Observations on Mount Vesuvius, Mount Etna, and Other Volcanos. Sir William Hamilton
Crater of Vesuvius.
B. Mouth, from whence came the lava of 1766, and which opened afresh at two o'clock, October 19, 1767, and caused the conflagration on this side of the mountain.
C. Mouth which opened at 12 o'clock, October 19, 1767, whilst I was at the spot X, and which produced all the lava represented in Plate I.
D. Rivulets of lava, which flowed from the crater, and united with the great river E.
F. Extremities of the lava, about five miles from B.
1. Mountain of Somma.
2. Mount Vesuvius.
3. Montagna di Trecase.
4. Trecase.
5. Oratorio di Bosco.
6. Ottaiano.
Plate III.
PLATE III.
Views of the gradual increase of the little mountain within the ancient crater; and of the present shape of Mount Vesuvius.
LETTER III.
To Mathew Maty, M. D. Secretary to the Royal Society.
Villa Angelica, near Mount Vesuvius,
October 4, 1768.
SIR,
I have but very lately received your last obliging letter, of the 5th of July, with the volume of Philosophical Transactions.
I must beg of you to express my satisfaction at the notice which the Royal Society hath been pleased to take of my accounts of the two last eruptions of Mount Vesuvius. Since I have been at my villa here, I have enquired of the inhabitants of the mountain, after what they had seen during the last eruption. In my letter to Lord Morton, I mentioned nothing but what came immediately under my own observation: but as all the peasants here agree in their account of the terrible thunder and lightning, which lasted almost the whole time of the eruption, upon the mountain only; I think it a circumstance worth attending to. Besides the lightning, which perfectly resembled the common forked lightning, there were many meteors, like what are vulgarly called falling stars. A peasant, in my neighbourhood, lost eight hogs, by the ashes falling into the trough with their food: they grew giddy, and died in a few hours. The last day of the eruption, the ashes, which fell abundantly upon the mountain, were as white almost as snow[14]; and the old people here assure me, that is a sure symptom of the eruption being at an end. These circumstances, being well attested, I thought worth relating.
It would require many years close application, to give a proper and truly philosophical account of the Volcanos in the neighbourhood of Naples; but I am sure such a history might be given, supported by demonstration, as would destroy every system hitherto given upon this subject. We have here an opportunity of seeing Volcanos in all their states. I have been this summer in the island of Ischia; it is about eighteen miles round, and its whole basis is lava. The great mountain in it, near as high as Vesuvius, formerly called Epomeus, and now San Nicolo, I am convinced, was thrown up by degrees; and I have no doubt in my own mind, but that the island itself rose out of the sea in the same manner as some of the Azores. I am of the same opinion with respect to Mount Vesuvius, and all the high grounds near Naples; as having not yet seen, in any one place, what can be called virgin earth. I had the pleasure of seeing a well sunk, a few days ago, near my villa, which is, as you know, at the foot of Vesuvius, and close by the sea-side. At twenty-five feet below the level of the sea, they came to a stratum of lava, and God knows how much deeper they might have still found other lavas. The soil all round the mountain, which is so fertile, consists of stratas of lavas, ashes, pumice, and now-and-then a thin stratum of good earth, which good earth is produced by the surface mouldering, and the rotting of the roots of plants, vines, &c. This is plainly to be seen at Pompeii, where they are now digging into the ruins of that ancient city; the houses are covered about ten or fifteen feet, with pumice and fragments of lava, some of which weigh three pounds (which last circumstance I mention, to shew, that, in a great eruption, Vesuvius has thrown stones of this weight six miles[15], which is its distance from Pompeii, in a direct line); upon this stratum of pumice, or rapilli, as they call them here, is a stratum of excellent mould, about two feet thick, on which grow large trees, and excellent grapes. We have then the Solfaterra, which was certainly a Volcano, and has ceased erupting, for want of metallic particles, and over-abounding with sulphur. You may trace its lavas into the sea. We have the Lago d'Averno and the Lago d'Agnano, both of which were formerly Volcanos; and Astroni, which still retains its form more than any of these. Its crater is walled round, and his Sicilian Majesty takes the diversion of boar-hunting in this Volcano; and neither his Majesty nor any one of his Court ever dreamt of its former state. We have then that curious mountain, called Montagno Nuovo, near Puzzole, which rose, in one night, out of the Lucrine Lake; it is about a hundred and fifty feet high, and three miles round. I do not think it more extraordinary, that Mount Vesuvius, in many ages, should rise above two thousand feet; when this mountain, as is well attested, rose in one night, no longer ago than the year 1538. I have a project, next spring, of passing some days at Puzzole, and of dissecting this mountain, taking its measures, and making drawings of its stratas; for, I perceive, it is composed of stratas, like Mount Vesuvius, but without lavas. As this mountain is so undoubtedly formed intirely from a plain, I should think my project may give light into the formation of many other mountains, that are at present thought to have been original, and are certainly not so, if their strata correspond with those of the Montagno Nuovo. I should be glad to know whether you think this project of mine will be useful; and, if you do, the result of my observations may be the subject of another letter[16].
I cannot have a greater pleasure than to employ my leisure hours in what may be of some little use to mankind; and my lot has carried me into a country, which affords an ample field for observation. Upon the whole, if I was to establish a system, it would be, that Mountains are produced by Volcanos, and not Volcanos by Mountains.
I fear I have tired you; but the subject of Volcanos is so favourite a one with me, that it has led me on I know not how: I shall only add, that Vesuvius is quiet at present, though very hot at top, where there is a deposition of boiling sulphur. The lava that ran in the Fossa Grande during the last eruption, and is at least two hundred feet thick, is not yet cool; a stick, put into its crevices, takes fire immediately. On the sides of the crevices are fine crystalline salts: as they are the pure salts, which exhale from the lava that has no communication with the interiour of the mountain, they may perhaps indicate the composition of the lava.
I have done. Let me only thank you for the kind offers and expressions in your letter, and for the care you have had in setting off my present to the Museum to the best advantage; of which I have been told from many quarters.
I am,
Sir,
Your most obedient
humble servant,
W. Hamilton.
LETTER IV.