Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1858-01-09

that the eruption was in full progress. Indeed,
they had but to look around them to discover
undeniable proofs of it, They were standing
on knoll, skirted on the side of the cone with
trees, and on the right and left broad stream
of fire, glowing like q furnace was rushing
down into the plain, overthrowing everything
in its passage, trees, rocks, and, where it en-
countered them, human dwellings. Never did
Mr.. Fennel witness anything so awful as the
red glare cast upon the woods by the desolat-
ing torrent rs it swept on. He turned to the
guides, who stood beside him paralyzef with
terror.
How are We to get out of this situation,
inquired he.
1--WE don't know" they replied &c we have
mover before been placed in such circumstances
But we must make some movement, and that
speedily, too, or we shall be burnt to cinders
where We stand. Look, the lava is coming
and those vast trees are bending and cracking
at its touch like fine grasses
Well, replied the traveller, lead the way
you must know it better than we-that we may
got out into the plain country before the fiery
streams meet below and hem US i'm
You are right" declared the guides, " for
the lava Is pursuing the course Of two rayines
which have their confluence below yonder hill.
and if we fail to precede them we are lost
The Jokers OF the morning were not inclined
to joke now. The lava was sending its in ntoler-
able heat before it. warning them that inevita-
BILE death was near unless they escaped from it
by miraculous celebrity. Down the mountain,
therefore, they went, leaving every thing be-
hind them but the iron shOd slaves which they
carried in their hands. The landscape, pre-
viously so silent was now filled on all sides with
fearful noises; the believing of terrified herds,
the shouts and shrieks Of human beings, the
sudden bursting up of flames here and there,
as the torrents reached some combustible mat
ters, the tumbling down of rocks. and the crash
of forests, the irresistible lava forced its way
through them. At length they came suddenly
upon the edge Of precipice, down which they
looked, but could discern no bottom On the
right and left was the FIRE; in front, a gulf of
unknown depth behind the lava rolling to-
wards them with terrific rapidity, ssorching, in
its advance, trees grass, nay the verv earth,
which 1t absorbed and liquifed BY its indes;rib-
able heat
Are you ignorant Of this cliff" inquired
Mr.. Fennel. ''or may We hope to save our lives
by throwing ourselves Over?''
- 1t lies entirely out of our usual track, !" re-
piled the men, - and we have never seen it be-
fore
L do not pretend to describe Mr. Fenners
feelings at that moment because he has left be-
hind him no record of them. 1t is we'll known
that extreme danger often renders men silent
they do not converse do not discuss their means
Of escape, do not communicate their fears their
mental powers appear, for the moment to be
annihilated; they only feel. But what feel
ings are theirs. All Sicily now appeared to
be on fire. The earth was reddening on every
side, the sky overhead glowed like furnace
mouth, and clouds dense, charged with igneous
PARTICLES and emitting an inIolerabIe stencil.
were precipitated upon them by the west wind
10 be scorched to death or sufocated appeare
now inevitable, unless they threw themselves,
over the precipice, and so delivered themselves
from such fate by suicide.
While they were nsditating on this idea the
earth under them began to rock violently 1t
shook there " as u wild crash; the rock parted
and yawned, and they beheld a red streak
making its way eastward through the bottom
Of the crevice. They fed, not knowing whittier,
towards the left, but their progress was soon
arrested by the heat thrown out by the lava.
All thoughts, all eyes were now directed to-
wards the precipice. Should they dash over,
and, by one leap IN the dark, either deliver
themselves from the most fearful of deaths. or
put an end to their agOnies ut once With
sensations which battle all description they ap-
preached the edge Of the rock and looked over
1t. Could they discern anything below No;
all was thick darkness suggesting unfathOn-
able depth. They would remain therefore
where they were, in the hope that the lava
might rise no higher, and that when the light
OF day should make its appearance they might
~.
the guides dissipated. They knew too we'll that
the lava streams, now separated, would meet
and mix before morning, and leave not inch Of
the ground they now stood ON unAOOded by fire.
Yet all hesitated to plunge down, they knew
not whittier, in the dark. While they lived.
while they breathed, something like miracle
perhaps might occur to preserve them They
would therefore hope and defer taking the fatal
plunge till there should be nothing else left
them IN ba a..
became contracted, the heat and the sense of
sufocation intolerable, and at length the young
clergyman, with a mixture of horror and resig-
nation In his countenance, volunteered to make
the first plunge. In spite of the volcanic glow,
his face assumed the hue of death as he ap-
preached the rock. He did not dash forward :;
he did not throw himself headlOng; he turned
round, and, clinging to the rock with his hands,
remained there suspended for moment and
then
What was that noise? That of body dash
ing against the rocks, down, down, fearfulIy i'm
some eunfathomable gulf. The survivors shou ted
III agony, and besought him TO reply if he still
lived; but no answer. Mr.. Fennei then SAID
ii was his turn, and in the same way committed
himself into the depths Of air. There was an
other pause OF suspense and agony. Again the
survivors listened; again no answer came.
Then followed the barrister, and after that,
pellmell, rushed down servants and guides
and there was silence. They had all taken the
leap in the dark, and, were they on the shores
of Acherop'
The precipice, if l may borrow an Hibernian.
ism for the occasion, was no precipice at all,
but very shallow rock, with soft grass grow
ing to its base. Why, then, did they who
leaped not answer? They thought they were
going to inevitable death, and that thought for
a moment paralyzee them, SO that they did not
recover the use of speech for several minutes
Those minutes had appeared an age to those
who waited reply. But, long as the time
seemed, there elapsed, probably, only few
seconds between the plunge Of the clergyman
and the simultaneous spring Of the servants
and guides. What reused them at last was the
lava glow, flashing upon them from the rocks
above. They rose with feeling Of indescriba-
BILE gratitude, mingled with fear, and hastened
eastward over the plain. They were not yet
beyond the reach of the Etnean surges, and
therefore pushed along with eager speed till
they reached the pout where the lava streams
must soon have their confluence. They dashed
through the gap, they ascended the rocks on
the side of Cstania, and stood upon high ter
race before the walls, from whence they beheld
-Etna vomiting forth in smoke and thunder
IL IL =. l..