Page:Description of Mount Vesuvius with an account of its various eruptions.pdf/17

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               proceeded from that part of the bay. Had the
               sky not been perfectly serene, one would have
               considered it to be thunder. Towards mine
               o'clock, however, a little fire appeared at the
               old crater, and left us no longer in doubt a-
               bout the cause of the intonations. At a few
               minutes past 11, it burst forth in all its fury,
               throwing out stones to a great height. In
               three hours afterwards, the lava rolled forth
               in two grand streams, one taking towards
               Resina, where the King's villa, called La
               Favorita, is situated, and the other inclining
               in a more southerly direction to Torre del
               Annunciata The torrent of lava which flows
               towards Resina has already covered 100 acres
               of ground. The showers of ashes darken the
               sky, and fall even in the streets of the capital.
               The stones which have fallen at Bosco-Tre-
               Case have accumulated to the height of five
               palms. The eruptions of stones are frequent,
               and the sounds which issue from the moun-
               tain are frightful. All the people who lived
               near the volcano have fled. About 800 per-
               sons from the neighbouring villages have
               been received by order of the police and pre-
               fecture.
                 "Oct. 25.—The fire seems to-ray to be
               spent, but as the wind has changed to the
               south-east, or, as it is called Sirocco, the
               smoke and ashes have come over Naples, and
               the mountain, with Portici, and all along the