Washington telegraph., 1855-06-27
The Grand Eruption Of vesuvius.


A letter dated Naples. May 10, gives THRILLING
account OF the progress OF the eruption Of Ees,,vi
US, of which we have already had accounts .n5
which was absorbing general attention. tha k;ng
ministers, people and all being on the spot The
lava has advanced ten miles from it's source and
is doing immense damage The letter saws:
just at the base Of it lake of fire has baen
formed WEIGH looks like red sea in an undula-
tory state In the very centre of this has orened
another crater. which Is throwing out rel hot
stones On the morning of the 18th the r-zter -
the very summit fred. as it were two heavy can
noEades, and after sending forth lightning. flames
and stones, broke uD altogether In The ,,;dIIa
OF the cone ten cTateFs have been formed and
from these the lava pours forth ike river ard
runs on the side Of the CayaIlo as far as TIE A!in
atore Here four other craters have been formed
which throw up bltuulen in the manner of the
pyramids and resemble gigantic exhibitions Of
fireworks The whole OF the summit of tI,a cr.
ter is therefore. like sponge and rrlrst i-e,;.s-
bly, ialI IN The thin crust tremb!es under vour
feet- You may see the stones dance with 4bo
tremuious movement The part f2ir,as,;ateI,
.ound the crater looks like the sides = : heated
copper Ooi'er: Such Is true statement of what
Is going on az the summit There are renorfs of
an opening toward POnpeii, which Is not unlike
~, and OF another towards Russia but | have rot
been up loT some days, as the danger IS now
very great"
Ihe writer. after an absence OF two dav< re-
HlS"' lHe ticinIty OF the eruption.
and thus describes what he saJv:
w here walked on Sunday NIGHT vvae -o,,- .
sea oil hTe- The side road by which had co,r,a
down INTO the main stream from poIIena srI
al''ssa di oomIne was now full OF blackened coke.
Inc hoaSes on the borders of the village had fall
zen; IN one thirty poor people lived \ small
Chapel was swallowed up a ren.Ie-.,ar,'- iii.
and sad extent of vineyard and garden s--ound
On the othor side of the great lava he'd 5rotbor
stream bTanched of to San Sebastiano. The FIRE
aaa oegun TO enter the burial ground Of the little
tS"n, OUT Was diverted from It's course by a wall.
Oh me opposite side OF the stream were tLe Finq
and all the royal family The banks on eitbeT
SIDE were thronsed with curions and anxious rluI
utndes, whose faces were lighted up With the
blaze OF hundreds of torches and with the more
resPiendeHe hame of the rapidly descending lava.
Since the morning il had moved = mill II 49,
like vast river of glowing coke. As It moved
on the tens OF thousands Jumps rolled and t,Tabed
one over the other cracking and qrindIro and
grating; and when from the very face Of i a large
iuInP ;eLi oii' t5e appearance was that Of an iron
furnace when the iron is being drawn
10 make the resemblance more con,Dle.e At
such times men darted forward with Isnr n9Ies
taken from the DeIghboring VINEYARDS and r,fl!a5
out great masses of lava in which thew irnbedded
money for sale What struck me at first and sin
strikes me as the most majestic feature in the
w9e scene the slow. silent, irresistible motion
oi the merry food Active almighty power with
OUT an eftoTtl Sweeping everything before 4
overcoming every obstacle growing m AGAINST
intervening walls or houses and devouring thar1
oodiiy' and then marching on in the same silent
unieieh'ing irresistible manners as before There
was spot beneath my feet where wall OF mason
Work mad been built to break the violence of the
WINTER HOODS; to this spot all eyes were directed
Inc merry rIver would fall over it in an hou-- as
Yet 1t was distant from it seventy yards. DerbaDs
Gradually: 1t rose in height and sweIIei cut It's
vast proportions. and then vast masses fell Of and
fhar1 ~
matter came pressing down behind. AMI 50 il
oToke ana on 1t rolled again and again till il he'd
arrived at the very edge There was ? csne-.I
puzz ana rnuFmuE of voices. The rovai family
500! opposite TO me- IateTmngled with the crowd
looking on with intense anxiety Al last y broke
not hurTIedly- still with certain shoyv Of Iais.
A1 HIST a lew small Jumps fell down: then pour
ca over pure liquid of metal Ike thick treacle
chASinS sometimes mass TO mass from It's glutiry-
onS character. and, last of all tumbed over cgan-
nc Jumps oil scoriae- Then on it moved once
more IN us SILENT regular course swelling IN and
spreading over the VINEYARDS on either side and
now lhere was rush for the read which traver-
ses this lava bed. Houses and the bridge border
the road the carriages had ali been ordered of.
anu me bridge was being broken dovyn-yye were
cut OH completely We had. therefore 70 retrace
our steps, and make long circuit thro,,sh tha
open country and over walls: came round TO
the top OF the bTIdge--rrn'' said the sentineIS
or You will be too late.7 We crossed the mar
TOW paIapet which was still remaining and soon
Afterwards down went the whole fabric In this
way. 1t Is hoped, that the lava will be diverted
rom the townships of ST. Sebastiano. EIassa Ci
oonnr1e, and Pol!ena. which stand on either side
ana nave as Yet only suffered partially CeTcolo
through which, however the stream Is rolling will
De sacrihced- The expectation is that the lava
should the eruption Continue, will flow down to
the Ponte Maddaloni, and into the sea Sc grand
and so destructive an eruption has not been known
ioi many years, and even now we cannot tell how
or when 1t will terminate. The mountain is lit
orally scanned with lava, and many fear violent
explosion as the final scene Of the tragedy