bled over the ridges of scoria; and was struck by Salvador's
exclamation, who shouted to them in a tone which would have become
Caesar himself,--"Che tema!--Sono Salvador!"[M]

We did not attempt to turn back again: which I should have done
without any hesitation if any one had proposed it. To have come thus
far, and be so near the object I had in view, and then to run away at
the first alarm! It was a little provoking. The road was extremely
dangerous in the descent. I was obliged to walk part of the way, as
the guides advised, and but for Salvador, and the interesting
information he gave me from time to time, I think I should have been
overpowered. He amused and fixed my attention, by his intelligent
conversation, his assiduity, and solicitude for my comfort, and the
_naivete_ and self-complacency with which his information was
conveyed. He told me he had visited Mount AEtna (_en amateur_) during
the last great eruption of that mountain, and acknowledged with
laudable candour, that Vesuvius, in its grandest moments, was a mere
bonfire in comparison: the whole cone of Vesuvius, he said, was not
larger than some of the masses of rock he had seen whirled from the
crater of Mount AEtna, and rolling down its sides. He frequently made
me stop and look back: and here I should observe that our guides
seemed as proud of the performances of the mountain, and as anxious to
show it off to the best advantage, as the keeper of a menagerie is of
the tricks of his dancing bear, or the proprietor of "Solomon in all
his glory" of his raree-show. Their enthusiastic shouts and
exclamations would have kept up my interest had it flagged. "O veda,
Signora! O bella! O stupenda!" The last great burst of fire was
accompanied by a fresh overflow of lava, which issued from the crater,
on the west side, in two broad streams, and united a few hundred feet
below, taking the direction of Torre del Greco. After this explosion
the eruption subsided, and the mountain seemed to repose: now and then
showers of stones flew up, but to no great height, and unaccompanied
by any vivid flames. There was a dull red light over the mouth of the
crater, round which the smoke rolled in dense tumultuous volumes, and
then blew off towards the south-west.

After a slow and difficult descent we reached the Hermitage. I was so
exhausted that I was glad to rest for a few minutes. My good friend
Salvador brought me a glass of _Lachryma Christi_ and the leg of a
chicken;