A Museum for Young Gentlemen and Ladies Part 12

On the 11th, at night, I observed it from a terrace, at Naples, to throw up incessantly a vast body of fire, and great stones, to a surprising height.

On the 12th, in the morning, it darkened the sun with smoke and ashes, causing a sort of an eclipse. Horrid bellowings, on this and the foregoing day, were heard at Naples, whither part of the ashes also reached.

On the 13th we saw a pillar of black smoke shoot upright to a prodigious height.

On the 15th, in the morning, the court and walls of our house in Naples were covered with ashes. In the evening a flame appeared in the mountain through the clouds.

On the 17th, the smoke appeared much diminished, fat, and greasy.

And

On the 18th, the whole appearance ended, the mountain remaining perfectly quiet.

To this memorable account it cannot be amiss to add, that the first notice we have of this volcano's casting out flames, was in the reign of the Emperor t.i.tus. At which first eruption, we are informed, that it flowed with that vehemence, that it entirely overwhelmed and destroyed the two great cities Herculaneum and Pompeia, and very much damaged Naples itself, with its stones and ashes.

In 471, if we may credit tradition, this mountain broke out again so furiously, that its cinders and liquid fire were carried as far as Constantinople; which prodigy was thought, by superst.i.tious minds, to presage the destruction of the empire, that happened immediately after, by that inundation of Goths, which spread itself all over Europe.

There are several other eruptions recorded, but not so considerable as the former, until 1631, when the earth shook so much as to endanger the total destruction of Naples and Benevento. This did inestimable damage to the neighbouring places; and it is computed near 10,000 lost their lives in the flames and ruins.

The air was infected with such noxious vapours that it caused a plague, which lasted a long time, and spread as far as the neighbourhood of Rome. Since which time, the most memorable are the eruptions in 1701, (of which Mr. Addison, who saw it, has left us a good description), and in 1717, as described above, by a curious spectator.

There have been eight eruptions within the last 30 years; of some of which Sir Wm. Hamilton has favoured the world with very particular and interesting accounts.

_What tongue the dreadful slaughter could disclose; Or, oh! what tears could answer half their woes?_

_Explanation of the Cut of Mount Vesuvius_.

1. The Southern Summit, out of which the fire proceeds.

2. The Northern Summit.

3. The Rocks on the North.

4. The Valley between the two Summits.

5. The Opening on the Side where the fiery Torrent broke out.

6. The first Opening, called the Plain.

7. The Course which the last fiery Torrent took.

8. The Chapel of St. Januarius.

[Ill.u.s.tration: woodcut of Vesuvius]

HAVING been so particular in describing Vesuvius, we need say the less concerning aeTNA, which is the greatest mountain in Sicily, eight miles high, and sixty in compa.s.s. There are many of its furious eruptions recorded in history, some of which have proved very fatal to the neighbourhood; we shall instance only one, that began the 11th of March, 1669, and is thus described in the Philosophical Transactions, viz.

It broke out towards the evening, on the south-east side of the mountain, about twenty miles from the old mouth, and ten from the city of Catanea. The bellowing noise of the eruption was heard a hundred miles off, to which distance the ashes were also carried.

The matter thrown out was a stream of metal and minerals, rendered liquid by the fierceness of the fire, which boiled up at the mouth like water at the head of a great river; and having run a little way, the extremity thereof began to crust and cruddle, turning into large porous stones, resembling cakes of burning sea-coal. These came rolling and tumbling one over another, bearing down any common building by their weight, and burning whatever was combustible. At first the progress of this inundation was at the pace of three miles in 24 hours, but afterwards scarcely a furlong in a day. It thus continued for fifteen or sixteen days together, running into the sea close by the walls of Catanea, and at length over the walls into the city, where it did no considerable damage, except to a convent, which it almost destroyed.

In its course it overwhelmed fourteen towns and villages, containing three or four thousand inhabitants; and it is very remarkable, that (during the whole time of this eruption, which was fifty-four days), neither sun nor stars appeared.

