Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1868-01-04

since. last Wednesday. II has.sent forth an
Immense quapt;ty Of lava, converting the sur
rounding crater into. a lake Of tiro, AT first
the high circling walls kept it itlin,bounds,
but gradually il has rscn aud risen nutil it is
now flowing down in several directions where
tho abrupt and ircgula wall admits of pas
Sage. The result hos shown that it is lower
ip tho direction Of Ottdjano, ontfes south cast,
aud those who DO not care to makotho ascent
may have glorious view of it from Sorrento
Still thoro is nothing like mounting to the
top, SO let us be off; yet, better still, suppose
it to havo been done, and that last night
Giovanni Cozzolini was our guide, who by
viituo of having accompanied Humboldt and
many Of the scientific and literary men of the
age, expects his own name to be enrolled in
literary annals IIc is, however, very safe
aud Intelligent guide. There was no incident
! to mark until we. got to the foot of the main
co"c, when VIC heard the thunder of the noun.
tain aud felt tho shocks as of an earthquake
at every effort made to disgorgc the ipuiup fire
Ascending by the usual road VIC were COM
pcllcd, on approaching the summit to skirt Il
little round to the south east, for two reasons
first, to get Oh The blind side of the wind,
which might have brought down upon us an
inconvcnicnt shower Of stones; aud, secondly,
to obtain a better view of the main stream,
which was fed, not only by tho great crater,
but by another orifice opened outside, about
20 feet in diameter From this spot the
stream of living fire, full 20 to 30 feet in
width, poured down to the bottom Of the
mountain rapidly where it met with no obsta-
clos, and where i, did, struggle cncrgctically
until it carried everything before it. To the
edge Of the crater it was impossible TO ap-
proach the heat was scorcliug; and what
would have been the consequences had the
lava boiled over and came down upon Us I? It
was difficult, therefore, to form any fair esti-
mate of its Size, but one might have supposed
that it was not over 10 feet in diameter. 1t
was not moment, however, for figures, when
nature was exhibiting her power in one of it's
grandest forms. There was roar and n
shock, and then shot forth flames and stones
full 200 feet in height, at intervals Of from
one to five seconds, according to the watch of
one OF the party These tremendous convul-
sions were repeated, and then came the dc
scondinG shower, composed of stones of pari
Gus sizes, some certainly half a tun in weight,
Judging by the bulk We could mark their
course by the eye as long as they retained the
rcd heat, but on approaching tho earth they
b!acEcncd, and then the car alone could tell
what was spotting aud pitting the earth
around l5y the Same person who had already
acted rs calculator it was declared that the
descent occupied five scconds--much in cx-
cess, [ should imagine, of the actual time
Precision, of course, was impossible in the ex.
cltcmcnt OF such scene, and if we say that
1000 feet was the height attained we shall
not be wide Of the mark 1t was ncryoua
proximity to danger on which to stand, so the
whole party soon decampcd, and got back to
Naples shortly after midnight, awe struck by
Il scene which never can be forgotten. Yet
without the fatigue Of an ascent, any one ccu
from the city enjoy spectacle of marvellous
beauty, only diminished in proportions, rs com.
prcd with that which ] have just described
There is no sound, but there are those ever
. lasting, flames, across The center Of which i.
sometimes drawn swathc of dirk clouds
giving to their submits the appearance O
grc'tcr light; and the sky is g!aring with
dccp.rca color; and mighty stones, reduce,
by distance, are falling like myriads of star
on the summit of the mountain, the foot o
which is wrapped in darkness. What cor
geons scene, and how much more gorgeous i
a promises to be
J Lime
a Thcro is no fertilizer known to US that ha