The Sun.
London, England, 1867-12-11 00:00:00

VESUVIUS IN ACTION.

A correspondent from Italy writes as follows :—,
" Since my visit to the cone. of Vesuvius, I hear that the
lava has descended considerably lower, and that the showers'
of stones from the crater have been frequent. It is the
opinion of scientific men accustomed to study volcanic
phenomena, that a large quantity of stones and lava must
be discharged before the present eruption will termi-
nate, so there is a probability that the grim valley of
Atrio del Cavallo will glow with subterranean fires, and
that the cone of the mountain will bear its sparkling
heaps of red-hot shingle for some time to come. Those
who saw the eruption of 1858 might be disappointed with
what is now displayed on Vesuvius, for there is no such
stream of lava as was then poured out of the mountain
side. But there is a finer sight as regards the summit of
the cone. The fire is high in air, glowing redly against
the sky, with very little light reflected back from above,
but with a cloud of smoke that trembles with intense heat
banging over the crater. More than this, there are
showers of stones, which have more resemblance to what
was hurled forth in the earlier eruptions than to the
phenomena of a few years ago. Such showers make it
dangerous to approach the edge of the crater, even on the
south side, towards Pompeii, where no lava is descending,
but they add to the grandeur of the scene, and, after all,
a reasonable visitor may be content to gaze upward from
the Atrio del Cavallo, or to scramble a short distance
only upon the hot and shifting scoriae of the cone. I
must not leave Vesuvius without saying a further word
of explanation. The more that volcanic action makes
the mountain glorious to see, the less is there danger of an
earthquake. In past eruptions the earthquakes have
come before the stones and lava were discharged—whilst
Vesuvius was struggling with repressed volumes of
gas—and now that outward action has begun, the
greatest danger of volcanic regions is temporarily
over. So in the other sort of repression and erup.
tion, where men are more powerful, it happens that
the storm of last October has been followed by a breath.
less lull. Strangers may approach, for the next earth.
quake is indefinitely postponed, and meanwhile there is
keen interest to hear news of the Italian debates, of how
the story of the political eruption will be told by the states.
men at Florence, and of whether any revelations will be
made as to the intentions of their great ally."

CHARGE OF MURDER AT SEA.—At the Mansion
House James Conning, seaman, has been charged with the
wilful murder of John Wyers, seaman, on the 18th of
September, in the Bay of Fayal. There does not seem to
have been any one present when the murder was corn.
mated. The prisoner is an Irishman ; deceased was an
American. The latter was continually annoying the pri.
soner. One night deceased came on board drunk, and
attacked the prisoner with a knife, whereupon the latter
retaliated, stabbing deceased to the heart. The prisoner
was again remanded.
DEATH OF A WOMAN IN THE SNOW.—At
BRl-
later (Scotland) a woman named Barbara M`Donald lost
her life on Monday night through the inclemency of the
weather. She Lad left Corgarff on Sunday to visit an
aunt who resided at Aboyne. When returning home on
Monday she met a lad named Joseph Downie at Ballater,
and as he was going near her father's house they left this
village in company—the distance they had to travel
being about twelve miles. When within about two-and-a-
half miles of home the woman had become so fatigued by
forcing her way through the snow-storm that she could
scarcely proceed further. Downie rendered all the aid he
could, and they proceeded together for some distance fur-
ther, the lad supporting his weaker companion as well as
he Was able. At last the strength of both failed,
but after a brief rest Downie resolved to rush
on to the nearest house— about a mile distant—.
to obtain help for the woman, who was now quite
exhausted, and whom he left sitting on a stone by the
roadside, The inmates of the house whom he aroused
promptly went to her rescue ; but, when they reached the
Fpot where Barbara had been left by her fellow-traveller.
it waq found that she had gone off the road at a point
iearly 100 yards in advance of that where she bad been
resting. The driving drift, however, had obliterated the
traces of her footsteps, and search for the poor woman was
made that night in vain. Her body was found about ten
o'clock on Tuesday morning, the face being covered with
congealed snow, which the wind had blown over it.

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