of this mountain, were situated two cities, but the volcano sent focth its black
shroud of lava and ashes in such quantities that the cities were buried be-
neath them. This eruption has been described by an eye witness, who tells
us that volumes of white smoke, resembling balls of cotton, rose high in the
air, and in its midst was ashes, thrown to a height of not less than 2,000 feet.
A flame of fire shot up for more than two miles in the air, and by its light
small objects could be seen ata distance of six miles. Blocks of lava were
thrown out, some of them weighing many tons. To such a depth were these
cities buried that they were not unearthed until the present century, and what
a history is there revealed! Houses, bodies, implements, food, are found just
as they existed then. Much has been learned of the habits and customs of the
people of that day from the excavations made. As you enter the Bay of
Naples one of the first objects to greet the eye is Mt. Vesuvius. This island
rises from a low plane and has surely risen from the sea, the land around it
being nothing more than the gathered ashes and lava of its many eruptions.
Narrow streams of lava course down the sides of the cone here and there, and
look like rims of black pitch extending far out into the vineyards of the plains.
In going up the mountains you pass gradually from fertile soil, made by
many centuries of decay, to the black and gray expanses of lava and ashes, re-
sembling barren meadows and blasted soil that surround great iron furnaces.
When the lava stream is thrown out and starts down the mountain the outer
surface cools and becomes solid, while underneath the lava still retains its
liquid form. If you were to approach the summit of the mountain you would
see before you what looks like an immense wash-tub filled to the brim with
black, smooth coils of solid pitch; from its centre some fifty yards distant is a
raised object like a dust heap, giving access to the edge of a well some thirty
feet in diameter. Approaching the edge and looking over the crater you
will see behind the rushing jets of steam the walls, here of snowy whiteness,
there stained brown or yellow, and again as black as coal. The walls glow
with a dull red heat, and some twenty feet below the edge rise tongues of
flame. One gazes in awe upon such a scene. . The volcanoes of the earth are
found mostly around the Pacific Ocean—quite near to the coast. There are
some four hundred volcanoes upon the earth at the present time, but, for-
tunately, only a small part have shown signs of activity in modern times.

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