The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1869-01-07

around Fou there Is sta SlA11OspAC1O Va Il
SULPHUR which sets you coughing from |
numberIess small holes about your'l
feet there issue with a hiss sulphur
ous jets of steam which nearly choke
Won as You pass over them; and thent
as you look down into the actual abyss
YOU are face to face with the most ap-I
paIling phenomena, both Of sight and
sound, which, perhaps, the whole OF
Europe has to offer. Among the
crowd of strange sensations that are
experienced at such a time the lphe-
Enomena of sound are perhaps the
most wonderful of all. What meets
the ears is, if anything, even more
terrific than what meets the eye. Even,
| to sight the eruption is not just what
the imagination paints it beforehand
1t does not consist, as the pictures ne
cessarily lead one to suppose. of a cona.
tfnuous shower at all: Still less does
| it consist of continuous shower of
black ashes shot out from q FIRE biazrI
/ ing on the top of the mountain; it is
rather series of explosions. But the
roar and glare of the great abyss is
I continuous. You look into tho pit,
and though you see no actual fame
yet its sides are in a state Of Constant
incandescence from the mouth of it,
there roars up necessarily d dense,
cloud of steam and in the depth of it
below you hear the noise Of preparaz
Ltion for the outburst that is next to
come. Then you hear-a sharper erac--;
kle. and then without further warn5
| ing follows a loud explosion, which
shoots into the ARA torrent of white
| hot missiles Of every shape and size.-- :
tSo enormous are the forces at work
that not only small pieces of stone
land sulphur, such as you might carry
away as mementoes of your visit, but
| huge blocks of mineral each enough
to load a railway ballast wagon and
all in state OF psesffec1yy ;wifte y i. neat,
are tossed up as though they were SO
many cricket balls. The explosion
IL n
llasts, perhaps, no longer than a hiihr
ute; and then there is a cessation Of
| some seconds with the noise only OF
internal preparation once more, after
which the explosion is repeated, That
was nothing to the almost. simplifying
din that was going on before us@mp=
ments when the daylight was over:
and the world below could 10 longer
! be distinguished when We had moth.
: ing but the clear starlight overhead.
3 and were truly alone with the noun,
: tain; when the varied co1oring Of the
: ground had disappe peared in the dark.
, ness, and nothing could & be seer seen but
I the CLEAN of. the. burning eartf
: through the chinks at our. feet; while
I the white-hot glaring ribbon of molten
lava glided languidly down the noun
8 tain at our side, and before us was the
: flashing of the inner fire upon tbs
cloud of .yapor overhanging the abyss
: TAKE all these together, and the scene
n is indeed rather different from Yha
0 you picture to yourself as you callpQl|l! 4 llQ |!
d read in your newspaper that that YTesullyyiipp Yes llyi
q is once again in q state Of Of eruption, pdiGq :,
IL I spoke just now of the stream o
lava which, glides down the mountain
In the first place, two peculiaritie
I were observable in it. One was tn
y marvellous slowness of its motion.all
It the early part of its descent the ineliri
e over which it had to pass was precipi
a tous; yet so slowly did this mass
:, liquid fire move within its bed that it
: current was only just perceptiblenI
IS seemed to be only just in smotieH-
o Perhaps in some degree eonpeete'
> with the same, cohesion which thi
IS languor of movement indicated, wa
= the other peculiarly Of the slay
q stream--the tenacity of its surfaeer-
u In appearance, as we stood above II,
IS was in a perfectly liquid state;
le looked as though you might irufAe at
n surface with the point of yepri stief
u Great, accordinglyJ was our surpras
% at finding that even with the yer'
: greatest force available on the spot "
L could not make the slightest ampfe'
q sion upon it, The largest masses q
II mineral that we could lift, we ldashe
down from above upon the barnin
a. stream but they simply bounde
Ill across its face, like a ball upon1a foo
ss without producing the faintest apps
te rent indentation. los Moreover, it a.
se1 commonly supposed that lava isa a
~ ways projected from the CRATER an
ne the language commonly used in d.
D. seriptions encouraged the idea-i6fI
ne stream of lava was seen toiissuei fro
a the crater" is the sort OF. phraseok
gy with which one is most familiar
1 accounts ofFeruptions that took piae
a in bygonefdays. am not sure thi
es this is ever strictly accurate; but Wi
the crater in anything like aitspresel
ed form it hardly, seems probablea0 9
IN would take vast quantity of nolta
to lava to fill that great bowl of sha
I'M mile In diameter, which IL suppose
p would have to do before amy of
he would run over down the sides of d
la mountain. Iesaw no indication til
I'M this ever took pfacea While. you a
ke on the mountain, the streams seof la
lg. which have issued forth and eoeled'
De- the several previous eruptions al
'us quite eldistinguishable ffomaeach 9th
- by their differences of structure al
he color. We saw many suchs sbutIasa
be no indication of amy one of them ha
is ing come over the lip of the1crater. 4
al every single instance the source of t
he lava stream seemed to have fbeenloi
Id er down the mountuins II Certain