The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-05-17

Nap,ea uauapy do, and my youthful driver took Me
,ranidty mast the headquarters OF the National
fnard nm q little street turning up towards the
mountain. Here nearly fen among thieves; for, in
addition to the one old man who yolunteeredto go
~ foot "oniy little waY' with me. found myself
aceomnspied by brght-eyed, ragged young man,
WHO excIted ;se close attention OF an Official whom
met on the top o. the frst ascent. This oflciai
formed one OF large party OF officers, &C, to ono
or whom had addressed myself when was inter,
rupted by o civil question from the olclal as to
whether that pointing to the ragged Young man
was my guide. answered, Eyes, both were my
guidea; they had Kindly oRered,n &c., &C. The Of
fetal smiled and dismissed them; but gave them
something first. know twas wreng; but for the
short time they had been with me they had forborne
70 rob me aud they had amused me very much.
4 = '.-,.-- TUB FIRST oUTDUasT.
II was from this party Of officers municipal gIi
cals &C., that I got my first definite Information
about the CALAMITY which had Esppcned that morn
Ing Anybody who has ever tried to get at facts
from an excited Italian win sympathize with me in
the many attempts made yesterday to ascertain
the exact truth. Indeed. such calamities are fatal
to accuracy in any country. The account which all
the oficias at Resina agreed in giving me was
this:-That about four or half-past four to i've
O'Clock in the merning large partt Of strangers
and Neapolitans, men and women, had left their
carriages at the observatory, as usual, and were
going In the direction Of the mountain, when sud-
denly ea "sa
NEW CRATER OPENED UNDER THE VERY FEET
OF some of the party, and many were instantly
killed and buried In the lava. The carriages re-
turned to Resina and announced the catastrophe.
The National Guards, &C., in parties OF two, were
instantly despatched to the aid OF the wounded.
They brought away several wounded severely; one,
an English young lady, died In frightlul agony at
Resina after drinking four htres Of water. The
rest, whose cries for wafer were fearful 10 hear.
Wero removed to the hospital Of Naples, where they
oil died in hours. Only three bodies those OF one
young Englishman and two guides, were recovered;
these saw afterwards, The most moderate OF my
,n,ormants put down the loss Of life Of ahont one
hundred and ffty. After many inquiries can ps
yet give You no certain information as to the truth
of this statement. That there are many persons
dead fear Is true but also hope that nearly all
the English and Amer lean ladies' and gentlemen
who 80 foolishly risked their lives we're not Killed,
The list Of dead have seen at the MunicipiO con-
tains only Italian names.
Aud now to return to my description OF what
saw. was fortunate enough to make friends with
on officer OF, tho Military College at Naples. who
formed one OF the party mentioned His friends
declining to 60 any further he volunteered to &C
company me, and to him owe 1t that saw
ONE OF THE MOST IMPRESSIVE SIGHTS WITHIN THE
MEMORY or LIVING MEN, 7.ls Fl III ~
We toiled on along the dusty, rough road which all
who have visited vesuvius know so well. The heat
OF the sun, 1t being about two O'Clock, was unnsu
ally great We both felt great longing for glass
OF wlne-a diiiicult thing to get-fOr there was no
tavern near, and even in face OF the booming noun
to;u foo NJ IN yuo hQsnra tha
eyes. At last, after trying IN vain at one OF two
places where the owners were too busy moving
their things away to attend to ns, we found most
clvil and oblglng peasant wine grower. Wenot ONLY
got delicious glass Of red Lachryma Christi at his
casetto but from the roof we got the finest view OBJ
tainable Of the whole mountain. never shall for
get the two hours we passed there Surrounded by
the beautiful vines we sat on the sunny terraces
one side that most lovely bay, in all its glory
Ischia, Nisda, Capri, Posuppo, Sorrento, Castela-
mare, all these gems set around and In that ex
quisite sea, ever changing. its beautiful tints
while on Its surface danced the wavelets
glitterlng like diamonds in the sun; above
was the deep blue sky, and then, turning tt
the other side, what a terrible contrastI To tht
right the great crater with Its numerous satellites
booming with a roar deep as that OF all the can
mons in tho world Joined into one, the huge CON
generations Of vapor bullying out above the black
column which crowned the centre, this column
flercely illuminated every now and then by mass
of bloodred dame, whose light even the tgarinq
sun could not dim; every minute, with blast that
shook the earth thousands stones some as large as
the house on which we were dung hundreds Of yards
In the air, and swoopng down like o flock OF huge
ill-omened birds the furrOwed sides of the In oun
tain. The streams OF lava were rushing down to
ward Pompet and Terre del Greco, while closer
still, with sluggish but deadly fire, crept fiom the
newy-opened crater the stream OF lava which
only tnat morning, had swallowed up 30 many
lives. In the middle, no inapt illustration of sci
ence defyng the Ares Of nature, stood the observa
tory with Its one occupant, the brave Palmleri
still at his post. To the left just below the phi
losophers fortress another crater, In foil ant
terrible activity, was pouring S
RIVER OF FIRE
down tho slopes on to the villages of San Sebas
tIap Alassa and La Ceroa, devastating all that rio.
and well-cultivated country, whitening up the sof
green vines and crushing houses into mere heaps
OF cinders No words could do Justice to the awful
contrast where, after one OF the most terrific
bursts heard the nervous twittering OF the birds
interrupted by song poured from the melodiou!
throat Of some holder songster, who could not
even 10 the neighborhood OF such terrors, help pay
ing mis- grateful thanks for the bright and thu
fresh young leaves trembling with the gentle breeze
that blew from the lovely sea.
A CHANGE OF BASE.
About Ave O'Clock We left our hospltable host,
with good wishes and prayers for his safety. Hi
was the last inhabited house, except the observe
tory, and he seemed determined to stick by BIZ
vines ana household gods. being Of David's mine
that IL was better to suffer at the hands Of Coz
than at tue hands Of man, in the shape Of thieves
who were proving about already intent on plum
der. lie promised to send the women away, and
hope he kept his word. l"f'e
LIQUID FIRE TIN FEET DEEP. VIA, i
We were determined to make our way between
the two streams Of lava to the last house destroyed
| and we succeeded without much dlflcuty; NO
were we alone. We had got very little way wheI
we met an elderly gentleman In blue speotacles
who had paid forty francs for donkey and guild
that morning. lie Informed us that we had onl
twenty minutes walk to reach the furthest practi
cable poipt After we had passed him few Italians
including two ladies, came up with us, and near tn