stakable. So we at last determined to quit the town.
A panic-stricken crowd followed us.... We saw the sea retire into itself,
seeming, as it were, to be driven back by the trembling movement of the
earth. The shore had distinctly advanced, and many marine animals were
left high and dry upon the sands. Behind us was a dark and dreadful cloud,
which, as it was broken with rapid zig-zag flashes, revealed behind it
variously shaped masses of flame; these last were like sheet lightning,
though on a larger scale.... It was not long before the cloud that we saw
began to descend upon the earth and cover the sea. It had already
surrounded and concealed the island of Capreae, and had made invisible the
promontory of Misenum. My mother besought, urged, even commanded me to fly
as best I could; 'I might do so,' she said, 'for I was young; she, from
age and corpulence, could move but slowly, but would be content to die, if
she did not bring death upon me.' I replied that I would not seek safety
except in her company; I clasped her hand and compelled her to go with me.
She reluctantly obeyed, but continually reproached herself for delaying
me. Ashes now began to fall--still, however, in small quantities. I looked
behind me; a dense dark mist seemed to be following us, spreading itself
over the country like a cloud. 'Let us turn out of the way,' I said,
'whilst we can still see, for fear that, should we fall in the road, we
should be trodden under foot in the darkness by the throngs that accompany
us.' We had scarcely sat down when night was upon us,--not such as we have
seen when there is no moon, or when the sky is cloudy, but such as there
is in some closed room where the lights are extinguished. You might hear
the shrieks of women, the monotonous wailing of children, the shouts of
men. Many were raising their voices, and seeking to recognise by the
voices that replied, parents, children, husbands or wives. Some were
loudly lamenting their own fate, others the fate of those dear to them.
Some even prayed for death, in their fear of what they prayed for. Many
lifted their hands in prayer to the gods; more were convinced that there
were now no gods at all, and that the final endless night of which we have
heard had come upon the world.... It now grew somewhat light again; we
felt sure that this was not the light of day, but a proof that fire was
approaching us. Fire there was, but it stopped at a considerable distance
from us; then cam