But though Catanea had at this time the good fortune to escape the threatened destruction, it was almost totally ruined in 1692 by an earthquake, one of the most terrible in all history. This was not only felt all over Sicily, but likewise in Naples and Malta. The shock was so violent, that the people could not stand on their legs, and those that lay on the ground were tossed from side to side, as if upon a rolling billow. The earth opened in several places, throwing up large quant.i.ties of water, and great numbers perished in their houses by the fall of rocks, rent from the mountains. The sea was violently agitated, and roared dreadfully. Mount aetna threw up vast spires of flame, and the shock was attended with a noise exceeding the loudest claps of thunder. Fifty-four cities and towns, with an incredible number of villages, were destroyed, or greatly damaged; and it was computed, that near 60,000 people perished in different parts of the island, very few escaping the general and sudden destruction.

There have been ten other eruptions, one of which, subsequent to the preceding in 1753, was a very large one. Mr. Brydone, in his tour of Sicily and Malta, has given many ingenious particulars concerning it.

_Explanation of_ NUMBERS _expressed by Letters_.

[In what follows, a D may also be expressed using an I followed by a backwards C; and an M by a C, followed by an I, followed by a backwards C--these can be seen in the HTML version]

C. - - - One Hundred - 100 CC. - - - Two Hundred - 200 CCCC. - - - Three Hundred - 300 CCCC. - - - Four Hundred - 400 D. - - - Five Hundred - 500 DC. - - - Six Hundred - 600 DCC. - - - Seven Hundred - 700 DCCC. - - - Eight Hundred - 800 DCCCC. - - - Nine Hundred - 900 M. - - - One Thousand - 1000 / One Thousand MDCCx.x.xIX. - - < seven="" hundred="" 1739="" and="" thirty-nine="" mdccc.="" -="" -="" -="" one="" thousand="" -="" 1800="" eight="" hundred="">

_N.B._ A less Numerical Letter, set before a greater, takes away from the greater so many as the letter stands for; but being set after the greater, adds so many to it as the letter stands for.

For example, V stands for five alone, but put I before it, thus IV, and it stands for four; and put I on the other side, thus VI, and it stands for six. So X alone stands for ten, but put I before it, thus IX, and it stands for nine; and put I to it on the other side, thus XI, and it becomes eleven. So L stands for fifty; put X before it, thus XL, and it stands for forty, but put the X on the other side, thus LX, and it is sixty. So C stands for one hundred, place X before it, thus XC, and it is but ninety; again, put the X on the other side, thus CX, and it is one hundred and ten. So in all other cases.

LETTERS, TALES AND FABLES, FOR AMUs.e.m.e.nT AND INSTRUCTION.

_A Letter from Master_ JACKY CURIOUS, _in London, to his Mamma in_ _the Country, giving a Description of the Tower, Monument, and St._ _Paul's Church_.

Honoured Madam,

AT my departure, I remember you ordered me to send you accounts of every thing I saw remarkable in London; I will obey your commands as well as I can; but pray excuse my defects, and let my will plead for my inability, to entertain my absent friends.

I am just now come from seeing the tower, monument and St. Paul's cathedral, (places which I remember to have heard much talk of in the country, and which scarce any body that comes to London omits seeing). The tower, which stands by the Thames, is a large strong building, surrounded with a high wall, about a mile in compa.s.s, and a broad ditch supplied with water out of the River Thames. Round the outward wall are guns planted, which on extraordinary occasions are fired. At the entrance, the first thing we saw was a collection of wild beasts, viz. lions, panthers, tygers [sic], &c. also eagles and vultures: These are of no sort of use, and kept only for curiosity and shew. We next went to the mint, (which is in the tower observe) where we saw the manner of coining money, which is past my art, especially in the compa.s.s of a letter, to describe.

