The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1878-12-12

standing cold and merciless in fu
] armor with drawn sword, and learn
! look upon them as men of like passion
; and occupations as ourselves, and Il
l romance Of those old heroic times dwiI
: dies away into the real bread aud butte
= occupations Of our modern hum-druI
life.
Late one rainy morning our party lei
the hotel in carriages for the ascent {
Vesuvius by way of Resina. a ride {
considerably more than an hour, all th
way along q built-up street, brings US {
Resina, where we engage a guide AM
mules. The carriageway winds up tn
side of the mountain, through vineyard
and highly-eultivated fields, until i
comes to the overflow Of 1872, owe
which for nearly an hour the road windt
until the Hermitage is reached, which
Is the limit Of carriage travel. This lava
stream is black, and lies in great wave.
aud ridges, such as would be formed by
semi-fiuid mass rolling down tn,
mountain, stiffening as it cooled. Il i.
the ideal of desolation itself, not a green
thing being able to live upon it.
From the Hermitage one can 90 By
foot or by mule over a rough path to the
base Of the cone, which is reached in
about one hour. This rises one thousand
five hundred feet, and the ascent can
only be made on foot. As the cone rises
at an angle Of about thirty-five degrees
and consists Of Stag and loose ashes
which slip back under the feet at every
step, the climb is most fatiguing. The
traveller is beset with men who offer
their services, and will help unless they
are resoiutely and energetically re-
pulsed. Some go just ahead and extend
a strap to the traveller by which he can
be partly pulled up, while others get
behind and "boost," and by these COM
bined means even the weakest finally
reach the top.
From the edge Of the crater is mag
nificent panorama. Before us we see
the country for miles around, the bay,
the city and far out at sea, while turn
ing around We look down into the smok-
ing pit some two hundred feet below Us.
Clambering down the hot, steaming
sides, we are at last at the very mouth of
the crater, and TO all appearance at the
entrance to the Internal regions. The
| night before our ascent, the first display
Of tue present season of activity had
taken place, and the sky was lighted uu
with flames from the burning noun
tain. We found that there had been a
small overflow during the night, and
that some two acres of the bottom Of the
inner crater had been covered with lava,
which by the time we had reached il
had a cool crust an inch or more thick.
on which we could walk with care
Through the cracks in it we could see
red-hot mass not two inches und er ouI
feet. The guides cooked eggs in these
cracks, and pressed coins into the melted
lava which were drawn out with part OF
the cooled lava attached to them. We
could hear the melted mass in the in
terror of the mountain surge from side
to side as it boiled, aud as often as once
minute melted lava would be thrown
into the air through the little cone in
the inner crater, and fall near US. The
air was full Of sulphur fumes, which
were at times so oppressive that we
could hardly breathe. Great drops of
pure sulphur We're scattered all around
Us.
At the end Of half an hour we were
glad TO Chamber up the side ofthe crater,
out Of the claws of hell, +" and with an
other long look at the grand view before
US, we scramble down the steep side of
the cone aud return to the city. After
this we shall have all faith in the power
Of Nesuvius, and when we read that
during an eruption it threw a stone
weighing twenty-five tons a distance OF
fifteen miles, we shall shut our eyes and
swallow the statement without a word
of dissent.
After aHother visit to the museum,
and to some parts of the city not men,
toned in this letter, we, with regret,
take the train for Rome. We shall
never forget how, as We rode for miles
along the ruined arches of the aque-
duct, while We were entering Rome
the full moon just rising flashed through
the arches which seemed to fly past US
With this vision Of moonlight on the
Campagnia, amid the ruins Of the great.
est nation aud city the world has evel
seen, we retire for the night, and in the
morning will ask our readers to go with
us over the External City"
O. r. BURCHARD.