The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1878-11-21
., rus ror or yss,sw.

Before descending iuto ihe crater, |
turned 10 laks tho view from lhs mennt.
ala top. Il vas enc d won5efial mag
nifeence aud sxqalslle beaniy. Naples
extended below viii every tint Of rlcb,
warm color In the wAler, the sky, ihs
brauiliul islands. the bold headlands, and
the continuous line Of bright tinted cities
and villages sll The way round A eer.
tain lender Indian summer haze, which /
have seen no where In Italy, and which
mas be due 10 The smoke from Nesuyius,
gave the whole landscape aud walerscapc
sort OF dreamy charm qaite lndiscrib.
able To this harmony Of color must be
added tie different rich browns Of the
lavs fields below chocolate, burnt amber
etc. Here was presented the spectacle
Of Two millions Of the ighlest besrted
people under the sun huddled right under
the brow Of the terrible moaatfin, build
Ing their habiialious over the graves Of
the ancestors destroyed by II, and taking
the average chances OF having lava
stream come down upon them once In
three years The course OF The great lava
streams that have gone down from Nesu-
vions could be traced like the rivers on $
map II was curious 10 note bow much
they reSembled huge GLACIERS touiy black
or choeol4te oolored glsziers) In their
general outline; but In passing over OF
among them In zlg-zag ascent, IL il seen
that their structure is altogether different
from that on the glazier. Sometime they
take on the shape OF great coils OF writh-
Ing serpents; sometimes that OF the dis
severed limbs and bodies Of giants cast
In bronze; then again the distorted lava
looks like grest bundles of rope, or like
the gnarled trunks, limbs and roots OF
colossal trees. The lava field between
the observatory and the foot Of the eoAe
has exactly the appearance Of a newly
plougheL field; only the clods are Of
size to suggest that the ploughing must
HhNt uttu Nbut u lHhHr#
My strapman took me down into the
crater on the run, and then set of across
the new lava to some OF the redhot fs-
sures, where they prlled out some dsbs
of the fluid lava upoL 4 stick and went 70
work making impressions OF coins
These they sell for a franc each, and IL
required some pointed remarks to detaeh
them from this agreeable business 10 visit
the other parts Of the crater, aud especial.
ly the great point Of interest, the new
cone. We got quite near it, but as tho
red-hot scoria Cooking like spnrls Of red
sealing WAX was falling in showers over
the edge, the guide would not permit us
to ascend II and It was not easy TO settle
the mooted question whether 1t has one
opening or two, as the densctcloud Of sui
phurous vapor emitted concealed The
mouth even when we were to the wind
ward. While we were In its close vleni-
ty, collapse in portion Of the abed o +
the new lava near us caused the guide TO
make us move away with some speed. In
many places, the new lava gave forth
hollow sound in walking over it, and oe-
casionally one would slump in through
the thin crust Of bubble or blister, bnt
bottom was always touched underneath
without getting into an abyss. Over
most Of the field the lava was hot enough
to make it uncomfortable for the feet;
but the worst that happened to me was to
scorch, beyond redemption, pair Of
walking shoes, but they had already been
pretty badly demoralzed by the rough
experience Of Alpine travel. In fact,
had been saving them up for Vesuyius.
After exploring the field of new lava
satisfactorily we mounted to tue rim Of
the great crater to take fresh survey,
interior aid exterior, very much TO the
disgust oiour guides and porters, who
wanted to get us down the MOUNTAIN in
season TO secure new customers for the
ascent but our party was large enough
TO ontvole them. and we slaid as long as
we chose, taking he bearings 81 the place,
watching the course ~ the stream Of
moving lava (bcst seen from aboyel, aud
enjoying once more tho magnificent pano-
ramic view The wind sweeping across
the summit Of Vesnyins WIS quite cool,
aud il was not unpleasant TO take the
shelter q little within The rim Of The era
ter, where seated upon bank Of warm
earth, emitting snlphnraus fumes, We
took cheap vapor bAtt. On starting o
20 down my strapman asked me TO note
the time. he descent Of the cone 0ceu-
pied just five minutes, while the ascent
had required over an hour, The two
men seized me, each by an arm, asked
me TO keep stride with them, commenced
a series Of tremendous leaps down the
mountain side that was more like flying
than anything ever experienced. ! ex-
pected every moment that my legs would
come out Of their sockets, or that should
20 whirling bead over heels 10 a series OF
summefsaults, but We got down al right
The bean shaped volcanic sand, 20 diff.
cult to climb, is just Tue thing to help yoa
down.
-
JOLLY CEsfEsAHIAA.
A Ught.heafted eeuteuarian cracked her