quantity of afhes and broken 66 pumice-ftones thrown up by the 86 eruption, it appeared almost to"tally dry. I faw likewife two fprings in thofe lately discovered "ruins, one before the house that 56 was the queen's, of hot and falt "6 water; the other of fresh and "cold water, on the shore, about 66 "mountains, as those which occa- "Ipfe fed borrificis juxta tonat "After the ftones and afhes, with "clouds of thick fmoke, had been "fent up, by the impulfe of the "fire and windy exhalation (as) you fee in a great cauldron that "boils) into the middle region of "the air, overcome by their own "natural weight, when from dif66 tance the ftrength they had re"ceived from impulfe was spent, "rejected likewife by the cold and "unfriendly region, you faw them "fall thick, and by degrees the "condenfed fmoke clear away, 66 250 paces nearer to the erup"tion: fome fay, that fiill nearer "to the spot where the eruption "happened, a stream of fresh water "iflued forth like a little river. "Turning towards the place of "the eruption, you faw mountains "of fmoke, part of which was 66 very black, and part very white, "rife up to a great height: and "in the midft of the fmoke, at "times, deep coloured flames burst "forth with huge ftones and athes. "and you heard a noife like the 66 difcharge of a number of great "artillery. It appeared to me as "if Typheus and Enceladus from "Ifchia and Etna, with innume"rable giants, or thofe from the "Campi Phlegrei (which accor"ding to the opinions of fome were "fituated in this neighbourhood)" 66 were come to wage war again "with Jupiter. The natural hifto"rians may perhaps reafonably fay that the wife poets meant no "more by giants, than exhala"tions, fhut up in the bowels of the "earth, which, not finding a free "paffage, open one by their own "force and impulfe, and form raining afhes with water and "ftones of different fizes, accord"ing to the diftance from the "place: then by degrees, with the "fame noife and fmoke, it threw "out ftones and afhes again, and "fo on by fits. This continued two "days and nights, when the fmoke "and force of the fire began to "abate. The fourth day, which was Thursday at 22 o'clock, there was fo great an eruption, "that, as I was in the gulph of "Puzzole, coming from Ifchia, and not far from Mifenum, I faw, "in a fhort time, many columns "of fmoke fhoot up, with the "moft terrible noife I ever neard, "and bending over the fea, came near our boat, which was four "miles or more from the place of " their 1 “ their birth ; and the quantity of "afhes, ftones, and smoke, feemed ་ as if they would cover the whole "earth and fea. Stones, great " and fmall, and afhes more or "lefs, according to the impulse "of the fire and exhalations, be66 gan to fall, fo that a great part "of this country was covered with "afhes; and many that have seen it, fay they reached the vale of "Diana, and fome parts of Cala"bria, which are more than 150 "miles from Puzzuolo. The Fri"day and Saturday nothing but a little fmoke appeared, fo that many taking courage, went 66 upon the fpot, and fay, that with "the ftones and afhes thrown up, 66 a mountain has been formed in "that valley, not less than three "miles in circumference, and al"moft as high as the Monte Bar"baro, which is near it, covering "the Cenettaria, the caftle of "Trepergule, all those buildings, "and the greatest part of the baths "that were about them; extend"ing South towards the fea, North "as far as the lake of Avernus, "Weft to the Sudatory, and join"ing East to the foot of the Monte "Barbaro, fo that this place has c pears very great. The Sunday following, which was the 6th "of October, many people going "to fee this phænomenon, and "fome having afcended half the "mountain, others more, about 22 o'clock there happened fo "fudden and horrid an eruption, "with fo great a smoke, that many "of these people were ftifled, fome "of which could never be found. "I have been told, that the num"ber of the dead or loft amounted "to twenty-four. From that time "to this, nothing remarkable hap 66 pened; it seems as if the crup"tion returned periodically, like "the ague or gout. I believe "henceforward it will not have "fuch force, though the eruption "of the Sunday was accompanied "with fhowers of afhes and water, "which fell at Naples, and were "feen to extend as far as the "mountain of Somma, called Ve"fuvius by the ancients; and, as I have often remarked, the "clouds of fmoke proceeding from "the eruption, moved in a direc "line towards that mountain, as "if these places had a correspon "dence and connection one with "the other. In the night, many "beams and columns of fire were "feen to proceed from this erup❝tion, and fome like flashes of changed its form and face in "fuch a manner as not to be "known again; a thing almoft in"credible to thofe who have not "feen