The daily gazette., 1881-07-08
Letter From Naples.
ASCENT OF vEsUyIus.
Correspondence Of the Gazette.

Correspondence Of the Gazette.
A-lN at NAPLES, June 10, 1851.
Vesuvius oveihangS Naples like per-
petual menace. The villages that clus-
Ter about its fruitful sides have been Of |
ten overwhelmed and blotted out of ex-
istence. The proud cities Of Pompeil /
and Herculaneum were covered up with !
lava and ashes, sixty feet or more In |
depth, and their very sites were forgotten |
until AFTER they were buried for sixteen |
hundred years, when accident, the OPEN |
ing of road, revealed their burial pla- |
the mountain have been covered several |
times. They were not dug out, but still |
remain buried, while other towns are |
built over them. On one side six towns |
have been built and successivelv buried. |
while the seventh remains standing on
the graves Of all Its predecessors.
No apprehension 10 felt In Naples Of
tate like that Of Pompeli and other
towns, but 1t is feared lest the city may
sink, and be covered by the waters OF
the sea. Phenomena quite % strange
and awful have happened. Mountains
In tue immediate neighborhood have
partly disappeared, and others arisen.
There is q mysterious underground
connection between all the Continental
volcanoes. When Vesuvius 10 active,
Etna sleeps, and vice versa. One Of the
several voicanoe is more or lees active
whilst the others are in Tep0se. Vesu-
vius is now In q filful state, 30 that ap-
proach TO lis crater 10 difficult, and
descent impossible with safe ,.
We made an early start for Vesuvius,
for the ascent requires the whole day.
The morning was perfect, and as our
carriage with its three hOrses abreast, the
holses strung with bells, ratified down
the streets Of Naples and through Portici
the guides and the beggars sprang up
from every corner, following US with
their mournful cries and persistent at
tentions all the way out to the foot Of
the mountain. gl5 ti9.tsf
All around the base Of the mountain
the fruit trees and vines grow with great
luxurlance. Orange, lemon, fig, plum
and cherry trees are bending under
loads Of fruit, all now ripe aud luscious.
The vines are in blossom, and preparing
for the crops Of grapes from which is
made the finest wine of Italy the famous
Lscryma Christi. Vegetation Is all rank
and tropical, for The heat of the burning
noun tain creates eternal summer.
We begin the ascent over buried Her
culaneuD, and wind up crooked road
u.til we leave the Eden like earders and
orchards for the Sterile fields of molten
iron aud stone. Soon all vegetation
ceases except solitary flower here aud
there, whose seed has found foot-hold In
the softer lava and blooms with bright
est colors.
As we proceed, the ascent grows steep
er, until The road doubles upon itself, &C
that we 60 ten miles or more for ever,
half mile perpendicular advance, which
is the extreme limit for horses. From
this, the railroad ascends for half mils
at an angle Of for degrees to the base
of the cone.
| Looking upward 1t seems impossible
for any railroad to scale the dizzy
height, and extremely dangerous to at
tempt l. on foot. Yet our ladies deter
mined to ascend In the traditional man
Her. Each provided with an aipenstocl
aud stout guide with his strap buckle(
around his shoulders and trailing behint
so that the ladies might cling to 1t WI
made the start. The path was q dee]
, bed of ashes aud cinders, for every ste]
we made forward we slipped back . hal
step, and sank up to the ankles In th'
lava.
Before we had gone one fourth Of th
way more than one showed signs of ex
baustion, but would not return and z
, by the railroad. They were all to-
plucky to give 1t up or to return. Sc
after Q rest we toiled onward and up
ward with slow and uncertain steps, no
making progress equal to the car on th
! railroad, which was dra Tn By wire rope
, worked by steam at the stations.
Before we reached the upper stati0l
, We had left the region Of suDshine AM
entered the clouds which bl0tted out al
the beautiful panarams far down below
But tile stiff breeze blew the mist an
clouds away, and again unveiled, for
few moments, the charming Bay Of M
pies, the broad Mediterranean stretchln
score of towns, cities end villages ths
gemmed the green plain below and boz
, dered the sea.
At the upper railroad station tn
! guides declared their course was end
s ed, and, in view of the greater diff
> eulties and dangers, demanded othe
fees. Most of the other parties VIII
} had come up by the railroad decline
j. to go any farther bat when We cor
+ sidered that we had come then fou
thousand miles to see Vesuvius, "
would not be cheated Of any Of th
sight now We were 80 near. Th
steep cone is set upon the old cratel
b from the centre;of which 1t has sprung
It leaving oil around it q fearful plain {
|. of writhing shapes resembling giganti
. reptiles, formed by the solidifle
J. streams of melted lava. All this plai
= is mere thin shell bridging the fear
full cauldron beneath. In many placs
it is swayed and sunken. Everywhel
1t is rent in great fissures from whlc
= the sulphurous smoke ascends In THO
volumes. Here and there are ohm
o neys in which we can see the fire, IN
. our sticks were burned when v
~ ~ thrust them In the opening.
A. The new chimney is = orystallixe
d mass of sulphurous matter, paintsd
!, !. all the gorgeous oolors of the rainhoy
ie the orange and yellow predominatinI
Or hut the blue, red purple and 9TH
is colors run in irregular lines all over
D. In the ascent we were obliged
N use our hands as well as our feet, IN
a. a. the surface was SO hot that 1t burnt
ID our hands even under the gloves, an
la | <c.kxovaH r,,v chcc. u,