The eruption of Vesuvius that buried Pompeii destroyed Herculaneum at the same time. Some historians contend that the occurrences were not identical in point of time; but, after all, it makes little difference to us whether the two cities were simultaneously destroyed or not. The probability is, and it is pretty well settled, that while the ashes and stones from the crater of Vesuvius were blown upon Pompeii, the lava and mud flowed in the direction of Herculaneum, and covered it. A third city, Stabiæ, was destroyed at the same time—a fact which is not generally known. Castellamare, a well-known summer resort near Naples, stands on the site of Stabiæ, whose excavations, not having promised very well, were filled up soon after they were begun.
The lava which flows from a volcano during violent eruptions is a composition of melted stone and oxide of iron. The stone is mainly feldspar and hornblende. There is a good deal of sulphur also in the lava when it rises in the volcano, but the most of it is thrown out in the form of sulphurous fumes. The lava very much resembles the slag or scoriæ flowing from an iron foundery, and, when suddenly cooled, it assumes a glassy character. When it consolidates or cools, it forms what are known as volcanic rocks. If the streams of lava are cooled under no other pressure than that of the atmosphere, they assume a porous appearance. Lava, cooled under the surface of the water is much more compact, and where it is cooled under heavy masses of earth and rock, it becomes quite solid.
STARTING FOR VESUVIUS.
Our party visited Herculaneum after making a journey to Vesuvius. We wished to see the volcano first, and afterwards to explore the city which it had destroyed. We rode out of Naples, after our usual struggle with the hackman, and at Resina left our carriage to proceed on horseback. About half the population gathered to see us off. A staff, or heavy stick, is considered indispensable, and each of us purchased one from the crowd of boys and men, whose wooden material was sufficient for starting a small forest. I think our selection was made from about two hundred and forty-seven sticks, which they simultaneously presented in our faces, and with the demands of the venders and the piteous appeals of forty or fifty beggars, we had, for a few minutes, a concord of sweet Italian sounds.
As soon as we had bought the sticks we used them to clear away the crowd, and as we were all young, reasonably powerful, and as indignant as we were powerful, we made a clear circle around us in a very short time. Then we bargained for animals on which to ride. I obtained a horse, something like those with which the famous Mackerel Brigade was equipped.
REMARKABLE STEEDS.
My horse had no hand rail along his deck, by which to cling on, though his back-bone had a close resemblance to a rail with a great many knots on it. He had an elegant selection of knobs sticking out all over him, on which to hang superfluous coats and other garments. One of my companions offered to charter two of the knobs as coat-hooks, but immediately withdrew his offer when the horse which he was to ride was brought out. Mine looked like a frame with a skin drawn over it, but his resembled a frame without any skin. I suggested that, when he got through the journey, he might sell out his horse to be used as a lantern for a light-house, and that the ribs would give a peculiar effect to the rays of light.
The third man of the party obtained a mule that had lost one ear, and had his tail eaten off by the rats. The beast had a habit of going backward faster than forward, and before we had gone a mile we asked the guide to shift the saddle so that our friend’s face could be turned towards the stern of his craft; but the guide insisted that such a thing had never been done, and that the mule would be all right if the man behind him would give an occasional prod with his stick. The fourth man was mounted on a donkey, or mule, or horse; I cannot say exactly what the animal was, but he seemed to be a mixture of the three, with a small infusion of bull-dog and rhinoceros.
He had a hide that would turn a six-pound shot, and as for cudgelling, he rather enjoyed it than otherwise. His rider had brought along a pair of spurs, which he picked up a day or so before in Naples. He proposed to show us his skill in mulemanship, but the mule was so small, and his rider’s legs were so long, that the latter could not reach the beast with his heels. I suggested a dodge which I had seen in practice before. With the spurs on his heels my friend found his feet too far aft, when he raised them, to do any good; I accordingly suggested that, if he buckled the spurs on just below the knees, he would find them to be of more advantage. He tried it with one spur, which had a perceptible effect on the activity of the animal; but, unfortunately, the activity was sidewise, or backwards, or in circles, and not straight ahead. The beast either sidled along the track, or else went in quick plunges, in a way that was very uncomfortable. Our whole cavalcade, considered as an average, did not get along very fast, and every fifteen minutes we had a grand kicking plunge all round; but we were all sufficiently accustomed to the saddle to save ourselves from being thrown. We made about three miles an hour each along the route, or fifteen miles an hour for the five of us, which, on the whole, was not to be considered bad.
The road from Resina winds along sometimes over the lava beds, and sometimes on a carriage-way, constructed at great expense, but now almost entirely useless. In some places the lava, though it had been lying there several years, was quite warm, and there were cracks, from which the heat steadily issued. Lava requires a long time for cooling, and sometimes, where it is of great depth, it will not cool enough for one to walk upon it within two years after it has flowed from the mountain. We got along very well, assisted as we were by the native loafers, who followed us, and occasionally took a turn at, or, rather, with, our animal’s tails. With the mild beasts they got along very well, and I think the animals would have had their tails twisted off before breaking into a run; but the vicious beasts did not like the arrangement, and they either quickened their pace, or let fly their heels at the twisters.