Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
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I passed the whole day and night of the 12th [March 1765]
upon the mountain and followed the course of the lava to its
very source; it burnt out the side of the mountain within half
a mile of the mouth of the volcano, like a torrent, attended
by violent explosions . . . 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 . . . large stones thrown onto 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
. . . with a rapidity equal to that of the river Severn, at the
passage near Bristol.5
William Hamilton
and Pietro Fabris, plate
from
Campi Phlegraei
(1776-9), showing
specimens of volcanic
rock from Solfatara, at
Pozzuoli near Naples.
Another writer, whose identity is unknown, had an equally
dramatic experience on the mountain as Hamilton, and in
1805 conveyed the sense of sheer excitement at the sight of the
lava flow:
Fancy to yourself an immense heap of burning coke which
it resembles more than any other thing a mile in width and
ten or twelve feet thick covering in its progress every thing
that stood in its way. However seeing it did not advance so
