Daily American telegraph. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1851-1852, 1852-01-31

could withstand the heat and birthstone only
by getting to the windward. This stream Of
lava ran down the mountain TO valley about q
mile and a half distant; and strange to tell, it
retained its redness through most Of its jour
ney This puzzled me, when discovered that
the bottom of the moving mass flowed slower
than the top thus constantly rolling up into
sight a fresh red layer There are three Of
these spiracles on the side of the mountain
next to Naples, each throwing out its river OF
lire, and from my hotel, the { Crocelle,o they
look during the night like three girdles Of
flame. ! stood over the spracle, and put my
cane into the current; it took fire as quickly az
il immersed in blasting furnace BY some
labor, and more danger, succeeded in getting
out about gill of lava, just issued into sight
and pressing into it a silver coin, carlino, i'm
prisoned it there, and this shall show my
friends in America as my first workings in
lava.
As night came on, the fiery missiles Of the
crater glowed upon us from the sky. A night
on Vesuvius during an eruption Who can de-
scribe it shall not try, We now began to
think of descending. 1t took us long to reach
the place Of our first resting. The baywas
just visible, the lighthouses revealed localities
and the lamps of the city shed faint glow
over Naples. Arrived at the edge of the steep
gravitation, which had been SO unwilling to
help us up, much too eager now to help us
down. Our ladies were obliged to walk, and
two Of them fell, spite Of belts and brides
Arriving at our mule-station much the worse
for wear, we called the roll. then mounted our
mules, and started with song, thirty Italian
voices in chorus Take care, Mr.. Longears
how you step; feel personal interest in all
your ways" My donkey did nobly for took
letter to Salvatore. Having gone mile, our
guide asked us to turn round, when 10! we
heard family the thunder Of the volcano, then
came the smoke, and then the balls of fire.
The lightning flashes were vivid in the ex-
treme; and the moon could do little in dim
ming the splendor The three streams from
the spiracles appeared like fiery belts upon the
black surface Of the mountain Salvatore ex-
planned ALL and we had not few questions to
ask. The view of so much fire, in the night
and under overhanging clouds was worth a
journey from America,
We reached the Hermitage; and the refresh
ments, furnished by whatever hand and called
by whatever names, we readily accepted and
speedily appropriated For the first time we
began to feel weary And now we are again
mounted and 10! torches are seen whisking
about us on every side. These mountain torches
are made of rope, saturated with tar and oil,
and are about five feet long and three inches
in diameter. Our ragamufin retinue begun to
wave their torches and sing their Vesuyian
choruses. The shifting lights and shadows
among the craggy cliffs of old lava made this
part of our journey quite agreeable. At last
Resina hove in sight; and turning round once
more to take n last view Of the awful grandeur
Of the mountain, we bade it farewell and soon
found ourselves in the house of the intelligent
and faithful Salvatore. During our ride of FIVE
miles in our carriage, we discussed the subject
of volcanoes, and supposed them to be safety
valves scattered over a region which, but for
them, would be continually riyen by devouring
earthquakes. They preserve the needed equi-
librium, and may be considered as thermome-
tcrs indicating the degrees of heat which must
be released from the great steam reservoirs be-
low. Etna and Vesuvius have never been
known to erupt at the same time. The present
crater was measured abour year ago, when
all was quiet, and found to be twelve hundred
feet deep! Think, then, of the power that
could throw up from such an abyss, ten or
| twenty thousand stones at once, some of which
weighed five hundred pounds Happy were
we to reach our lodgings and most happy to
have seen Vesuvius during the night and the
day. amidst one of its grandest eruptions. II
has, in one sense, been a religious pilgrimage
to me for, many times was my soul lifted in
fresh alteration to that great Being, who "look-
eth upon the earth, and it trembleth who
touchcth the hills, and they smoke"
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