Page:Great Neapolitan Earthquake of 1857 Vol 2.djvu/122

Rh The mass of detritus swept down and delivered out upon the hollow plain was truly surprising. Much of it consisted of slaty angular blocks of large size of the soft argillaceous rocks, with smaller fragments of the upper limestone, and round lumps of the calcareous breccia, all mixed with or imbedded in, torrents of red mud.

The huge talus, projected several hundred yards into the valley basin, and its central slope was probably not more than 20° to 24°. The torrent of muddy red water, rushing from the narrow gorge at top, soon separated into innumerable rills and cascades, and brawled sinuously over the heap, spreading it in all directions, and rendering more than a square mile desolate and infertile. (See Sketch No. 317.)

Even at the highest point, which I find is called II Topo di Meto, there are no craggy summits, all is rounded. A mile farther, and I see Avigliano, perched upon the east slope of a rather steep hill; and half a mile south of it, near the town of Ruoti, pass a gorge with twisted limestone beds, and bands of red ochre between, all cut through, by a ravine running east and west. At the next gorge, both flanks, are composed of an immense deposit of loose detritus, with boulders of great size, and angular, both of limestone and argillaceous rocks, embedded in a red ochrey clay. I begin to mount the steep ascent to the town, and come in upon, a part of the military road; and in the side cutting on the left hand, I see the first evidence of approaching the volcanic district of Monte Vulture, in beds of dense yellow tufa, with pebbles occasionally, embedded in curved and twisted beds. It is like that of Vesuvius, but of a deeper yellow, and might at a casual glance be taken for a coarse yellow sandstone.

VOL. II.G