Observations on Mount Vesuvius, Mount Etna, and Other Volcanos. Sir William Hamilton
days before the eruption, having approached too near; and two English gentlemen with him were also hurt. It is impossible to describe the beautiful appearance of these girandoles of red hot stones, far surpassing the most astonishing artificial fire-work.
From the 31st of March to the 9th of April, the lava continued on the same side of the mountain, in two, three, and sometimes four branches, without descending much lower than the first night. I remarked a kind of intermission in the fever of the mountain[3], which seemed to return with violence every other night. On the 10th of April, at night, the lava disappeared on the side of the mountain towards Naples, and broke out with much more violence on the side next the Torre dell' Annunciata.
I passed the whole day and the night of the twelfth upon the mountain, and followed the course of the lava to its very source: it burst out of the side of the mountain, within about half a mile of the mouth of the Volcano, like a torrent, attended with violent explosions, which threw up inflamed matter to a considerable height, the adjacent ground quivering like the timbers of a water-mill; the heat of the lava was so great, as not to suffer me to approach nearer than within ten feet of the stream, and of such a consistency (though it appeared liquid as water) as almost to resist the impression of a long stick, with which I made the experiment; large stones thrown on it with all my force did not sink, but, making a slight impression, floated on the surface, and were carried out of sight in a short time; for, notwithstanding the consistency of the lava, it ran with amazing velocity; I am sure, the first mile with a rapidity equal to that of the river Severn, at the passage near Bristol. The stream at its source was about ten feet wide, but soon extended itself, and divided into three branches; so that these rivers of fire, communicating their heat to the cinders of former lavas, between one branch and the other, had the appearance at night of a continued sheet of fire, four miles in length, and in some parts near two in breadth. Your Lordship may imagine the glorious appearance of this uncommon scene, such as passes all description.
The lava, after having run pure for about a hundred yards, began to collect cinders, stones, &c.; and a scum was formed on its surface, which in the day-time had the appearance of the river Thames, as I have seen it after a hard frost and great fall of snow, when beginning to thaw, carrying down vast masses of snow and ice. In two places the liquid lava totally disappeared, and ran in a subterraneous passage for some paces; then came out again pure, having left the scum behind. In this manner it advanced to the cultivated parts of the mountain; and I saw it, the same night of the 12th, unmercifully destroy a poor man's vineyard, and surround his cottage, notwithstanding the opposition of many images of St. Januarius, that were placed upon the cottage, and tied to almost every vine. The lava, at the farthest extremity from its source, did not appear liquid, but like a heap of red hot coals, forming a wall in some places ten or twelve feet high, which rolling from the top soon formed another wall, and so on, advancing slowly, not more than about thirty feet in an hour[4].
The mouth of the Volcano has not thrown up any large stones since the second eruption of lava on the 10th of April; but has thrown up quantities of small ashes and pumice stones, that have greatly damaged the neighbouring vineyards. I have been several times at the mountain since the 12th; but, as the eruption was in its greatest vigour at that time, I have ventured to dwell on, and I fear tire your Lordship with, the observations of that day.
In my last visit to Mount Vesuvius, the 3d of June, I still found that the lava continued; but the rivers were become rivulets, and had lost much of their rapidity. The quantity of matter thrown out by this eruption is greater than that of the last in the year 1760; but the damage to the cultivated lands is not so considerable, owing to its having spread itself much more, and its source being at least three miles higher up. This eruption seems now to have exhausted itself; and I expect in a few days to see Vesuvius restored to its former tranquillity.
Mount Etna in Sicily broke out on the 27th of April; and made a lava, in two branches, at least six miles in length, and a mile in breadth; and, according to the description given me by Mr. Wilbraham, (who was there, after having seen with me part of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius) resembles it in every respect, except that Mount Etna, at the place from whence the lava flowed (which was twelve miles from the mouth of the Volcano), threw up a fountain of liquid inflamed matter to a considerable height; which, I am told, Mount Vesuvius has done in former eruptions.
I beg pardon for having taken up so much of your time; and yet I flatter myself, that my description, which I assure your Lordship is not exaggerated, will have afforded you some amusement. I have the honour to be,
My Lord,
Your Lordship's
Most obedient
and most humble servant,
William Hamilton.
Naples, February 3, 1767.
Since the account of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which I had the honour of giving to your Lordship, in my letter of the 10th of June last; I have only to add, that the lava continued till about the end of November, without doing any great damage, having taken its course over antient lavas. Since the cessation of this eruption, I have examined the crater, and the crack on the side of the mountain towards Torre dell' Annunciata, about a hundred yards from the crater from whence this lava issued: and I found therein some very curious salts and sulphurs; a specimen of each sort I have put into bottles myself, even upon the mountain, that they might not lose any of their force, and have sent them in a box directed to your Lordship, as you will see, by the bill of lading: I am sure, you will have a pleasure in seeing them analyzed[5]. I have also packed in the same box some lava, and cinders, of the last eruption; there is one piece in particular very curious, having the exact appearance of a cable petrified. I shall be very happy if these trifles should afford your Lordship a moment's amusement.
It is very extraordinary, that I cannot find, that any chemist here has ever been at the trouble of analyzing the productions of Vesuvius.
The deep yellow, or orange-color salts, of which there are two bottles, I fetched out of the very crater of the mountain, in a crevice that was indeed very hot. It seems to me to be powerful, as it turns silver black in an instant, but has no effect upon gold. If your Lordship pleases, I will send you by another opportunity specimens of the sulphurs and salts of the Solfa terra, which seem to be very different from these.
Within these three days, the fire has appeared again on the top of Vesuvius, and earthquakes have been felt in the neighbourhood of the mountain. I was there on Saturday with my nephew Lord Greville; we heard most dreadful inward grumblings, rattling of stones, and hissing; and were obliged to leave the crater very soon, on account of the emission of stones. The black smoak arose, as before the last eruption; and I saw every symptom of a new eruption, of which I shall not fail to give your Lordship an exact account.
LETTER II.
To the Right Honourable the Earl of Morton, President of the Royal Society.
Naples, December 29, 1767.
My Lord,
The favourable reception, which my account of last year's eruption of Mount Vesuvius met with from your Lordship; the approbation which the Royal Society was pleased to shew, by having ordered the same to be printed in their Philosophical Transactions; and your Lordship's commands, in your letter of the 3d instant; encourage me to trouble you with a plain narrative of what came immediately under my observation, during the late violent eruption, which began October 19, 1767, and is reckoned to be the twenty-seventh since that, which, in the time of Titus, destroyed Herculaneum and Pompeii.
The eruption of 1766 continued in some degree till the 10th of December, about nine months in all[6]; yet in that space of time the mountain did not cast up a third of the quantity of lava, which it disgorged in only seven days, the term of this last eruption. On the 15th of December, last year, within the ancient crater of Mount Vesuvius, and about twenty feet deep, there was a crust, which formed a plain,