forge, displays its whitish scum upon a black ground, exactly resembling dried moss. Leaving the cone of the volcano to the right and following the road on the left, I reached the foot of a hill, or rather a wall, formed of the lava, which overwhelmed Herculaneum. This species of wall is planted with vines on the borders of the plain, and on the opposite side is a deep valley, filled by a copse. The air now began to "bite shrewdly.” I climbed this hill in order to visit the hermitage which I perceived from the other side. The heavens lowered; the clouds descended and flew along the surface of the earth like grey smoke, or ashes driven before the wind. I began to hear a murmuring sound among the elms of the hermitage. The hermit came forth to receive me, and held the bridle of my mule while I alighted. He was a tall man with an open countenance and good address. He invited me into his cell, and placed upon the table a repast of bread, apples and eggs. He sat down opposite to me, rested both his elbows on the table, and calmly began to converse while I eat my breakfast, The clouds were collected all round us, and no object could be distinguished through the windows of the hermitage. Nothing was heard in this dreary abyss of vapour, but the whistling of the wind, and the distant noise of the waves, as they broke upon the shores of Herculaneum, There was something singular in the situation of this tranquil abode of Christian hospitality—a small cell at the foot of a volcano and in the midst of a tempest. The hermit presented to me the book in which strangers, who visit Vesuvius, are accustomed to make some memorandum. In this volume I did not find one remark worthy of recollection. The French indeed, with the good taste natural to our nation, had contented themselves with mentioning the date of their journey, or paying a compliment to the hermit for his hospitality. It would seem that this volcano had no very remarkable effect upon the visitors, which confirms me in the idea I some time since formed, namely, that grand objects and grand subjects are less capable of giving birth to great ideas than is generally supposed; for their grandeur being evident, all that is added, beyond this fact, becomes mere repetition. The "nascetur ridiculus mus" is true of all mountains. I left the hermitage at half past two o'clock, and continued to ascend the hill of lava, on which I had before proceeded. On my left was the valley, which separated me from the Somma; on my right the plain of the cone. Not a living creature did I see in this horrible region but a poor, lean, sallow, half-naked girl, who was bending under a load of faggots, which she had cut on the mountain. The clouds now entirely shut out the view; for the wind blew them upwards from the black plain, of which, if clear, I should have commanded the prospect, and caused them to pass over the lava road, upon which I was pursuing my way. I heard nothing but the sound of my mule's footsteps. At length I quitted the hill, bending to the right, and re-descending into the plain of lava, which adjoins the cone of the volcano, and which I crossed lower down on my road to the hermitage; but even when in the midst of these calcined fragments, the mind can hardly form to itself an idea of the appearance which the district must assume, when covered with fire and molten metals by an eruption of Vesuvius. Dante had, perhaps, seen it when he describes in his Hell those showers of ever-burning fire, which descend slowly and in silence" come di neve in Alpe senza vento." "Arivammo ad una landa Che dal suo letto ogni pianta rimove Lo spazzo er' un' arena arida e spessa Come di neve in Alpe senza vento. Snow was here visible in several places, and I suddenly discovered at intervals Portici, Capri, Ischia, Pausilipi, the sea studded with the white sails of fishing boats, and the coast of the gulph of Naples, bordered with orange trees. It was a view of paradise from the infernal regions. On reaching the foot of the cone, we alighted from our mules. My guide gave me a long staff, and we began to climb the huge mass of cinders. The clouds closed in, the fog became more dense, and increasing darkness surrounded us. Behold me now at the top of Vesuvius, where I seated myself at the mouth of the volcano, wrote down what had hitherto occurred, and prepared myself for a descent into the crater. The sun appeared, from time to time, through the mass of vapours, which enveloped the whole mountain, and concealed from me one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world, while it doubled the horrors of the place I was in... Vesuvius, thus separated by clouds from the enchanting country at its base, has the appearance of being placed in the completest desert, and the sort of terror, which it inspires, is in no degree diminished by the spectacle of a flourishing city at its foot. I proposed to my guide that we should descend into the crater. He made several objections, but this was only to obtain a little ,,་ more money; and we agreed upon a sum, which |