Year: 1862

NAfLES1 Lee. lU.


From Naples little is seen exceptipo
those grand columns of smoke which rise
slgantically into the air, and which, accor-
cling to as close measurement as could be
made, were calculated, that from the lower
mouths at 10000 feet, and that from the
upper crater at 5000 feet in height. Our
streets are free from the dust of the noun
tain, and though for some time after the
sun rose it appeared to be in state of
eclipse, yet to witness all the wonders of
the spectacle it is necessary to leave the
capital and visit the sight of the disaster.


From the confines of the city to Tore
del Greco one passes between two lines of
curious population who have turned out
to see the crowds who flock down to Tore
del Greco. The wind blows off the noun
tain due north and south, SO that, until you
just get under the column, you are not ex-
posed to the shower of dust which falls
thlckly and constantly, almost binding one,
and certainly not conducting to an easy
respiration.


On arriving at the devoted little town
which numbers, by the by, $4,000 souls
| found the place, except at the station, al
most deserted. Every house was abandon
ed, and, as proving how rapid was the
flight, melons and other articles still hung
suspended outside the windows. At the
station thsre was vast crowd of persons,
some of the last lingering inhabitants, with
beds and other articles of furniture, anx-
lous to be off; others consisting of the Ber-
sagliera and Nationals, who remained to
guard the place, for misfortune is no pro-
tect.on against the herds of thieves who
Just at present drive thriving trade in the
neighborhood.


The first thing which strikes the eve is
the blackened appearance of every object,
the fine dust, which had fallen in heavy
showers, lying four and half inches in
depth In the streets and on the tops of
houses. Some of these were cracked hori.
zontally across the fiat roofs, and others
perpendicularly, but it is not until you turn
off to the left, little beyond the station.
that the full amount of damage is to be
witnessed. From this point, ascending the
mountain, number OF houses are passed
which have been most materially injured,
from four to FIVE hundred in all, and rem
dered to certain extent unsafe At one
house, in particular, handsome building,
too, the proprietor, who had returned for
some articles which he had left behind,
was breakingthe windows to get in, entrance
by the doorway being impossible. l shall
here insert the report which was sent TO
me yesterday morning by Giovanni Cozzo-
limo, the principal guide of the mountain,
as it will explain precisely the site where
the mouths which are now vomiting forth
fire, smoke and lava have been formed.


'On the eight instant, at about quar-
ter past IL A. NJ, a great trembling of
the ground was felt at Tore del Greco,
which continued at intervals of from five
to ten minutes. The population was in
great alarm expecting an earthquake. At
Resina this tremulous motion was felt,
though not SO strongly, about mid d-day.-
Toward 3 o'clock in the afternoon large
opening was made in the ground above
Tore del Greco, and half mile lower than
the crater of 1774, and the first cone was
formed under the house of francesca Crust
This house was thrown into the air, as were
four others in Masseria close by. The
lava has arrived (on the moning of the 9th)
at about quarter of an hours walk above
the Monastery of the Cappucini, (Which
has been destroyed, } and is about half a
mile in breadth. All the houses in Tore
have assures in them, and the population
have fled to Naples. At the time that the
new cones were formed the top of the noun
tain was tranquil, but about o'clock IN
the morning the grand crater at the summit
burst out with tremendous noise, throwing
stones and ashes to great height. Every
effort of this kind is accompanied by a
sound as of thunder. One of the guides,
called Genarino Sannino, while attempting
to get piece of the red hot lava in which
to put coin, was killed on the spot by a
stone which fell upon his head


The report is meagre, erroneous in some
instances, and some of the details have been
modified by what has since taken place.
The roads and streets by which you ap
proach the principal points of interest are
in many places opened and at the place
alluded to by the guide there are not one
only, but two considerable cones and sew
eral smaller ones indeed, in many places


there are indications of the crust OF th'
earth giving way to the subterranean fires
The principal of these cones is an ellipse


and both sent out body of lava, which


threatened Tore del Greco with rapid des


truction. One of these happy elevation