The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1867-12-03

sutN8NS lOHl yellOH u ueel, llc1
orange red, sometimes having beautiful
iinge Of purple. The basin seems to have
been filed with molten Lava, which cooled
and broke up, leaviog the whole like the
breaking up of ice in large bo'ly Of
water, Piled cake uSn cake, Or Standing
poised on edge.
Rising directly from the center Of this
basin Is another cone that was thrown up
during the eruption Of 1858 The top
Of il is the very highest point Of the noun.
tain. 1t IS completely and thickly crusicd
over with sulphur deposited from IT,,
constantly escaping steam. l can sec It
now, yelly7, smoking, terrible. We w,rJ
Standing ut the edge D. The basin. Tie
top Of this cone mat be reuchcd. Between
Us and it were huge, rough, angular
masses 1t lava, over which VIC must make
our way. We descended into tie basin.
passed along, every step hot and growing
hotter; the air full of heated sitting va,
por. Hot blasts issued from every crew
ice. 1t is liter,ly'truo that an egg can
be quickly and we'll cooked at any OF lhen.
Wih characteristic rasness We thrust
our hand into one Of the crevlces, hut wo
quickly renewed it, almost blisterel with
heat We mounted tlis cone, in tho
cent Of the large ba in. Ii is ouly u
mo md Of hot a1hes--hot, for you could
not bear your hand in them. The soles
Of our thick Par sian shoes were little
p potcciiun. 1t was necessary to keep
st,ppng We have an account against
Ncsuyius; debtor to onr pair of souls
which Is nearly RUNE for Us, May 18th.
Ii any 0. your Lawyers want job. W.
will sladiy pat the bill in their hands for
collection.
We stood upon the top, sulphur was all
about Us; hot air envelopes US; sulphur
ate'l iiyprogen checked US. Our guide
turned up a bit of sulphur and thrust un.
der IL bit OF paper, Immediately dense
volume, of smoke issued foith, quickly
followed by fl ,mes, not a match had been
us d, the paper was fired by he intense
! heat oi the volcano.
Directly in the ccn.er Of this cone, is
the cylinlric,.l aperture which is the pres
/ e,It crater. Smoke Rni steam does not es.
cape from this 50 much as from the crev.
ices IL the lava. But it looked deep AMI
awful. Only one thing was Lacking that
my heart desired, and my eyes longel To
See-an ,ruption willie we we're standing
there. Thus crater resembles the mouth
Of tn OLD well, whose walls are in a state
Of ricketts, Nevertheless AS you stanl
there, an unaccouniAble feeling possesses
you TO beware and not fall in, for It look,
deep ard hot We went all around it
and down into ii till our guide called out
to Us to return. We assured him there
was no danger for was we not Amer-
cans, and vas not our fag floating down
there in the bay' Privately however,
we thought there might be danger, and
showed our valor in discretion. 1t is an
awful place. This central cone is the re-
suit of the eruption of $50, for GENTLE
man "ho was on the Mountain Il. Years
ago, assured me that no such .,..,e was
there then. Erupiions rarel, -. .iom
the same place in the succassi,t instances.
In 1852 an eruption took ps. t,um ne
side nearly down ii il3 ,f'ns.
o., s,and.rc i ~. - "a =, got, p
ci .ie yJTvr OF d. rLr, II nat il ..,.. ...u
up in the earth. 1 do not wondoc tia.
Virgil, many uf the scenes uC whoss
-Aone;d are lal in ihi. vicinity. believed
N Il terrible he'll He must have bel;,y.
cd the God Of the internal regions to be a
furious fellow, if, as is true, he thought
all the >lranGe noises that filed the AR,
quak'ngs that distressed the earth, pro
cec3cd from this divinity abode | cnn
understand lis power better now. but
ancient superstition aside, if any one be-
lieve- the destruction Of the earth by fire.
10 b. chimerical notion, let him stan
where we dill, up TO the ankles in hot
ashes that have been thrown out Of ibis
crt'ct--kept hot by fires burning not
many feet below him-9nd lie will have
n IDEA thoroughly burned into him -
Let him witness the fearful effects of frcs
NOR raging, snd see the clouds Of stenn,
and feel the intense heat escaping from
every Graz, and crevicc-from the very
ashes IN which he is standins- and he
will believe think with me that such an
evert is quite possible and probable. The
destlnies OF all the smiling valleys are at
/ the disposal OF this monarch that rises ur
r in lis silent and awful'maesty, and vomi,,
. forth fiery rUin from his surciarged bow
els at the bidding Of him who rules over
all.
We sought a coolor standing place.
We vent back To the edge of the basin
aud walked around tho skirts of tn,
= yawning gulf, and drank iu the awfu
grandeur OF the scene. On one side WA,
the crater With lis wondrous depths and
gorgeous co!rrs on the other were llie
smiling. peaceful villages, and the town
OF Naplcs-its tlth lost in the distance
and It's lovely bay, towering volcanic
mountains, every side barren and desc
lHic. Below Us, within reach Of ou,
glasses, lay Pompcii and Herculaneurn,
buried s"d hushed in the silence of ace
10y tlis monster upon whose summit ",
we're now ssndiog With impudity. |,
was panorama Of mingled sublimil,
= and awful grandeur. In the midst of al
the Inspiration with which tl.is scene filled
Il me, | felt an awe never shall forgot.
. The atmosphere was not clear, bu, W,
. could see Capral, and lschia, and Miscu