The Idaho world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1864-1918, 1874-12-05

hoon uncovered, ana n6nCsO1
c;ent maritime city Of Retina was sur
o .onnd ed. bv land. Pliny could not lon
rsr strucole against these forces; ne
s ,aa s ! witness Of the despair Of the IN.
fortunate soldiers when they saw 'ne
sh;ns depart. Unwilling to renounce
the desire to zee volcanic eruption 70
the m;nutest detail, in order to give 2
description of it, he embarked TOT pay
|iap the Castellemare of today. In'na
mo he had under his eve . phenomenon
# the nature Of that of 63, he encour-
AGED those about him. took . oatn' ave 70
supper unconcernedly, and retllea ~. ~
rest after nothing in his tablets al '"a'
had impressed him during the Day.
This was the evening of the 9Sd: Inc
eruption commenced at ! O'Clock III .nk
Afternoon. and was not at the neigh. %
its violence. Towards morning 'ne
slaves who were watching at his door,
and who heard him peacefully breath
ing were obliged to awaken INN. MOI
only was the house shaken 70 us iocu y
dation threatening every moment 70 ia,i
n n;eces' but ashes had fallen IN sucn
quantities that the court was iliieo
with them, and they would soon entire
" obstruct the entrance. 1t was 'm-
neratiye that he should arise and nee !;
this the inhabitants did to avoid beng
crushed by their houses. 1t was 0
o'clock in the morning, but the sky was
so obscured by the falling ashes that II
was darker than the blacklist night
The torches could scarcely guide the
way in this obscurity, lighted from tune
to time by the inaammable gas whicn
ESCAPED through the assures IN the son.
and cast sinister CLEANS upon those
scenes of desolation.
Pliny directed his steps towards 'ne
shore. The sea was rough-the winds
contrary. and thousands of asphyxiated
fish covered the beach, left there by the
retreat of the waves. Forced to reirace
his way, a sail was spread for him, and
he Law down to contemplate all that
was passing: at this instant fiames
came out Of the soil, even where he
was lying; his affrighted slaves fled; he
arose, then, suddenly falling back, ex-
pired. suffocated by the poisonous gases
arising from the earth. Three days al
ter. when the disturbance was ended,
he was found lying in the same place,
under thick covering of ashes. Thus
Pliny persisted. victim to his love for
science.
During the time awful scenes were
being enacted at Herculaneum and
Pompeii: these two cities. situated un-
der the very shadow Of Vesuvins, were
delugcd by rain If fire.
The inhabitants Of Pornpcii were assem-
bled in the amphithea'er at the time OF
the catastrophe An inexpressible dis
order reigned in the city. Some, re-
membering the frs; eruption, fled to the
country or to the surrounding cities:
others, delaying too long to secure
rings, jewels. coins aud costly fabrics,
were walled in by the cinders or
crushed by the fail Of their houses A
number thought to find refuge in cell
lars, and To await there the end of the
convulsion. The calculation was accu
rate in part only; the walls did not
give way, the ashes did not reach them.
but they were buried alive, CONDEMNED
to die Of starvation in their prison
Among other objects have been found
the skeleton of dog and that of man:
the man died of inanitiou, and the dog
devoured his corpse. Prisoners in the
stocks; slaves bound in their inches
and forgotten by their masters. have
been discovered as death overlook them
Many persisted in the streets, crushed
by the fall of column, statue or house,
but especially where suffocated by the
gases, to the action of which Pliny sue
cumbed. Woe to him who lay down up
on the ground! The poisonous air ris-
ing from the soil killed him speedily.
Those, on the contrary, who continued
on their way with eyes protected from
the dust, and a pillow on the head
to deaden the effect of falling stones,
arrived safely at their place Of refuge.
The number of persons who persisted
at this time is estimated at 1900, q
tenth part Of the population. Hercula-
neum, the city of Hercules. was the
theatre Of another kind of devastation.
There it was not hot ashes or stones