DOI chapter:
Chap. I: Bay and Castle of Procida - Evening Hymn - Beautiful View, Observations - the Island of Vivara - Ischia, its Mountains, Eruptions, Appearance, and Population - Nisida - Vesuvius
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.62268#0033
Ch. I.
THROUGH ITALY.
23
ferable to every other, because it alone combines
all the characteristic features of this matchless
prospect. We landed at sun-set, and sat down
to dinner with our windows open full on the bay,
the colors of which were gradually fading away
and softening into the dim tints of twilight.
We now turned our attention to Vesuvius, and
resolved to visit that mountain without delay, and
the more so as the increasing· heat of the weather
might, in a short time, render such an excursion
extremely inconvenient. Therefore, leaving
Naples about three o’clock next morning, we
reached Portici where guides with mules had
been previously engaged to meet us at four, and
instantly began the ascent.
Vesuvius rises in a gentle swell from the shore;
the first part or base of the mountain is covered
with towns on all sides, such as Portici, Torre
del Greco, Torre del Annonciata, on the sea
coa^t; and Ottaiano, Somma, Massa, &c. on the
inland side. These are all large towns, and with
the villages and villas that encircle them, and ex-
tend over the second region of the mountain, mav
o 7 J
be said, without exaggeration, to cover the lower
parts of it with fertility, beauty, and population.
The upper tract is a scene of perfect devastation,
furrowed on all sides with rivers of lava extended
THROUGH ITALY.
23
ferable to every other, because it alone combines
all the characteristic features of this matchless
prospect. We landed at sun-set, and sat down
to dinner with our windows open full on the bay,
the colors of which were gradually fading away
and softening into the dim tints of twilight.
We now turned our attention to Vesuvius, and
resolved to visit that mountain without delay, and
the more so as the increasing· heat of the weather
might, in a short time, render such an excursion
extremely inconvenient. Therefore, leaving
Naples about three o’clock next morning, we
reached Portici where guides with mules had
been previously engaged to meet us at four, and
instantly began the ascent.
Vesuvius rises in a gentle swell from the shore;
the first part or base of the mountain is covered
with towns on all sides, such as Portici, Torre
del Greco, Torre del Annonciata, on the sea
coa^t; and Ottaiano, Somma, Massa, &c. on the
inland side. These are all large towns, and with
the villages and villas that encircle them, and ex-
tend over the second region of the mountain, mav
o 7 J
be said, without exaggeration, to cover the lower
parts of it with fertility, beauty, and population.
The upper tract is a scene of perfect devastation,
furrowed on all sides with rivers of lava extended