The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-12-02
A VISIT TO vESUVlUS.
HON. A. ". NELLY DESCRIBES HIS
TRIP UP TIE MOUNTAIN,
His Letter 10 Written from Naples and
gives n Beautiful Description OF the
City-Horror OF the Lava Torrent.

have not chhi Hed theil ShiitS ~ -
interval and cobbler in statuaIy
again nlending the battered nose OF the
watcr-gOd who faces you AS you stIOh
eastward down tho strada 81. Lucia LUCIA,
In fact | have never been IN Napies
without finding that noge being pouhueu
or being patched. once that lrredeen-
able demon. the small boy. marks any
thing for destruction II rs doomed, nay
you not often observed how Tor months
an empty house will be respected, Wheh
one morning you will find single pane
OF glass shattered, the next morning,
CHAOS But the Incompatible beauty or
the scene is also unchanged and the gay
city is as eXquisitely surrounded as ~
was when Sanna2aro wrote Ned1 Ndpon
before. the poet of ali times and ages
sang "Nullus IN orbe sinus Bans proeIucit
amens."
But If nature has exhausted herself TO
make this spot beautiful, man has been
extremely dnigent and successful IN en-
1arging Il. | think II was Dumas Wmc VII.
said that Naples has 800 streets. Dn'
only three are ever seen by stranger.
TO set out of them / had been waiting
for some time. when yesterday can't
my charce-an ideal day for NeslVlu u
a soft haze covered the land anu 20,
assuming In relief from the worst kidl
OF the sun, while the clear summit VI
the volcano, revealing the sulphuIoua
smoke borne rapidly eastward oy c.
strong wind, assured a perfect anu 9die
Ascending Vesuvius is hardly, more
fatiguing now than mounting I'm
famous Campanite and less 50 man nan a.
trip TO the cross OF 81. Ietel - ""' -
is a trlfe longer.
The TRIP.
We left-four of us-in a light carry
all at A. NJ, and had ride OF IouI
and a half hours before We came 10 NV, ~
funicular railway when cohqueiS ,mo
worst portion OF the ascent. My com
panions were two germans Of the male
persuasion and young frauieh' tle
daughter of one OF the former. me seh
tlemen smoked four hours ana tWenS
minutes OF the time, and the worst To-
bacco I think / ever encountered
endeavored. by way OF reuei, 10 open d
conversation with the young lady oy Assn
ing her In the very best Prusshh-btI-
man | could command, what was the
name of the peculiar head-dress worn
by one of the peasants VINO Pdsseu uh'
and she answered with DehiehanI s ii,ilt,
"YawI' OF course further communicates"
was out of the question. a..
Once out OF the city, ana out Oh the
long struggling suburb when pesliii lli.
al Naples, sweeps around the entire east
and south of the bay as tdl as ileICu-
laneum, the road rises gently ana passes
through "A succession OF groves u oIl'es
and hg trees, and acres OF vineyards
Here is the home and the only true home
of the famous Lachryma Chrlsu wine,
which refuses TO hourlsh save on 'ie
warm sides ana in the dlssolNeu lava VI
the eternal furnace.
About half OF our carriage trip was
over when we found ourselves IN the
midst of the lava flood of the great erep-
tion of 1891 and nothing could be more
curiously opposed 10 my conception OF
the tide of volcanic outflow. l expected
20 see "a broad level river OF cooled lava,
smooth as an Alpine glacier, following
and filling some valley, and spreading
finally out on plain below. Ot Wnat
did see you may form some conception,
81 you can Imagine an Atlantic OF nlC'teh
iron, scourged by a TEMPEST TO when
our worst hurricane Is a summer breeze,
dashed into waves, not of thirty feet, the
maximum altitude Of the sea waves, but
mounting in surges of a hundred feet In
height. on whose precipitous sides great
twirling masses OF the liquid metal mould
ed themselves into fantastic forms of
human beings and mighty serpents anu
wild beasts In mortal combat-and then
imagine there Titanic surges suddenly
frozen into absolute rigidity before the
waves had time to subside, before even
the combing crest had time to scatter
itself In spray or engulf itself in the
surge beneath. Stand, in fancy, in the
trough of this tortured sea; with these
black dead Surges towering a hundred
feet above you, and no blade of grass
or chrp of bird, or hum of insect TO
break the naked horror of the desolati0n
and you may have some, though still an
inadequate, notion of scene of volcanic
eruption sixty-three years after its career
was closed
FoRoETFULNEss.
That people can live and rear grapes
and children with this horror in front Of
them, and the consciousness that il may
recur at any moment. only Illustrates
anew that the greatest consider of man
is forgetfulness. Amid this scene of war
Il little hut on the left Of the road at
tracts us. over its door "a rudely painted
sign announces "Eremito. WHAT Carl
tate" and soon the Eremito shows him
self with extended hand, grey haired
old man, with long brown habit, who
hides. 1t may be, In this wilderness OF
wrath, the story of human tempest
not less desOlating, and who has chosen
this awful spot as the closest analogue
of his own lfe-once flaming destruction,
now blackness and ashes: omnta Nanitas
The last house OF any prominence is
the observatory, a solid stone mansion.
in which learned professor lives, whose
almost single duty is TO keep his finger
on the pulse of this august patient, ana
watch the indications of the coming
tempest of fire. for Nesuvius always
smoking, has for twenty years past been
especially active and menacing.
The last of the innumerable turns in
the road brings us to the station. and
we learn that our ride has covered fif
teen measured miles
The rough horror of the lava torrent
has passed behind us. Before us smooth
black and floating its eternal banner OF
sulphurous smoke. The frOwning cave
of the volcano lifts its awful head. How
trivial and contemplate looks this little
funicular railway. straw on its mighty
ribs. Still we mount into the quaint car
and start on this half-mle of steep
ascent never under 40 degrees and often
63 degrees from a horizontal line; as
careless as thousands have been before
us, and thousands will be after us until
some day a sigh from the tortured soul
OF the mountain will shrivel the track
into shapeless junk. In ~ minutes we
step out within couple OF hundred feet
OF the summit. for even the audacIty of
science dares not 90 nearer and then
we commence a fatguing mount through
the slippery ashes, of 20 or p minutes
simply TO turn around would disclose the
most enchanting view in EuroDe. h,,t
no one turns-the fascination of this
eternal fire dominates all curiosity as il
subdues all fear.
BURNED THE CAVE.
Half of our short trip is not passed
ere the smoke emanatng from scores of
assures bursts around us and the guide
tnfustng a cane In the earth, Yithdraws
II IN half-a-minute a chaTred coal.
A moment more and the party stoDs
with common accord as the sound of a
mighty throb smites the ear. Ii resembles
the impact of a great western wave of
the Atlantic in a hurricane bnrsiing
against the rocks OF the Irish coast Al
intervals OF few seconds this crash re-
ours, and we hasten forward with re-
newed interest, to see what tide is dash
1ng ltsen into foam four thousand feet
above the sea
And now We stand upon the crater's
verge A rough opening In the margin.
with rude attempts at steps is pointed out
"a the spot where, formerly, adventurous
visitors descended into the outer crater
bnt for many years this has been inpossi-
BILE
This crater is a cylindrical opening In
the top OF the mountain of about two