Eustace, John Cretwode: A classical tour through Italy An. MDCCCII (Vol. 3): 3. ed., rev. and enl (London: J. Mawman, 1815)

Ch. I.

THROUGH ITALY.

§5

ference. We descended some way, but observ-
ing that the least motion or noise brought great
cjuantities of ashes and stones rolling together
down the sides, and being called back by our
guides, who assured us that we could not in
safety go lower or even remain in our station, we
reascended. We were near enough to the bottom
however to observe, that it seemed to be a sort of
crust of brown burnt earth, and that a little on
one side there were three orifices like funnels,
from whence ascended a vapor so thin as to be
scarcely perceptible. Such was the state of the
crater in the year 1802. We reached the summit
a little before seven, and as we had ascended
under the shade of the mountain we had yet felt
no inconvenience from the heat; while on the
top we were refreshed by a strong' wind blowing
from the east, and sat down on the highest point
of the cone to contemplate the prospect.
Vesuvius is about three thousand six hundred
feet in height, and of course does not rank among
the greater mountains; but its situation is so ad-
vantageous, that the scene which it unfolds to the
eye probably surpasses that displayed from any
other eminence. That scene is Naples, with its
bay, its islands, and its bordering promontories;
the whole of that delicious region justly denomi-
nated the Campania Felice, with its numberless