Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 1.djvu/238

228 smoke, but which was in reality a mass of dust, ashes, stones, and vapors, the form of which was likened by Pliny to a tall pine-tree throwing out great branches at its top.

Struck with surprise at the new phenomenon, the elder Pliny, a man of philosophical mind, hastened to the shore, that he might examine it more closely. He disembarked at Stabiæ, and went to the house of his friend Pomponianus. Here he remained till evening, gazing at the spectacle, and trying to quiet the fears of those around him. The streaks of fire on the mountain he attributed to the burning of the woods and villages, and when he became weary of the spectacle retired to bed and fell asleep. Meanwhile the shower of stones increased fast in Stabiæ, and began to fill the streets and the courts of the villa. Pliny's servants became alarmed and aroused their master, who joined his friend Pomponianus and his assembled family. What follows is best described in the graphic words of the younger Pliny:

The materials ejected from the mountain consisted of scoriae and ashes, and their quantity far exceeded its own bulk. The shower of ashes, dust, pumice, and stones, continued to fall for eight successive days, accompanied by torrents of rain, and the cities of Stabiæ, Herculaneum, and Pompeii, were entirely buried. Pompeii was situated several miles farther from the crater than Herculaneum, and was buried only in ashes and loose stones; while Herculaneum was entombed deeper, and in a much more consistent substance, which was evidently plastic, and appears to be composed of volcanic ashes cemented by mud.