From thence we went to the jewel room, and saw the crown of England, and other regalia, which are well worth seeing, and gave me a great deal of pleasure. The next is the horse armory, a grand sight indeed; here are fifteen of our English monarchs on horseback, all dressed in rich armour, and attended by their guards; but I think it not so beautiful as the next thing we saw, which was the small armory: This consists of pikes, muskets, swords, halberts [sic], and pistols, sufficient, as they told us, for three-score thousand men; and are all placed in such different figures, representing the sun, star and garter, half moons, and such like, that I was greatly delighted with it; and they being all kept clean and scowered, made a most brilliant appearance. Hence we went and saw the train of artillery, in the grand storehouse, as they call it, which is filled with cannon and mortars, all extremely fine: Here is also a diving-bell, with other curiosities too tedious to mention; which having examined, we came away and went to the monument, which was built in remembrance of the fire of London: It is a curious lofty pillar, 200 feet high, and on the top a gallery, to which we went by tedious winding stairs in the inside: from this gallery we had a survey of the whole city: And here having feasted our eyes with the tops of houses, s.h.i.+ps, and mult.i.tude of boats on the River Thames, we came down and went to St. Paul's Cathedral, which is a most magnificent pile, and stands on high ground, near the centre of the city. This n.o.ble building struck me with surprise, and is admired by the whole world, as well for its beautiful architecture as height and magnitude; it has a grand awful choir, chapel, a dome finely painted by that masterly hand Sir J. Thornhill, a whispering gallery, and other curiosities, with which I conclude my first letter, and am,

Madam, Your very dutiful son, JOHN CURIOUS.

LETTER II.

Honoured Madam,

I NOW proceed to acquaint you with my next excursion, in search of the curiosities of this famous city; which was to Westminster Abbey. This is really a magnificent ancient building; but what most surprised me, was the vast number of beautiful monuments and figures with which the inside is adorned. Among such as were pointed out to me, as being remarkable either for their costliness or beauty, I remember were those of the Duke of Newcastle, a magnificent and expensive piece, Sir Isaac Newton, General Stanhope, the Earl of Chatham, General Wolf, and that exquisite statue of Shakepeare, which, I am told, is inimitable. When I had for some time enjoyed the pleasure of gazing at these, I was conducted into that part of the church where the Royal monuments are placed. These, I thought, were exceeding grand. But nothing surprised and delighted me so much as King Henry the Seventh's chapel, which, for beauty and magnificence, I am told, far surpa.s.ses any thing of that kind in Europe. Here too I saw the chair in which the Kings of England are crowned, which, I believe, is more regarded for its antiquity, and the honourable use it is a.s.signed to, than for any great beauty it has, at least that I could discover.

The next sight that entertained me, was the effigies of King William and Queen Mary in wax, as large as the life, standing in their coronation robes; they are said to be very well done, and to bear a great resemblance to the life. Queen Anne, the d.u.c.h.ess of Richmond, the Duke of Buckingham, &c. all of the same composition, and richly dressed, are there also. In short, there are so many curiosities contained in this venerable repository, that, to describe one half of them would as far exceed the compa.s.s of a letter, as of my abilities to do justice to them: However, I shall just mention some which appeared to me most worthy of notice. But these must be the subject of a future letter, from,

Honoured Madam, Your, &c.

LETTER III.

Honoured Madam,

AS I have the pleasure to find that my letters, however mean in themselves, are agreeable to my dear parent, I shall continue my account of some of those many curiosities which I saw in Westminster-Abbey. Among the monuments of our ancient Kings is that of Henry V. whose effigy has lost its head, which being of silver, I am told, was stolen in the civil wars.

Here are two coffins covered with velvet, in which are said to be the bodies of two Amba.s.sadors, detained here for debt; but what were their names, or what Princes they served, I could not learn.

Our guide next showed us the body of King Henry the Fifth's Queen, Catherine, in an open coffin, who is said to have been a very beautiful Princess; but whose shrivelled skin, much resembling discoloured parchment, may now serve as a powerful antidote to that vanity with which frail beauty is apt to inspire its possessors.

Among the waxen effigies, I had almost forgot to mention King Charles II. and his faithful servant General Monk, whose furious aspect has something terrible in it.