d to be drawn out were so agitated backwards and forwards,
though upon the most level ground, that we could not keep them steady,
even by supporting them with large stones. The sea seemed to roll back
upon itself, and to be driven from its banks by the convulsive motion
of the earth; it is certain at least that the shore was considerably
enlarged, and many sea animals were left upon it. On the other side a
black and dreadful cloud, bursting with an igneous serpentine vapor,
darted out a long train of fire, resembling flashes of lightning, but
much larger.

FEAR VERSUS COMPOSURE

"Upon this the Spanish friend whom I have mentioned, addressed himself
to my mother and me with great warmth and earnestness; 'If your brother
and your uncle,' said he, 'is safe, he certainly wishes you to be so
too; but if he has perished, it was his desire, no doubt, that you might
both survive him: why therefore do you delay your escape a moment?' We
could never think of our own safety, we said, while we were uncertain
of his. Hereupon our friend left us, and withdrew with the utmost
precipitation. Soon afterward, the cloud seemed to descend, and cover
the whole ocean; as it certainly did the island of Capreae, and the
promontory of Misenum. My mother strongly conjured me to make my escape
at any rate, which, as I was young, I might easily do; as for herself,
she said, her age and corpulency rendered all attempts of that sort
impossible. However, she would willingly meet death, if she could have
the satisfaction of seeing that she was not the occasion of mine. But I
absolutely refused to leave her, and taking her by the hand, I led her
on; she complied with great reluctance, and not without many reproaches
to herself for retarding my flight.

"The ashes now began to fall upon us, though in no great quantity. I
turned my head and observed behind us a thick smoke, which came rolling
after us like a torrent. I proposed, while we yet had any light, to turn
out of the high road lest she should be pressed to death in the dark by
the crowd that followed us. We had scarce stepped out of the path when
darkness overspread us, not like that of a cloudy night, or when there
is no moon, but of a room when it is all shut up and all the lights
are extinct. Nothing then was to be heard but the shrieks of women,
the screams of children and the cries of men; some calling for their
children, others for their parents, others for their husbands, and only
d