it, that in fo fhort a time "fo confiderable a mountain could "have been formed. On its fum"mit there is a mouth in the form "of a cup, which may be a quarter of a mile in circumference, "though fome fay it is as large as "our market-place at Naples, "from which there iffues a con"stant smoke; and though I have "feen it only at a distance, it ap- "down and covered with afhes, lightening. We have then ma66 ny circumstances for our ob. "fervation, the earthquakes, the "eruption, the drying up of the "fea, the quantity of dead fish and "birds, the birth of fprings, the "fhower of afhes with water and "without water, the innumerable "trees in that whole country, as "far as the Grotto of Lucullus, torn from their roots, thrown << that 66 "that it gave one pain to fee "them: and as all these effects 64 were produced by the fame caufe "that produces earthquakes; let "us first enquire how earthquakes 66 are produced, and from thence we may easily comprehend the "caufe of the abovementioned " events." Then follows a differtation on earthquakes, and fome curious conjectures relative to the phænomena which attended this eruption, clearly and well expreffed, confidering, as the author himself apologizes, that at that time the Italian language had been little employed on fuch fubjects. The account of the formation of the Monte Nuovo, by Pietro Giacomo di Toledo, is given in a dialogue between the feigned perfonages of Peregrino and Sveffano; the former of which fays, "It is 66 now two years that this province "of Campagna has been afflicted "with earthquakes, the country "about Pozzuolo much more fo "than any other parts; but the "27th and the 28th of the month "of September laft, the earth16 quakes did not ceafe, day or "night, in the abovementioned "city of Pozzuolo; that plain "which lies between the lake of "Ayerno, the Monte Barbaro, and "the fea, was raised a little, and "from which were vomited furi"oufly fmoke, fire, ftones, and "mud compofed of afhes, mak"ing, at the time of its opening, a noife like very loud thunder:' "the fire that iffued from this "mouth went towards the walls "of the unfortunate city; the "fmoke was partly black and partly white; the black was "darker than darkness itself, and "the white was like the whiteft "cotton: thefe fmokes, rifing int "the air, feemed as if they would "touch the vault of heaven; the "ftones that followed, were, by "the devouring flames, converted "to pumice, the fize of which (of "fome I fay) were much larger "than an ox. The ftones went "about as high as a cross-bow can carry, and then fell down, fome"times on the edge and fometimes "into the mouth itself. It is very true, that many of them in go"ing up could not be feen, on ac66 count of the dark fmoke; but "when they returned from the 66 fmoky heat, they thewed plainly "where they had been by their "ftrong fmell of fetid fulphur, "just like ftones that have been "thrown out of a mortar and "have paffed through the fmoke "of inflamed gunpowder. The "mud was of the colour of ashes, "and at first very liquid, then by 66 degrees lefs fo, and in fuch "quantities, that in lefs than "twelve hours, with the help of "the abovementioned ftones, a "mountain was raised of a thou"fand paces in height. Not only "Pozzuolo and the neighbouring country was full of this mud, "but the city of Naples alfo, the "beauty of whofe palaces were "in a great measure spoiled by ❝ it. "it. ❝to man. The afhes were carried as "far as Calabria by the force of "the winds, burning up in their "paffage the grafs and high trees, 86 many of which were borne down "by the weight of them. An in"finity of birds alfo, and num"berlefs animals of various kinds, "covered with this fulphureous "mud, gave themselves up a prey Now this eruption "lafted two nights and two days "without intermiffion, though, it "is true, not always with the fame "force, but more or lefs: when "it was at its greatest height, even at Naples you heard a noife and thundering like heavy artillery "when two armies are engaged. "The third day the eruption ceaf"ed, fo that the mountain made "its appearance uncovered, to the no fmall aftonishment of every 66 one who faw it. On this day, "when I went up with many "people to the top of this moun"tain, I saw down into its mouth, "which was a round concavity of "about a quarter of a mile in cir"cumference, in the middle of "which the stones that had fallen "were boiling op, juft as in a 66 great cauldron of water that "boils on the fire. The fourth "day it began to throw up again, "and the feventh much more, but "fill with lefs violence than the "first night it was at this time "that many people, who were "unfortunately on the mountain, "were either fuddenly covered with "ashes, fmicthered with fmoke, or "knocked down by ftones, burnt "by the flame, and left dead on "the fpot. The