16
and remained half an hour very near the
flames, admiring the spectacle presented by
the liquid lava, which bubbled up at the
bottom of the crater, like the fused matter in
a glass-house. This eruption continued un-
til September, made great ravages, and was
considered as one of the most terrible that
had occurred in the memory of the inhabi-
tants.
It now remains only to notice the late very
recent eruptions which commenced on the
20th of October, about 12 o'clock. A dread-
ful internal noise was heard throughout the
neighbourhood; the lava began to appear,
and soon towed in a torrent about a mile
broad. The next day a second body of lava,
half a mile in breadth issued forth, and cover-
ed the old lava on the side of Bosco-Tre-
Case; a third and fourth stream soon after-
wards burst forth.
The following particulars of the progress
of the eruption are from private letters:--
“Naples, Oct. 23.-—You will have heard,
my dear brother, before this reaches you, of
the awfully graud eruption of Vesuvius.--
Nothing similar has been witnessed since
1794, when the town of Torre del Greco,
situated at about four miles from the crater,
was partly destroyed. During the evening
of the 21st, a little smoke appeared, and dis-
tinct reports of artillery, as it seemed,
