The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1868-01-07
The Granisst Erupsion Jof yesuyiua
EKnoyvn xcr Centufies. Z az -

A4toSpoN, Dec ecemuer24. Dispatches
received from Naples mention that
the eruption OF Mount yesuyius is
continually increasing in power and
splendor. Immense sheets Of white.
yellow and crimson flame rise hun
dreds of feet above the crater, and
at night the Bay of Naples is light
ed up for miles. Lava is pouring
down the mountain side iu imm erse
quantities and large stones are occa-
slonally thrown out from the mouth
OF the volcano. A deep rumble, like
reverberating thunder, is heard from
time to time, us in the bowels of the
earth. and many of the people in the
vicinity have left their homes, fearing
an earthquake or other calamity. No
snch eruption has probably occurred
in Nesuvins for centuries, and the
spectacle is regarded as one of the
most magnificent and sublime ever
witnessed in nature.
Symptoms of the present eruption
became evident as early as the l4th
November, the night of the meteoric
display, and representations even
some time prior to this date of an
eruption were made by several scien-
tltic men accustomed to study volcanic
phenomena. It is rather q curious
coincidence. that the first distinct
evidences of volcanic action were
pcrceptible on the night of the
meteoric display; which fact might
lead to the supposition that between
that celestial and this terrestrial
phenomenon there was some subtle.
incomprehensible affinity. Whether
this hypothesis is correct or not,
is a matter for abstruse specu-
lation; the fact remains that the pre-
sent eruption has been q crescendo
mo Semeut, which commenced with
low, indistinct rumbling about the
middle of November, and gradually
the snbterranean thunders increased
IN sonorous volume to its present
pitch OF power, and now the grain
valleys of Atrio del Cava!lo glow with
fierce subterraneau fires, and the
cone OF the mountain bears its spark
ling heaps of red-hot shingle and
luminous sheets of sulphurous fires.
Recent correspondents have de-
scribed the incipient stages OF this
phenomenon rs indicating an erup-
ZION of lesser magnitude than that of
1853, for there was no such stream of
lava rs was then poured ont of the
mountain side. In this, the fire is
high In air, glowing redly against
the sky, with very little light reflect
ed back from above, but with cloud
OF smoke that trembles with intense
heat hanging over the crater. More
than this, there are showers of stones
which have more resemblance to
what was hurled forth in the earlier
eruptions than to the phenomenon of
few years ago. Such showers make
it dangerous to approach the edge Of
the crater, even on the South side,
toward Pompeii, where no lava is
descending, but they add to the
grandeur of the scene, and, after all,
reasonable visitor may be content
to gaze upward from the Atrio del
Cavallo, or to scramble short dis
tance only upon the hot and shifting
scorie of the cone.
In past eruptions, the earthquakes
have come before the stones and lava
were discharged-whilst Vesuvius was
struggling with repressed volumes of
gas, and now that outward action has
begun, the greatest danger of volcanic
regions is temporarily over; yet, not
withstanding, the present eruption
may be one of terrific power and
appalling splendor.
This mountain is often spoken of
by ancient Roman writers without
allusion to its volcanic character;
and that such had always been its
nature, was only inferred from the
lgneous character of its rocks, as OBJ
served by Strabbo. Deodorus Sico-
lus remarks, that it had "many signs
of having been burning in ancient
times" Its first recorded eruption
occurred in the month of August, A..
d. 70. and it was during this that the
cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum,
were buried beneath the scorip and
ashes, the quantities of which it
eJected far exceeded the bulk of the
mountain. In the eruption of 1866,
the first flow of la&a occurred. The
total number of its great eruptions
down to the present time has been
about sixty, some of which have been
chiefly remarkable for the vast move
ment taking place in short time.
Between 1906 and 1851, no eruption
occurred except slight on in 1900.