Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1872-05-09
Fcsuvius.
HOW THE MOUNTAIN Is AsCENDED AND
HOW 1T LOOKS.


the volcano in 1867. The writer says ::
We rode to the Resina in a carriage, a
diminutive, ricketty, humble, yirtuous
sort of One-horse wheelbarTow, just the
thing that a saint would choose to ride
in to his own funeral pile. At Resina
this old vehicle stuck, the roads being
too many for it, and the natives pitched
into US to hire mules to complete the
trip. Against such means of locOmO-
tion I protested. Horse as much as you
please. | said, but 70 mule.
Isl, 81, Signore. eccO. il est bean;
pretty mulO."
"Allez au diable :"
''NO diablO-bon beau :"
'.Get Out-vOuleZ yOus z"
! had good reasons to object, for had
seen something of mules in the days
when | beheld the grand army of the
South, and, if experience goes for any
thing, these mules were the yilest of
their Unexpectedly G1lSgesp5eldt q hope
| have spelled that righD in everything
except wickedness and sin. My deter
minatiOn won the day, and eventually
time had acquired a chunk of wisdom,
which was never hire a guide for Nersu-
yius until you arrive at Rcsina; the one
you find in Naples knows nothing of
THE ASCENT,
and even is he should happen to do so
you would be compelled to take one of
the regular mountain guides, for this is
required of you by those in charge.
On we 90 gradually, the ascent grows
sleeper; but, strange as it may seem,
evidence of agriculture are all around
you, for Vesuvius is cultivated to JwO-
thirds of its height. Upon the sides of
this terrible destroyer many wines of
good quality are produced. But rarer
grow the vines, and drier and wilder the
mountain. 1t is like a dream, slowly
passing from pleasant gardens and
laughter to
NIGHTMARE,
You see wave-like layers of black lava,
which even now seem to run hither and
thither, threatening death to all around.
Higher, higher yet, you gO-lOOk. and
you find you are going along the very
brink of an immense precipice, and that
one false step of your horse and you are
lost.
At the hermitage of San Salvador we
pause for a rest, and there partake of a
lunch, seasoned with respectable lach-
rymR. We mount again and press up
ward. Ruggeder and ruggeder grows
the rOad--darker the nightmare. Here
the rider comes to the ash-gray country,
(which is called the land of doubt"
and the horse must guide well his steps.
Now and then an immense loOsened bit
of ash or lava comes tumbling down.
The road is serpcntine. and winds and
winds to an intermiLable end. My
guides having refreshed themselves at
the
HERMITAGE
with my lunch, and beng accustomed
to the situation, laughed and chatted =;
but l. who could not eat, treason obvi-
0us) and TO whom all around was novel.
strange and terrifying, rode on in silence
scarcely hearing their now and then OBJ
servation The cone. or what may per
haps be called the volcano itself. al
though we have been on Nesuvius long
time. } is reached. Here we dismount,
and what a scene is presented. dark,
dingv spot. barren Of every living thing,
or five horses and mules. These, too.
are collected together in one small
space, and seem but to make the lOnli-
ness more apparent. There are also a
few men. rough-loOking creatures, whose
duty it Is 10 carry the women, the weak,
or the lazy. to the summit in chairs.
They are resting nOw-holding a session
upon the handles Of their chairs-form-
ing. with all the surroundings. a pictur-
cSQue group, which reminds me of en-
cravings | have seen Of an encampmcnt
in the desert. Upon onr arrival ~" were
Immediately basirgrd by In"
cuAIE owNERs,
who seemed greatly to desire to carry
me mp. This ] Indignantly refused.
What carry me up that Hill No,
sir; | will walk it." With staff in hand
and guide ahead. | set bravely Out-yes,
| walked fast But pride must haze a
fall. Soon | came down to a ! dch
slower pace. | found that ! was a'.ae
''ahead" at a remarkable rate-lile atC
the frog in the well, who went up two
feet and came down three. Planting,
however. my stick firmly i'm the looSt
every step. | went slowly on. Two
hours had passed before [. tired, weary
ane fOot-sOre. had reached the top, and
had made what is called good time
too. | cannot stop here to tell you OF
nay falls, and how often / felt like
throwing myself down and declaring
that | was
UNABLE TO GO FURTHER.
Then | thought Of the chairs below
me, and would have given all | pos
sessed to have had one. \ writerspeak
ing of this ascent, says ''The outel
sides of the acute cone by which yoJ
have to climb, are nothing but a deer
accumulation of cinders, ashes, anC
other yielding volcanic matter into
which your legs sink, and where yoI
lose at least one out of every three step:
YOU take Even hardy and active meI
have been known 10 throw themselyei
down on the sides of the cone in state
of complete exhaustion long before they
reach the top"
However on the top ] was. Ncsuyiu
looked like one immense mass of smOul
dering coal, and smoke rushed from ey
cry side.
NAPLES, POMPEII,
and all the cities of the burning lanC
were in full view, and the blue, Neapol
itan bay flowed beneath As you ap
proach the crater the heat becomes in
tense. yellow and red lava is all aroun'
you, and the smell of burning brimston,
is so strong that IIades seemed near
Eggs and potatoes are roasted here in
few minutes, and here you are told b!
the guide it is customary to drink a Z
santa de Ia Vesuce. You can descenc
into the crater, if you like. | didn'
like, and declined to do it.
But / looked down into it and wa
perfectly satisfied with the exhibition.
remained on the summit of this pleasan
little hill-a nice place, by the way, 70
winter picnic-about an hour, enjoy
ing the view-and birthstone. Coin
down, weary enough, ] reached.the bot
tom in three minutes. / can't say
walked down about half the way
rolled. and the other half was made u