Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
him, and seeing the huge column of smoke insisted on being
rowed across the bay of Naples to Pompeii to take a closer look.
His voyage ended in his choking to death from gas and ash
inhalation, while his nephew had the safer, longer view. But
before he set off, uncle and nephew saw the beginning of the
action together. It was early in the afternoon. Significantly,
they could not at first make out which mountain was erupting:
'it was not clear at that distance . . . it was afterwards known to
be Vesuvius'.
Its general appearance can best be expressed as being like an
umbrella pine, for it rose to a great height on a sort of trunk
and then split off into branches, I imagine because it was
thrust upwards by the first blast and then left unsupported
as the pressure subsided, or else it was borne down by its
own weight so that it spread out and gradually dispersed.
Sometimes it looked white, sometimes blotched and dirty,
according to the amount of soil and ashes it carried with it.²
There seems to have been no sign of fire at this stage. Never-
theless, the elder Pliny gave orders for his fleet to be launched on
a courageous mission to rescue the people on the other side. His
nephew watched as they rowed away:
Ashes were already falling, hotter and thicker as the ships drew
near [Pompeii], followed by bits of pumice and blackened
stones, charred and cracked by the flames.
As darkness fell, the flame really became apparent: 'Mean-
while . . . broad sheets of fire and leaping flame blazed at several
points, their bright glare emphasised by the darkness of night.'
Then the earthquake took hold: 'Buildings were now shaking
with violent shocks, and seemed to be swaying to and fro as if
they were torn from their foundations.'
By the time he came to write the letters, Pliny the Younger
had been able to gather up the bits of scattered information
about his uncle's death, and the deaths of thousands of others:
