POMPEIANA. 63
being in an active state; although near
the summit, on inserting the hand in the
fissures, a slight heat was perceptible.
Braccini, who saw the mountain 1612,
informs us, that the space between the
two tops, called the Atrium, was then
covered with vegetation, and afforded
pasture. He computes the depth to which
he descended in the interior of the crater
to have been a mile. He was told that it
was possible to descend two miles, and
that at the bottom was a plain space set
round with caverns, so dark that no one
had ventured to proceed within them.
In 1619, Magliocco found a way down
the sides of the crater, which, continually
narrowing, was at length obstructed by a
large fragment of rock: this, with the
steepness of the place, obliged him to go
on hands and feet; thus passing it, the
ruggedness of the rocky projecting sides
afforded him means of proceeding, until
he arrived at the bottom, where in the
being in an active state; although near
the summit, on inserting the hand in the
fissures, a slight heat was perceptible.
Braccini, who saw the mountain 1612,
informs us, that the space between the
two tops, called the Atrium, was then
covered with vegetation, and afforded
pasture. He computes the depth to which
he descended in the interior of the crater
to have been a mile. He was told that it
was possible to descend two miles, and
that at the bottom was a plain space set
round with caverns, so dark that no one
had ventured to proceed within them.
In 1619, Magliocco found a way down
the sides of the crater, which, continually
narrowing, was at length obstructed by a
large fragment of rock: this, with the
steepness of the place, obliged him to go
on hands and feet; thus passing it, the
ruggedness of the rocky projecting sides
afforded him means of proceeding, until
he arrived at the bottom, where in the