The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1856-04-23

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and finally the everywhere present soldier,
armed to the teeth, and with his firm and
stately tread inparting sense of person
al safety, as well as being n symbol Of
that untiinching power which holds in
complete suljcction The masses around
you. These objects, added to the ordi.
nary spactacles always seen in large and
crowded cities, rendered our ride TO Pom.
peil one of extraordinary interest. We
passed also the immense barracks erected
by Napoleon during the reign Of Murst.
and we thought Us we saw them that
there were more soldiers employed in this
one city than can be found in active du,y
throughout the whole extent of our own
land OF twenty five millions Of people. In
a short time We reached the Royal Palace
at fort'cl described in a p:evious letter.
Passing directly through its spacious cour,
we hurried to TIRE del Greco. This
town has been more than once comple,eIy
destroyed by the erup,ions of Vesuvius.
But the present inhabitants seem to b,
with out fear, tho their streets are paved
with lava, and the walls OF many OF their
houses are made of lava, and the smoke
OF Vesuvius is ever rising before them.-
And now We arc in the open fields, leav.
ing Tore del G:eco behind us. on every
side We see what Vesuvius has done in for
iner ages. The green fields are in many
places darkened will, long ridges of lava
which rolled down its burning torrents
into the sea, the currents here and there
cooling aud stopping in their course, sad
memorials Of past desolalion. As we ap
Proach Tore delrAnnunziata, our road
turns gradually TO tue left, bringing into
view another side Of Vesuvius, revealing
new hssures, out of which tue smoke is
escaping, and the smooth cone Of the
mountain is now seen 10 be Jagged and
rdged with the ravages Of the floods Of
fire that have 80 often belched forth from
the crater at the top. On our left, and
betwcep rs and Vesuvius, and nestled at
its very base, aud mt some POINTS extend
ing up its slope, are clusters Of villas in
peaceful seclusioi from the world and ap-
parently unconscious Of danger, aud he.
fore Us j. vast plain stretching on for
several miles and sprinkled over with
pleasant houses surroun led by luxariant
vegetation. In the midst Of gard, ms and
live orchards and vineyards and fig trees
our carriage suddenly stops before u small
guard house by the road side, and zoe are
at Pompeii Originality the city stood
on an elevated piece Of ground Of trian.
gulir foEn, the sea washing it on two
sides, and rendering the harbor one ofrhe
most desirable in this vicinity. Now the
sea is distant at least a mile, the whole
intervening space being fruitful plain
the torrents Of lava and mud from Vesu
vius having filed up the entire bay, and
10y the cultivation of two thousand years
converted it into one Of the most qne,
and lovely ruIll scenes in the world. We
were taken entirely By surprise when tod
to slight and enter Pompei; and still
greater WAS our astonishment when, fol.
lowing our guide, we found ourselves in
less than two minutes standing before its
old walls, The usual approach TO the ci.
~ Is 10y the street Of Tombs and the gate
Of Herculaneum. but for some unea.
plancd reason we had come down to the
vicinity Of the Gate Of the Sea-" and as
we soon learned were approaching the
most important Temples ofPompcii. We
stopped before the wall and tried to i'm
agine the scenes of those four even,fnl
Gays that turned this beautiful home Of
the living into one great tomb for the dead.
Il was mid day, We are told, when the
people received the first warning, on the
Gath Of August, A. ID. 70. Many do
seriptions in sober history and in romance
have been given Of the overthrow Of Her.
culaneum and Pompeii-but how fax do
all EM below the sad AND dreadful reali.
ty.
The facts are stated perhaps more sim
ply and inteligibly by our scientific coun.
tryman Prof. Silliman than 10y any other
writer ] have seen. lie says "a darkness
that might be felt shrouded in the pro-
foundest gloom the mid day sun, and ash,
es fell like snow upon The mountain, the
plain, the Bay Of BaIe and Of Naples, and
far into the surrounding country. Rain
from the condensed steam Of the eruption
delugcd The whole district, torrents Of fluid
rad, formed by the ashes and water,
swcpt over every obstruction and filed 10
overlooking every depression Of the sur.
face" 1T is not unlikely that the jpun.
dation was accompanied by torrents of
csrbonic acids apd other noxious gases, so
sbnndantly exhaled ip more modern erup.
tons Of Vesuvius, BY which the refugees
from danger were so suddenly asphyxia-
ted as TO remain unmoved IN the positions
where they were found.n %Torsepis Of
mud must have passed through, the streets
Of Pomreii, since dry ashes and elections
VI IspiIli and pu'nice unaidei III ws,er
could never have iouad their way into the
interior Of closed amphore, nor made per-
fcct ipoulds Of the human form, nor .eft
level water line upon the inner walls Of
close arched passages. Tie shower os
materials wlicl buried the city was main.
" composed ofsmall picccs OF white pun.
ice apd roppded lapiIla 6 various colors,