Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
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roll'd and tumbled and was composed of Melted Matter
fluid and glowing underneath, with large black irregular
blocks of Scoriæ floating on the Surface. Just below this
new Stream we crossed some old Lava & came to a Vine-
yard the greatest part of which had been destroy'd by the
present Eruption but the day before together with the
house belonging to it . . . It was curious to observe the
Bunches of grapes shrivel up like raisons and the leaves
wither & take fire upon the approach of this tremendous
burning River.¹6
Thomas Jones,
Mount
Vesuvius from Torre dell '
Annunziata near Naples
,
1783, oil on paper laid
on canvas.
Jones recorded in his memoirs how this eruption brought
other Britons down from Rome at high speed, one of the party
being Jacob More, who made a number of what he called 'fly-
ing sketches'. As Jones recalled, 'none of the Company waited
a moment for him, he contrived to keep up with the party and
brought back a dozen
Views
, and these were to pass as
portraits
of
the respective scenes.'¹7 While More's
Eruption of Vesuvius
(1790s)