fmoke continues "to this day, and you often fee, "in the night time, fire in the midft of it. Finally, to com "plete the hiftory of this new "and unforeseen event, in many 66 parts of the new-made moun"tain, fulphur begins to be ge "nerated." Giacomo di Toledo, towards the end of his dissertation upon the phænomena atter ding this eruption, fays, that the lake of Avernus had a communication with the fea before the time of the eruption; and that he apprehended that the air of Puzzole might come to be affected in fummer time, by the vapours from the stagnated waters of the lake, which is actually the cafe. You have, Sir, from these accounts, an inftance of a mountain of a coufiderable height and dimenfions, formed in a plain, by mere explosion, in the space of forty-eight hours. The earthquakes having been fenfibly felt at a great diftance from the fpot where the opening was made, proves clearly, that the fubterraneous fire was at a great depth below the furface of the plain; it is as clear that those earthquakes, and the explosion, proceeded from the fame caufe, the former having ceafed upon the ap. pearance of the latter. Does not this circumftance evidently contradict the fyftem of M. Buffon, and of all the natural hiftorians, who have placed the feat of the fire of volcanos towards the center or near the fummit of the mountains, which they fuppofe to furnish the matter emitted Did the matter which proceeds from a volcano in an eruption come from so inconfiderable a depth as they imagine, that part of the mountain fituated above their fuppofed feat of the fire muft neceffarily be deftroyed, or difpated in a very fuort time on the contrary, an eruption usually adds to the height and bulk ofa volcano; and who, that has had an opportunity of making obfervations on volcanos, does not know, that the matter they have emitted for many ages, in lavas, ashes, smoke, &c. could it be collected together, would more than fuffice to form three such mountains as the fimple cone or mountain of the exifting volcano? With respect to Vefuvius, this could be plainly proved; and I refer to my letter upon the fubject of Etna, to fhew the quantity of matter thrown up in one fingle eruption, by that terrible volcano. Another proof that the real feat of the fire of volcanos lies even greatly below the general level of the country whence the mountain fprings, is, that was it only at an inconfiderable depth below the bafis of the mountain, the quantity of matter thrown up would foon leave fo great a void immediately under it, that the mountain itfelf muft undoubtedly fink and difappear after a few eruptions. In the above accounts of the formation of the new mountain, we are told that the matter first thrown up, was mud compofed of water and afhes, mixed with pumiceftones and other burnt matter: on the road leading from Puzzole to Cama, part of the cone of this mountain has been cut away to widen the road. I have there feen that its compofition is a tufa intermixed with pumice, fome of which are really the fize of an ox, as mentioned in Toledo's account, and exactly of the fame nature as the tufa of which every other high ground in its neighbourhood is compofed; fimilar alfo to that which covers Herculaneum. According to the above accounts, af ter the muddy fhower ceafed, it rained dry afhes: this circmftance will account for the ftra a of loofe pumice and afhes that are generally upon the furface of all the tufas in this country, and which were moft probably thrown up in the fame manner. At the first opening of the earth, in the plain near Puzzole, both accounts fay, that fprings of water burft forth; this wer mixing with the afhes; certainly occafioned the muddy fhower, when the fprings were exhaufted, there muft naturally have enfued a fhower of dry afhes and pumice, of which we have been likewife affured. I own, I was greatly pleafed at being in this manner enabled to account fo well for the formation of thefe tufa ftones, and the veins of dry and loose burnt matter above them, of which the foil of almost the whole country I am defcribing is compofed; and I do not know that any one has ever attended to this circumftance, though I find that many authors, who have defcribed this country, have fufpected that parts of it were formed by explotion. Wherever then this fort of tufa is found, there is certainly good authority to fufpect its hav-, ing been formed in the fame manner as the tufa of this new mountain; for, as I faid before, nature is generally uniform in all her operations. It is commonly imagined that the new mountain rofe out of the Lucrine lake which was deftroyed by it; but in the above account, no mention is made of the Lucrine lake; it may be fuppofed then, that the famous dam, which Strabo and many other ancient authors mention to have feparated that lake from |