Delaware weekly Republican. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1841-188?, 1848-11-10

A VISIT no MOUNT VESUVlus.

|
shall omit the description Of the other ex.
curslons, and describe my visit al midnight TO
| the summit Of Mount Vesuvius Stepping into
one OF the numerous fiacfes on the stand, at
SIX O'Clock, the last evening was at Naples,
was on my way alone for Resiua, al the foot
| OF the mountain, five miles from the city,
| The ride along the shores, through the pretty
suburbs, with the setting sun the waters Of
| the bay, the approach OF Darkness and the
develorement OF the red stream Of lava down
the mountain. was rare sight. In an hour
was seated on pony, attended by guide,
also mounted, and having a large torch ~
These guides and animals are at the station
alway ready, and there is a tariff of prices for
them. They are under the direction Of the
police, who maintain strict watch along the
route hall way up the ascent. The route 10
| the hermitage is circuous one, and re-
qured nearly three hours. From thence
beautiful view is had nf The Bay and City of
Naples, and the lava stream aud belchings OF
cinders, red.hot stones, and lava every few
minutes from The crater. The stream, which
few days since had several branches, now
merged together, was abeut mile long and
three or four rods wide, and lost itself in
level space on the mountain side, where it
collected and cooled. The crater, which is a
regular cone on the top of The mountain, was
sprinkled with mvriads OF red-hot pieces from
the belchings, which shot up from The crater,
in nearly perpendicular line, 10 a great height,
then falling on the edge OF the crater, and roll
ing down the sides.
Having ascendeda few miles above the her.
miage, at the termination Of the path, and as
far as il is practicable Tor horse to Co. our ami
mails were tied, and then came The most diff
cult ascent ever made. The whole noun
tat RE nj for n fnilta
mass of volcanic matter, thrown up by differ
ent eruptons, aud composed of beds of rocks,
lava, aud cinders and beside and between
these beds nothing but ashes, which is of a
coarse black sandy substance. 1t is impossible
to ascend over The rugged beds of rocks, and
equally So 10 go up over the sand, where you
cannot keep your foolhod. The way is to 90
along the edge of lava, Keeping your looihsld
in the sand as much as possible by holding on
10 the rocky edge; but then we slipped al
every step, and lost nearly half we gained
TollIng III this manner, and stumbling in the
uncertain light, stopping every few moments
to recuil our exhausted strength and recover
breath, we arrived at eleven O'Clock at the
summit. have forgot 10 mention that there
are two attendants al the beginning of the as.
cent TO assist, by ropes The exhausted traveller;
but refused their offers, not wishing TO be
on,doue by guide. Resting a few moments,
and weilius our dry ,hra ais, we started for the
a--. - .i,,5f sl,sst "a
| and among the IMMENSE masses OF lava, n
less than half an hour we were within reach
of the red pieces Of lava which rolled down
the crater Here we larred 10 view the show
ers above, which seemed as though they
would descend on our heads. 1t was fear
| full sight, and at every eruption the rumbling
and conclusion within The crater added much
to the scene. In returning we passed over
beds of lava yet quite hot, which had been
elected from the crater only four days pre-
vous. Having arrived at the brink, the de-
scent was over bed of sand and ashes unin-
numbered with single stone, and it was a
novel aud rapid one; for, what with the step
and slide, every stride was eqnal 10 six feet,
aud they were so rapid from The impetus for.
ward, that it was ITO easy matter 10 keep our
equilibrium. Ten minutes bIonghtu to where
we lett our horses, mile in distance, and
which had taken an hour Of so much labor 10
overcome.
Remounting our nags, we were IN due time
at the station, where, having paid The score,
took my seal in the facTe which had waited
my return, and in the solitude of the early
'mUtuus wv, ,..P;ll >, u,birlsJ along the road
10 Naples, with stiff joints and aching limbs
| glad had been, and not wshingto 80 again
Cor. Boston Atldst.