The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1878-04-13
FOR me Cecil " IN .
POMPEIi AND MOUNT VESUYIUS.

propose to write a description of visit
| made to Pompeii and Mount Nesuvus in
the month of July, 1870. | shall describe
the appearance ofthe country around about,
and give such description Of the appear
ance of the buried city of Pompeii and the
sights to be seen there, as well as brief
account of the ascent of the volcano of
Nesuvius.
In the early part of July, 1875, | landed
at Naples. | had come from Genoa in the
steamship India, on the Mediterranean sea.
About sixteen miles from Naples | first
saw the smoking summit of Mount Nesu-
wins. The smoke was slowly and slug
gliShly oozing out of its summit. The next
day after my arrival at Naples | took the
cars and went to a small village about seven
miles from Naples, which is, in fact, a
continuation of that city. Here | en-
ployed guide. The ascent is made on
horse back; the animal that ! rode was
sorry creature. His front limbs were bent
out, his right eye was knocked out, his left
ear had been bitten off in a fight, and the
guide who accompanied me walked all the
way and urged on his rough skeleton of
horse by catching hold of his tail and beat
ing HIM with a stick. BY this means we
kept up rather rough but steady journey
out from the village of Tore Dell, An
nunzlata, to the cone OF the volcano, from
which point had to make the journey on
foot to the summit of the cratel. All along
the way from the last mentioned village to
the cone of the volcano, huge masses of
lava III every conceivable shape and contor-
ton were strewn. In some places the lava
was at least thirty to forty feet deep. |
was always under the impression that this
lava was nearly white in appearance, re-
sembling pumice stone, which i always
understood was pure lava: but the lava
around NeSuviuS is of dark sand stone
color, not very porous, but quite light, and
entirely useless. On the mountain there is
only one residence, near which the road
winds on the way up to the summit. 1t is
occupied by Prof. Palmer, who watches
constantly the heavingS aud tokens of erup
tons and, in case of danger, hOistS IA flag
to warn all persons against ascending the
mountain. | saw no flag indicating danger,
and my guide urged on his unsightly steed,
and we pressed forward until we reached
the base of the cone. Here we were met
by two other guides; they each had ropes
about ten feet i'll length, and with sticks
fastened in the ends of them, forming
hand hold. 1t took US about two hours
and half to 90 from the village to the
base of the cone. The guide fastened his
diapldated specimen of horse flesh to
rock, and then we all commenced the tire
some journey up the cone to the summit of
Mount Nesuvius, the two guides with ropes
going ahead, pulling me up the steep as
cent, and the guide who accompanied mo
from the village gently pushing nle up, SO
that the journey up the cone was not DIM
Ii
it alone. 1t took us all about three quar-
tiers of an hour to reach the summit, and
oh what a sight. The crater is about half
a mile wide and three, quarters of mile
long. 1t slopes down like funnel. The
edge upon which you stand is about two
feet wide; smoke-sulp hureous smCEc--
surrounds you and aly4o-t cakes your
breath. ! OF cannot stay up there very
, long, but you can take in the grand scene
at glance. The ground-Or rather the
ashes upon which you stands very warm.
You can see the fire in the creviCeS beneath
your feet, and when you i0oE down into
the crater, how awfUliy grand is the sight.
1t is net {. bright ttame, but it reminds one
more OF a smouldering lire, which you ex-
peCt every moment to break out and create
destruction. There are in the crater several
peaks formed of lava, | presume. had
not the least inclination to 90 down into
the crater and examine them more particu-
larly, nor have | ever heard of any one vie
has given them a close insvertiQ1 ! taiEi,
there are ABOUT Sc zen Ci these .cGic shaped
peaks o. various Le.ghtE, and as the sun
Slina- "pon them with different inclination
the color changes, aud they represent the
different hues of the rainbow. The ques
ton has often been asked me, " Were you
not afraid to 60 up on the summit of Mount
Nesuvius alone with strange guides and
how did ycu not know hut tnai they might
have conveniently slipped YOU into the
.,rater.' Before | left the village | was
obliged TO give my name, where | resided
when | was at home, to whom a letter
should be written in case of an accident,