Such being the
condition of the atmosphere and the effects of the eruption at a point
so distant as Cape Misenum, some sixteen geographical miles from the
focus of eruption, it is only to be expected that places not half the
distance, such as Herculaneum, Pompeii, and even Stabiae, with many
villages and dwellings, should have shared a worse fate. The first of
these cities, situated on the coast of the Bay of Naples, appears to
have been overwhelmed by volcanic mud; Pompeii was buried in ashes and
lapilli, and Stabiae probably shared a similar fate.[6]

(_d._) _Appearance of the Mountain at the Commencement of the Christian
Era._--At the time of the first recorded eruption Vesuvius appears to
have consisted of only a single cone with a crater, now known as Monte
di Somma, the central cone of eruption which now rises from within this
outer ruptured casing not having been formed. (Fig. 6.) The first effect
of the eruption of the year 79 was to blow out the solidified covering
of slag and scoriae forming the floor of the caldron. Doubtless at the
close of the eruption a cone of fragmental matter and lava of some
slight elevation was built up, and, if so, was subsequently destroyed;
for, as we shall presently see by the testimony of the Abate Guilio
Cesare Braccini, who examined the mountain not long before the great
eruption of A.D. 1631, there was no central cone to the mountain at that
time; and the mountain had assumed pretty much the appearance it had at
the time that Spartacus took refuge within the walls of the great
crater.

(_e._) _Destruction of Pompeii._--Pompeii was overwhelmed with dry ashes
and lapilli. Sir W. Hamilton found some of the stones to weigh eight
pounds. At the time of the author's visit, early in April 1872, the
excavations had laid open a section about ten feet deep, chiefly
composed of alternating layers of small pumice stones (lapilli) and
volcanic dust. It was during the sinking of a well in 1713 upon the
theatre containing the statues of Hercules and Cleopatra that the
existence of the ancient city was accidentally discovered.

(_f._) _More recent eruptions._--Since the first recorded eruption in
A.D. 79 down to the present day, Vesuvius has been the scene of numerous
intermittent eruptions, of which some have been recorded; but many,
doubtless, are forgotten.

In A.D. 203, during the reign of Severus, an eruption of extraordinary
violence took place, which is related by Dion Cassius, fro