastern direction,
about seven miles from Naples. It rises, insulated, upon a vast and well
cultivated plain, presenting two summits on the same base, in which
particular it resembles Mount Parnassus. One of these, La Somma, is
generally agreed to have been the Vesuvius of Strabo and the ancients;
the other, having the greatest elevation, is the mouth of the volcano,
which almost constantly emits smoke. Its hight above the level of the
sea, is thirty-nine hundred feet, and it may be ascended by three
different routes, which are all very steep and difficult, from the
conical form of the mountain, and the loose ashes which slip from under
the feet: still, from the base to the summit, the distance is not more
than three Italian miles. The circumference of the platform on the top,
is five thousand and twenty-four feet, or nearly a mile. Thence may be
seen Portici, Capræa, Ischia, Pausilippo, and the whole coast of the
gulf of Naples, bordered with orange-trees: the prospect is that of
Paradise seen from the infernal regions.
[Illustration: MOUNT VESUVIUS.]
On approaching the mountain, its aspect does not convey any impression
of terror, nor is it gloomy, being cultivated for more than two-thirds
of its hight, and having its brown top alone barren. There all verdure
ceases; yet, when it appears covered with clouds, which sometimes
encompass its middle only, this circumstance rather adds to than
detracts from the magnificence of the spectacle. Upon the lavas which
the volcano long ago ejected, and which, like great furrows, extend into
the plain and to the sea, are built houses, villages and towns. Gardens,
vineyards and cultivated fields surround them; but a sentiment of
sorrow, blended with apprehensions about the future, arises on the
recollection that, beneath a soil so fruitful and so smiling, lie
edifices, gardens and whole towns swallowed up. Portici rests upon
Herculaneum; its environs upon Resina; and at a little distance is
Pompeii, in the streets of which, after more than seventeen centuries of
non-existence, the astonished traveler now walks. After a long interval
of repose, in the first year of the reign of Titus, (the seventy-ninth
of the Christian era,) the volcano suddenly broke out, ejecting thick
clouds of ashes and pumice-stones, beneath which Herculaneum, Stabia and
Pompeii were completely buried. This eruption was fatal to the elder
Pliny, the historian, who fell a victim to his humanity and love of
science. Even at this day, in speaking of Vesuvius, the remembrance of
his untimely death excites a melancholy regret. All the coast to the
east of the gulf of Naples was, on the above occasion, ravaged and
destroyed, presenting nothing but a long succession of ejected matters
from Herculaneum to Stabia. The destruction did not extend to the
western part, but stopped at Naples, which suffered comparatively
little.
Thirty-eight eruptions of Vesuvius are recorded in history up to the
year 1806. That of 1779, has been described by Sir William Hamilton, as
among the most remarkable, from its extraordinary and terrific
appearance. During the whole of July, the mountain was in a state of
considerable fermentation, subterraneous explosions and rumbling noises
being heard, and quantities of smoke thrown up with great violence,
sometimes with red-hot stones, scoriæ, and ashes. On the fifth of
August, the volcano was greatly agitated, a white sulphurous smoke,
apparently four times the hight and size of the volcano itself, issuing
from the crater, at the same time that vast quantities of stones, &c.,
were thrown up to the supposed hight of two thousand 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 seventh, at midnight, a fountain of fire shot up from the crater
to an incredible hight, 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 hight of ten thousand 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 toward
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 that 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 is accurately described by the above writer; but
has not an equal degree of interest with the one cited above. We subjoin
a few particulars, among which is a circumstance well deserving notice,
as it leads to an estimate of the degree of heat in volcanoes. Sir
William says that although the town of Torre del Greco was instantly
surrounded with red-hot lava, the inhabitants saved themselves by coming
out of the tops of their houses on the following day. It is evident,
observes Mr. Kirwan, that if this lava had been hot enough to melt even
the most fusible stones, these persons must have been suffocated.
This eruption happened on the fifteenth 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 hight, from about the middle of the cone of
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, toward 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 it 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
center of which it took its course. This town contained about eighteen
thousand 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 their 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 in the morning
of the eighteenth, 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 the 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.
From the above time, till 1804, Vesuvius remained in a state of almost
constant tranquillity. Symptoms of a fresh eruption had manifested
themselves for several months, when at length on the night of the
eleventh of August, a deep roaring was heard at the hermitage of
Salvador, and the places adjacent to the mountain, accompanied by shocks
of an earthquake, which were sensibly felt at Resina. On the following
morning, at noon, a thick black smoke rose from the mouth of the crater,
which, dilating prodigiously, covered the whole volcano. In the evening,
loud explosions were heard; and at Naples a column of fire was seen to
rise from the aperture, carrying up stones in a state of complete
ignition, which fell again into the crater. The noise by which these
igneous explosions were accompanied, resembled the roaring of the most
dreadful tempest and the whistling of the most furious winds; while the
celerity with which the substances were ejected was such, that the first
emission had not terminated when it was succeeded by a second. Small
monticules were at this time formed of a fluid matter, resembling a
vitreous paste of a red color, which flowed from the mouth of the
crater; and these became more considerable in proportion as the matter
accumulated.
