Page:Life in the Old World - Vol. II.djvu/309

Rh of Loke, which tinged the heavens red, whilst a dull thunder-like noise sounded from his subterranean realm, and that of the moon, which gained ever more and more ascendency over space. The stillness of the night at length seemed to lull them to rest, the moon advanced into a bed of cloud, and the fire of Vesuvius seemed to burn slumberously.

The morning was cloudy, but the day has become bright and warm, and during the coming night, I shall more nearly behold his glowing majesty. Immense masses of smoke ascend from his jaws, and then sink over the whole mountain district to the left, around the bay of Naples, the heights of Terra del Greco, Sorrento, and Castel-a-Mare. I have a pleasant home on the Riviera di Chiaja. In front of it, between the quay and the sea, extends the beautiful promenade, Villa Reale; beyond this is the bay,—the grand, celebrated bay,—surrounded by the shores of Pozzuoli and Pompeii. The former is crowned with villas and parks. On the left is throned Vesuvius. The sea is full of joyous life, and the waves gleam in the sun. Exactly opposite, on the horizon, lies Capri, like a great block of stone, and suns itself on the dark blue, moving plain.

May 30th.—No, I was not able to pay my respects to Vesuvius, in his fiery neighborhood. About noon, yesterday, it pleased his majesty to envelop himself in a black robe of smoke, which looked like a threat of the deluge, or the last judgment, or something of that kind. Dull thundering sounds were heard, the air grew cold, and the wind drove eddies of sand through the air. This continued till evening, when