Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1872-03-28


bright yellow body Holding my nose
and with bated breath / rush forward
recklessly, and find secure footing on an
eminence not to exceed thirty feet from
the crater. A strong wind from the
Mediterranean is blowing the flame from
me yet the heat is almost intolerable
Suddenly with heave and unearthly
groan the earth trembles, fairly shakes
beneath my feet and the luTid flame
leaps forth yet more sayagely when out
comes huge stone red hot and | see it
fly to the valley below and leap in frag
ments to find a resting place.
| look up to heaven and see the morn
ing star twinkling with promise of the
day. l see aurora, the harbinger of the
sun. L look to the lava fields shape
less moving mass below me. | see the
reflections of the Frightening sky far out
at sea and Naples sleeping with thought
less insecurity, and the tears run down
my checks. Never, this side heaven. do
l expect to see its like again. Beautiful,
grand, sublime, gorgeous, freight those
words to their fullest intent, weave
them to a chain of emphatics and YOU
have but a faint glimmering Of that
scene. Now | can realize how il was
that human language broke down from
sheer exhaustion as St. John in body on
Patmos, and in spirit in heaven, endeav-
ored to picture for us his visions in that
book Of Revelations. But my position
is untenahle, and 1 run back over the
sulphur, TO meet Smaller, pulling as a
porpoise, and just arrived at the summit
tell him of the wonders over the sui
phur bed, and he follows my lead to the
spot on the eminence. We had not
fairly reached it when we heard the
rumble, the hiss and cracklc, the rolling
stones and poTtentous inner rawlings OF
that other maniac conc, which learned
men tell u Will saNagek unburthen it.
self at no distant day, 1t has been slum-
bering so peacefully above lis we had
scarcely observed it. Il am hcre!" il
says, with an awful gust of black smoke
putting upward, as if an explosion had
occurred in its hidden cavernS, We
thought the fancied voice rather unse-
ductiye, and left our position without
the ceremony OF SO much as a farewell
glance. -Four feet rarely carry two
bodies with such celebrity as did ours to-
ward Sheldon and the guides, who were
near to the summit. We told the guides
where we had been and they threw UP
their hands with 'Santa Maria" quite
horror-stricken at our temerity. Had
the wind suddenly changed as ] stood 50
near the crater the flame would have
taken me in its whitening embrace and
no one would have been left to tell the
horrid story. While / stood in such inn
minent danger | saw what / can never
fully impart to another, a scene, or
yso4l,0r g 81, I
shall carry to my dying day as the most
wonderful exhibition of nature my eyes
ever beheld. Knowing the danger, as
now do, nothing could tempt me to
repeat the peril, but l am heartily glad
for my recklessness while / thank God
for his protecting care. After joining
Sheldon and the guides we kept a re-
spectful distance from that cracking
cone which retched as if almost ready
to disgOrge. We had no desire TO in
trude our presence, and with great con-
sideratiOn left the monster alone to do
Just as pleased it best. If one wants 10
feel the powerlessness of humanity. the
littless Of his own particular self, let
him stand here and gaze about him. We
to forget for moment the
weirdness of all about us and to relish q
bottle of "Lachryma Christa," but it
tasted insipid. We boiled eggs in the
crevices and ate them with but half
relish, hungered though we were. Day
is squarely upon us now. and the lava
beds have lost their glow, and we see
but their smoke. wreathed by the morn
ing zephyrs. The sun peeps above an OPP
pOsite mountain and we see shadow Of
that mountain on the sea.
If Nesuyius, with its molten lava.
its lurid flame. and its sulphurOus smoke.
is like unto hell, how like paradise is
that other world below us. washed by
the blue and crystal bay where sleeps
Naples this radiant morning. 4 very
ungodly man was accosted by a mission
airy in Naples yesterday: We'll. Uncle
Joe, | heard that you climbed to the era
ter the other evening. what were yOur
9f il 2" Yes, Mister. I
climbed up there, and I'll tell YOU. Mis-
ter, it reminded me Of all the sermons
On hell-fre and birthstone ! ever heard
preached in all my life"
Of the view of Naples and the bay
this morning as / see it bathed in the
purplish gray of dawn and then color
ING to a rosy tint, may | be pardOned
for saying that it reminded me of all
the sermons concerning heaven and bliss
beauty and glory that | ever heard
preached in all my life As | sat
at my repast near the crater
his morning ] thought how thoroughly
of the intense fire raging in
The center Of our Globe tt is the in
.ense heat which produces earthquakes
and those fearful VaWning Chasms.
Lot L
ocean where the sailors told MS the wa
eT was over three miles deep. there
should come an earthquake and a great
-awning chasm sufficient to let the At
antiC well pour in. what would bC the
'esult Steam must have expansion
Who can estimate the atoms to which
We should be iHstantaneOus!y shattered
The boys and the guides give up the
question, the wine bottle Is empty and
he only imprint of our night upon the
'esuvius Is the few eng shells left near
he crater We take a last look at the
mOke canopied lava fields and at six
clock we say adieu to the only earthly
Inferno we ever saw. We proceed to
descend by a route on the opposite side
he mountain whence we came. and
Iown bed of cinders a thousand or
more of feet. The descent is very pre-
ipitous and Sheldon is making a des-
,erate endeavor to control his inclining
ody, we are all labOring against the
of declivity and pitching
nearly up to our knees in
shes, lined on either side by crags of
ava. GrayitatiOn will assert itself
We were hopping, then skipping, run
ing, then jumping now plunging
'aution Git is the first time ] have felt
these twenty hours says there may be
reakers ahead, and throwing a gaunt
rame head foremost Simply because ]
ouldn't head backmosD with arms out
tretched l slide full thirty feet and haul
p unhurt, but black and besmeared
18th ashes and cinders, as is Vesuyius it
Elf. Sheldon's sprained ankle could
-and the slrain no longer, and giving
-ay precipitates him in the cinder bed
.riking his top head on a lava crag, cut
ng a startling cash, decorating his right
and and knocking him senseless We