of the torches, which they flung round
their heads to prevent their being extinguished, formed a scene so
new, so extraordinary, so like romance, that my attention was
frequently drawn from the mountain, though blazing in all its
tumultuous magnificence.

The explosions succeeded each other with terrific rapidity about two
in every three minutes; and the noise I can only compare to the
roaring and hissing of ten thousand imprisoned winds, mingled at times
with a rumbling sound like artillery, or distant thunder. It
frequently happened that the guides, in dashing their torches against
the ground, set fire to the dried thorns and withered grass, and the
blaze ran along the earth like wildfire, to the great alarm of poor
L**, who saw in every burning bush a stream of lava rushing to
overwhelm us.

Before eleven o'clock we reached the Hermitage, situated between
Vesuvius and the Somma, and the highest habitation on the mountain. A
great number of men were assembled within, and guides, lazzaroni,
servants, and soldiers, were lounging round. I alighted, for I was
benumbed and tired, but did not like to venture among those people,
and it was proposed that we should wait for the rest of our party a
little further on. We accordingly left our donkeys and walked forward
upon a kind of high ridge which serves to fortify the Hermitage and
its environs against the lava. From this path, as we slowly ascended,
we had a glorious view of the eruption; and the whole scene around us,
in its romantic interest and terrible magnificence, mocked all power
of description. There were, at this time, five distinct torrents of
lava rolling down like streams of molten lead; one of which extended
above two miles below us and was flowing towards Portici. The showers
of red-hot stones flew up like thousands of sky rockets: many of them
being shot up perpendicularly fell back into the crater, others
falling on the outside bounded down the side of the mountain with a
velocity which would have distanced a horse at full speed: these
stones were of every size, from two to ten or twelve feet in diameter.

My ears were by this time wearied and stunned by the unceasing roaring
and hissing of the flames, while my eyes were dazzled by the glare of
the red, fierce light: now and then I turned them for relief to other
features of the picture, to the black shadowy masses of the landscape
stretched beneath us, and speckled with shining lights, which showed
how m