walk the entire distance. I was not so wise,
however, as I thought myself, for I had not
made sufficient allowance for the extra fatigue
consequent upon the difference in temperature ;
however, the higher we rose, the more benefit
we derived from a delightfully fresh breeze
that came off the bay, which very much
moderated the oppression of the sun. The wind,
indeed, was so cool at a place where we halted
for more corn and wine, that we were glad to
run for shelter under the lee-side of some
masses of rock. After reclining there at our
ease for, perhaps, a quarter of an hour, we
started to our feet, and commenced the toil
up the great dust-heap. The orthodox way
of mounting is to summon to one's aid two
or three extra guides ; one of whom pushes
behind, while others drag in front by means of
a cord fastened round the waist. Inspirited,
however, by the corn and wine, I spurned
the notion of this ignominious procedure, and
instead of following the beaten track up the
loose dust and ashes — grand pile for any
scavenger to contemplate — I made my way
by the masses of broken lava, a little on one
side ; they were a trifle more steep, and in a
minute degree more dangerous, because a fall
on the rough corners of the lava would produce
unpleasant cuts ; and a false step might,
by a remote chance, lead to a broken neck.
A cool head and a firm foot are of service in
such places, and it is desirable to avoid looking
either downward or upward, but simply to
keep the eye fixed steadily in front, and wholly
occupied in selecting the most convenient
places upon which to plant the foot.

At length, after some severe struggling, varied
by sundry slips, and an occasional pause for
breath, I stood on the true summit of Vesuvius.
The surface all around was quite warm,
and everywhere intersected by numerous
crevices, from which there were escaping
little wreaths of smoke. We first looked for
the crater of 1849, and walked round its edge.
The interior was encrusted with a coating of
sulphur of various shades and tints, which
had a peculiar effect when the sun shone on
it; a sulphurous vapour issued from the abyss
beneath, and enveloped us in its annoying
fumes. We then went to the old and large
crater: here the heat of the surrounding
surface was considerably greater; so great,
indeed, as to penetrate through thick-soled
boots, and to be intolerable to the naked
hand. At this spot my guide commenced a
series of experiments, of a highly interesting
and philosophical character; the first of them
consisted in thrusting a stick into one of the
many crevices or fissures in the earth, and
immediately bringing it out in a state of
ignition. This was a waste of timber; but
the next experiment had a more useful and
economic bearing; it was none other than
the cooking in one of the said cracks of some
eggs, which were produced unexpectedly out
of the guide's coat-pocket. These eggs, being
thus cooked, I ate. I was not hungry; but
it is one of the uses of a volcano that eggs
may be roasted in its crater, and it would
have ill become a traveller, after ascending
Mount Vesuvius, to slight whatever efforts
the old fellow might make to offer him
refreshment and amusement.

Travellers may generally safely descend for
some depth into the mouth of the volcano;
but at the time of my visit, the suffocating
fumes of sulphur were rolling out more
copiously than visual, and the guide dissuaded
me from a too hazardous attempt. The view,
of course, was grand, extending completely
over the bay, with the beautiful little towns
skirting its edge, including also in the distance
the islands of Capri, Ischia, and Procida, and
the deeply interesting and classical region of
the Bay of Baiæ. Almost immediately under
us, to the left, was the railway station of
Pompeii. If we turned round to look inland,
the country, so far as the eye could scan, was
studded with white palaces and houses, which
in this pure and clear atmosphere, really
continue white all the year round, without
the bespattering of whitewash every spring.
Vesuvius, though generally represented in
prints as a regular truncated cone, is, in
reality, a mountain from which rise two
distinct cones; the one out of whose crater
issued the fatal stream that overwhelmed
Pompeii and Herculaneum, has long since
spent its fury, and become quite still. Its
companion every now and then, however,
gives unequivocal evidence of life.

I remained at the top for about an hour,
and then made preparations for descending.
In proportion as the ascent of the cone is,
from its exceedingly abrupt steepness, more
difficult than the ascent of almost any other
mountain, so is its descent in equal degree
more easy. It requires a good hour to reach
the top, but less than five minutes are enough
to see us to the bottom. The rapidity and
ease of the downward motion are really quite
surprising; it is a downward flight. The
wayfarer leans backward at an angle of
about fifty degrees, and begins to take
enormous strides or plunges. At each step he
sinks — deeply into the powdered ashes, so that
he cannot lose his footing, or roll over; the
only nervousness or apprehension that can be
experienced, is derived from a conviction of
the utter impossibility of stopping himself
until he reaches his journey's end; if in his
progress the foot should unluckily be caught,
against a piece of rock or lava, concealed
below the surface, it is probable that he may
get through the remainder of the descent
head foremost. Although this brisk flight
through the air and ashes has a peculiarly
exhilarating and agreeable effect on the
spirits, it does not unfortunately extend its
kindly influences to the clothes. I found my
garments in some disrepair, but my boots
having been made expressly with an eye to
this feat, suffered no more injury than a
slight baking.