DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61277#0058
36
GREAT ERUPTION
however, found himself in a critical situation ; for
as they approached the mountain, the cinders,
which became thicker and hotter in proportion
as they advanced, fell into the vessel, together
with pumice-stones and black pieces of burning
rock. The shallowness of the sea, too, occasioned,
perhaps, by the agitation and swell of the earth,
gave them apprehensions of being grounded;
and, thus surrounded by dangers on every side,
Pliny stopped for a moment to deliberate whether
he should or should not comply with the earnest
exhortations of his pilot, who besought him to
turn back, and withdraw himself from the
imminent peril to which he stood exposed. But
his insatiable thirst for knowledge, and his ardent
desire of beholding one of the most wonderful
phenomena of nature, triumphed over his appre-
hensions, and he unfortunately disregarded his
pilot’s advice. “ Fortune,” said he, “ befriends
the brave. Carry me to Pomponianus.” They
therefore changed their course, and turned to
Stabiae (which stood on or near the site of Cas-
tell a Mare, a place that still bears its name, at
least in ecclesiastical proceedings and records,
and is about three miles from Pompeii), where
Pomponianus then was. Having reached the
shore, he found his friend in the greatest conster-
GREAT ERUPTION
however, found himself in a critical situation ; for
as they approached the mountain, the cinders,
which became thicker and hotter in proportion
as they advanced, fell into the vessel, together
with pumice-stones and black pieces of burning
rock. The shallowness of the sea, too, occasioned,
perhaps, by the agitation and swell of the earth,
gave them apprehensions of being grounded;
and, thus surrounded by dangers on every side,
Pliny stopped for a moment to deliberate whether
he should or should not comply with the earnest
exhortations of his pilot, who besought him to
turn back, and withdraw himself from the
imminent peril to which he stood exposed. But
his insatiable thirst for knowledge, and his ardent
desire of beholding one of the most wonderful
phenomena of nature, triumphed over his appre-
hensions, and he unfortunately disregarded his
pilot’s advice. “ Fortune,” said he, “ befriends
the brave. Carry me to Pomponianus.” They
therefore changed their course, and turned to
Stabiae (which stood on or near the site of Cas-
tell a Mare, a place that still bears its name, at
least in ecclesiastical proceedings and records,
and is about three miles from Pompeii), where
Pomponianus then was. Having reached the
shore, he found his friend in the greatest conster-