DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61277#0069
VOLCANIC DEVASTATION.
45
grew pale; the vapours became white; the roar-
ing sounds were hushed; and there remained
nothing but the singular appearance of a moun-
tain moving by its own efforts.
But what pencil can trace the horrors of
the surrounding scene ?—What pen can describe
them ? The meadows, so lately gay and smiling
—the valleys, clothed with verdure—the orange
groves, mulberry plantations, and extensive vine-
yards, that had recently presented a scene of
beauty and abundance—the favourite retreats of
some of the greatest men of which antiquity can
boast—the villages and towns, which, only a few-
days before, had been enlivened by population-
and even Herculaneum and Pompeii themselves,
were buried in this ocean of fire. Yes ! these cele-
brated cities, whose walls had so lately resounded
with the voices of festivity and mirth—upon whose
wheel-worn streets a continual succession of carts
and waggons had recently passed to and fro,
laden with the Richest productions of the earth-
whose shops and houses had re-echoed but a few-
hours before with the busy hum of many voices-
whose magnificent temples and lofty columns had
proudly reared the sculptured frieze and noble
cupola—wdiose beautiful colonnades and immense
amphitheatre had long bid defiance to the devas-
45
grew pale; the vapours became white; the roar-
ing sounds were hushed; and there remained
nothing but the singular appearance of a moun-
tain moving by its own efforts.
But what pencil can trace the horrors of
the surrounding scene ?—What pen can describe
them ? The meadows, so lately gay and smiling
—the valleys, clothed with verdure—the orange
groves, mulberry plantations, and extensive vine-
yards, that had recently presented a scene of
beauty and abundance—the favourite retreats of
some of the greatest men of which antiquity can
boast—the villages and towns, which, only a few-
days before, had been enlivened by population-
and even Herculaneum and Pompeii themselves,
were buried in this ocean of fire. Yes ! these cele-
brated cities, whose walls had so lately resounded
with the voices of festivity and mirth—upon whose
wheel-worn streets a continual succession of carts
and waggons had recently passed to and fro,
laden with the Richest productions of the earth-
whose shops and houses had re-echoed but a few-
hours before with the busy hum of many voices-
whose magnificent temples and lofty columns had
proudly reared the sculptured frieze and noble
cupola—wdiose beautiful colonnades and immense
amphitheatre had long bid defiance to the devas-