presence of mind, as to be able to make and dictate his observations upon the motion and figure of that dreadful scene. He was now so nigh the mountain, that the cinders, which grew thicker and hotter the nearer he approached, fell into the ships, together with pumice stones, and black pieces of burning rock. They were likewise in danger not only of being aground by the sudden retreat of the sea, but also from the vast fragments which rolled down from the mountain, and obstructed all the shore.' So you see he might have escaped if he had made the effort."

The party remained on the mountain a long time, and then prepared to descend.

"I shall tear my feet all to pieces going down over these rocks," said Walter to his father.

"You do not go down over the lava, in the way you came up.'

"Ah, why not?"

"It would be attended with danger.'

"How so?"

"Why, these pieces of lava would begin to roll, and very soon you would be rolling with them."

"I see.

But how do we get down?"

"On the other side the mountain is covered

with ashes, and you go down in the soft dust."

And soon they were on their way down, in a most amusing way. Convulsed with laughter, and shouting to each other, they descended nearly ten feet at a leap, sinking in the soft, flowing ashes as if it were light, drifting snow, raising a cloud of dust, and setting the yielding body in motion all around.

Soon they were trotting back towards Naples, and when they reached the city, they were all very tired and hungry, and were glad to seek a bath and a dinner, and afterwards a quiet talk in their own rooms.

66

"I wish I could converse with some one who has seen a violent eruption," said Walter, at the dinner table.

"You can," replied his father.

"How?"

"Books enable us to converse with the dead." “But who has described the scene."

"Pliny and others."

"How did Pliny describe it?"

"His own words are, I cannot give a more exact description of its figure than by resembling it to that of a pine tree; for it shot up to a great height in the form of a trunk, which extended itself at the top into a sort of branches, occasioned, I imagine, either by a sudden gust of air

impelled it, the force of which decreased as

it advanced upwards, or the cloud itself, being pressed back again by its own weight, expanded in this manner. It appeared sometimes bright and sometimes dark and spotted, as it was more or less impregnated with earth and cinders.'"

"There have been many very accurate and graphic descriptions of the eruptions given by scientific men, who have witnessed them," added Mr. Tenant.

"I wish I could see it with my own eyes."

"That cannot be. Imagination must supply the rest."

Thus engaged in conversation, the party sat until the evening came, and they retired to rest, with the understanding that they should sleep as long as possible in the morning, as they all had need of rest.

HOW

CHAPTER XVI.

THE BURIED CITIES.

OW far to Pompeii?" asked Walter, as one morning they rode out of the city of Naples, on their way to the exhumed ruins of those towns that eighteen hundred years ago were overwhelmed.

"About twelve miles, to the north-cast," replied his father.

"When was the city overwhelmed?"

"It was partly shaken down by an earthquake, A. D. 63, but the enterprising inhabitants soon repaired their shattered tenements, and erected their theatres and halls of justice with more beauty and elegance than before."

"And again overwhelmed?"

"Yes. A few years rolled on, and a more general destruction occurred, and the history of Pompeii came to a sudden and terrible end." "When was it?"

"In A. D. 79."

"Many of the people were killed-were they not?"

"Yes."

"I think you said, when we visited Vesuvius, that the mountain at that time gave warning." "Yes, I did say so. The surrounding hills. gave evidence of convulsions. The lakes and ponds in the neighborhood were affected. They rose and fell; retreated from the shores, and anon dashed up again upon the banks. Strange, unearthly sounds, like the rumbling of a thousand chariots over hollow pavements, were heard. Now and then, an opening chasm, emitting sulphureous clouds, which hung like a sable pall over the doomed city, would be seen; and at intervals a jet of flame, thrown into the air, would fall just without the walls, as if the mighty powers below were at play with the fears of

men.

66

66

Why did not the people fly?"

They did, but soon returned to their places." "And then, when the storm began to fall, what did they do?"

"The utmost terror seized them, and the confusion and distress were terrible."

"How much of Pompeii has been exhumed?”