In this state the eruption continued for several days, the fire being
equally intense, with frequent and dreadful noises. On the
twenty-eighth, amid these fearful symptoms, another aperture, ejecting
fire and stones, situated behind the crater, was seen from Naples. The
burning mass of lava which escaped from the crater on the following day,
was distinguished from Torre del Greco, having the appearance of a
vitreous fluid, and advancing toward the base of the mountain between
the south and south-west. It reached the base on the thirtieth, having
flowed from the aperture, in less than twenty-four hours, a distance of
three thousand and fifty-three feet, while its mean breadth appeared to
be about three hundred and fifty, but at the base, eight hundred and
sixty feet. In its course it divided into four branches, and finally
reached a spot called the Guide’s Retreat. Its entire progress to this
point was more than a mile, so that, taking a mean proportion, this lava
flowed at the rate of eighty-six feet an hour.
At the time of this eruption, Kotzebue was at Naples. Vesuvius lay
opposite to his window, and when it was dark he could clearly perceive
in what manner the masses of fire rolled down the mountain. As long as
any glimmering of light remained, that part of the mountain was to be
seen on the declivity of which the lava formed a straight but oblique
line. As soon, however, as it was perfectly dark, and the mountain
itself had vanished from the eye, it seemed as if a comet with a long
tail stood in the sky. The spectacle was awful and grand!
Kotzebue ascended the mountain on the morning succeeding the opening of
a new gulf, and approached the crater as nearly as prudence would allow.
From its center ascended the sulphurous yellow cone which the eruption
of this year had formed: on the other side, a thick smoke perpetually
arose from the abyss opened during the preceding night. The side of the
crater opposite to him, which rose considerably higher than that on
which he stood, afforded a singular aspect; for it was covered with
little pillars of smoke, which burst forth from it, and had some
resemblance to extinguished lights. The air over the crater was actually
embodied, and was clearly to be seen in a tremulous motion. Below, the
volcano boiled and roared dreadfully, like the most violent hurricane;
but occasionally a sudden deadly stillness ensued for some moments,
after which the roaring renewed with double vehemence, and the smoke
burst forth in thicker and blacker clouds. It was, he observes, as if
the spirit of the mountain had suddenly tried to stop the gulf, while
the flames indignantly refused to endure the confinement.
It is remarkable, that the great eruption of 1805, happened on the
twelfth of August, within a day of that of the preceding year.
Subterraneous noises had been previously heard, and a general
apprehension of some violent commotion prevailing, the inhabitants of
Torre del Greco and Annunciada had left their homes, through the
apprehension of a shower of fire and ashes, similar to that which buried
Pompeii. The stream of lava took the same course with that of 1794,
described above, one of the arms following the direction of the great
road, and rolling toward the sea. The stream soon divided again, and
spreading itself with an increased celerity, swept away many houses and
the finest plantations. The other branch, at first, took the direction
of Portici, which was threatened; but turning, and joining the preceding
one, formed a sort of islet of boiling lava in the middle, both ending
in the sea, and composing a promontory of volcanic matters. In the space
of twenty minutes the whole extent of ground which the lava occupied was
on fire, offering a terrible yet singular spectacle, as the burning
trees presented the aspect of white flames, in contrast with those of
the volcanic matters, which were red. The lava swept along with it
enormous masses of whatever occurred in its course, and, on its reaching
the sea, nothing was to be seen or heard for a great extent of shore,
beside the boiling and hissing arising from the conflict of the water
and fire.
It remains now to introduce a slight notice of the eruption of 1806,
which, without any sensible indication, took place on the evening of the
thirty-first of May, when a bright flame rose from the mountain to the
hight of about six hundred feet, sinking and rising alternately, and
affording so clear a light, that a letter might have been read at the
distance of a league around the mountain. On the following morning,
without any earthquake preceding, as had been customary, the volcano
began to eject inflamed substances from three new mouths, pretty near to
each other, and about six hundred and fifty feet from the summit. The
lava took the direction of Torre del Greco and Annunciada, approaching
Portici, on the road leading from Naples to Pompeii. Throughout the
whole of the second of June, a noise was heard, resembling that of two
armies engaged, when the discharges of artillery and musketry are very
brisk. The current of lava now resembled a wall of glass in a state of
fusion, sparks and flashes issuing from it from time to time, with a
powerful detonation. Vines, trees, houses—whatever objects, in short, it
encountered on its way, were instantly overthrown or destroyed. In one
part, where it met with the resistance of a wall, it formed a cascade of
fire. In a few days Portici, Resina, and Torre del Greco, were covered
with ashes thrown out by the volcano; and on the ninth, the two former
places were deluged with a thick black rain, consisting of a species of
mud filled with sulphurous particles. On the first of July, the ancient
crater had wholly disappeared, being filled with ashes and lava, and a
new one was formed in the eastern part of the mountain, about six
hundred feet in depth, and having about the same width at the opening.
Several persons, on the above day, descended about half-way down this
new mouth, and remained half an hour very near the flames, admiring the
spectacle presented by the liquid lava, which bubbled up at the bottom
of the crater, like the fused matter in a glass-house. This eruption
continued until September, made great ravages, and was considered as one
of the most terrible that had occurred in the memory of the inhabitants.