New-York tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1841-1842, 1842-03-25

village in the vicinity called Trpergola Sir VIII
liam Hamilton ms found two LETTERS descrloiiis
the eruption which formed the mountain end l
shall read from them some interesting passage
One is from FalcoHi in which he says:
sit Is now two wears since there have bcca trc-
auent earthquakes at Puzzuoli. Naples and the
& aeighborin- sections On The day and IN the
night before the eruption Of Monte NUoro above
twenty shocks great and small. were felt, l he
eruption began on the 18th Sept. 1888. Il was
on a Sunday about one O'Clock in The night, when
sarres OF FIRE were seen between the hot baths and
Triparsola In Short time the Ere increased 10
such degree that il burst open the earth In this
& place and threw up 50 greata quantity OF ashes
and purnice stones mixed with water "a covered
tie whole country. The next morning the poor
inhabitants OF Puzuzoli Quilted their habitasions IN
terror covered with the muddy and black shower
which continued the whole day in that country
iiying from death. but with death painted IN their
couutenances Some with their children IN their
arms some with sacks ;ull OF their goods: others
leading an ass loaded with their frightened tatnl-
lies toward Naples: others carving quantities OF
birds Of various sorts. that had fallen dead at the
beginning of the eruption; others. again. srith ash
irtich tier had found mark this. and which
were to be met in plenty on he shore, he,sea
har.ns iJf item dry for considerable time
= This Is the description OF The eruption of the
volcano that formed Monte Nuovo, b. falconi;
there Is another By Fetro Giacamo di Toledo. in
which he SAYS
.. 1t i now two wears since Campagna has been
afflicted with ea-thquales-the country about Puz-
zuoi more than other parts. On the 9th and 18th
Of September last, the earthquakes did not ce1isc
day or night; the town Of Puzzuoli. that plain be-
tween Lake AvernuS. the Monte Barbara and the
SCI; was raised a liNlc "a remarkable expression
which he would not have used il it had been merely
shower of ashes which raised it. az sometimes
happens and many cracks were made il it, from
| some Of which issued water: at the time the
sea adjoining the plain tried up toy. about t,ro
| hundred PAGES. thatthc !ish were lett on the
land Il prey to the inhabitants of Puzztloli. At last
on the :9th, about clock the nj st the earth
opelcd hear the Lucrhe lake and discovered
horrid mouth, from which ever vonlilcd furiouslv
smoke, fire, stones and mud composed of ashes,
making Ut the time OF lis opening noise like the
| loudcst thunder. The stones which followed were
b.. the flames converted to puncc, and some of
these were larger than an OF. Tic stones We're
sentahigi As cro-s-bow. cancarrv and 80 he goes
on to dcscribe the shower Of mud thar built up
d solid mountain which has crater at the TOP
deep as the mountain is high. Toledo tl.cn goes
onto savtha the eruption lasted TWO nights and two
dagS-the nountan was produced in two nights,
| and that many persons Knocked down bv the
stones and killed
1t appears to me evident not that the sea had
retired before the eruption. but that, when the
tremendous explosion took place, the plain
suddenly raised, and there then drying up
OF the sea some time after; but Il vast deal of
rising must have taken place during those convu-
sions. is know the red hot lava TO produce that
| liquid fiery matter that thrown up must have
mel,cd near the surface 50 that the stream, instead
OF flowing the crater should escape throushihc
fielding beds bclow-bctwccnw which it might flow
latitrdinally until it became high enough pierce
through. irst as it is easier To thrust knife be-
tween two leaves of boo. than through them.
But hayc=too many facts to explain to YOU
lative to these superficial changes having been
caused by up and down movement Of the Earth,
to enter this evening upon the various speculalons
respecting these matters. You perceive that we
have carried the temple down twenty-five feet grad
uav, and that it has shot up nearly the whole dis
tance. though not entirely, at eruption.
Not far from the Temple of Serapis the
ruins of two temples, one of the Nymphs and the
other of Neptune The columns Ct ,lle former
stand erect fivciect in the water The tcmr!e was
doubtless submerged and if there should ever be
| an uphcayal OF the bottom of the bay,this temple
| would probably be cXhumed aS'was the otfcr.=As
The difficulty that arises from the columns not
having fallen down like the others, it should be
rccoleccd that they went down slowly, only three
fprrihs of an inch in a year, and that before the
great earthquake of LAO occurred. thcy
buried twelve feet deep in incrustation or inashes
being made Of one block, they wonld be quite
likely To remain erect.
One fact forgot to mention: that thesccoumns
little out Of Notwithstanding slightly
toward the Originally they have been
perpendicular; therefore the movement must haze
been greater toward the land and this, TOO. mav
explain why the temples ot=Nepunc and the
Nynpls ar, lower down and yet raised.
An antiquarian, named Capmci, has proved con-
cusiycly that while these movements occurred at
Puzzuo, no changes have taken place al Naples
so that we have oscillation OF ty-ive feet
up and down. while at twelve miles distance
every thing IS stationary an imporant fact in the
explanation Of great variety Of geological phe
nomena, seine of which I alluded to in ms other
lectures.
When Won examine the new mountain YOU find
no Indication that is more modern in lis orr gin
than the others in its neighborhood. Indeed, rs
the country is under cultivation for the most
part the vines lieles< for much of the year and
the olives Of pae green. But Mt. Nuovoi.
covered with cvergrcens, myrtleS, olives, and
outus: 1T is the most verdant spot in all thar
region: showing apparcnttha, iti>css modern than
the barren hills sin lis neighborhood. Nothing can
be more striking than the whole and>cape-every
part OF the picture is in such perfect harmony with
The rest, thai YOU would not suppost: different
dates belonged to the different mouatlins.-
Yet have fouAd alta hight=of > 600 feet marine
shells. Identical in species with those which now
live, buried in the strata OF ancient Subr.r
The whole country, which * 50 modern, sithe. CON
sists Of this volcanic matter which has been thrown
up since 1t emerged from the sea. or OF strata in
which ynu find shnls and znnr,hyies identical with