e glowing lava; the total
darkness that overspread the surrounding country as the dense mass of
volcanic dust floated outward, a darkness only relieved by the glare
that attended each new explosion, formed a spectacle of terror to make
the stoutest heart quail, and to fill the weak and ignorant with dread
of a final overthrow of the earth and its inhabitants.

The elder Pliny, the famous naturalist, was then in command of a fleet
at Misenum, in the vicinity. Led by his scientific interest, he
approached the volcano to examine the eruption more closely, and fell a
victim to the falling ashes or the choking fumes of sulphur that filled
the air. His nephew, Pliny the younger, then only a boy of eighteen, has
given a lucid account of what took place, in letters to the historian
Tacitus. After describing the journey and death of his uncle, he goes on
to speak of the violent earthquakes that shook the ground during the
night. He continues with the story of the next day:

"Though it was now morning, the light was exceedingly faint and languid;
the buildings all around us tottered, and though we stood upon open
ground, yet, as the place was narrow and confined, there was no
remaining there without certain and great danger; we therefore resolved
to leave the town. The people followed us in the utmost consternation,
and, as to a mind distracted with terror every suggestion seems more
prudent than its own, pressed in great crowds about us in our way out.

"Being got at a convenient distance from the houses, we stood still, in
the midst of a most dangerous and dreadful scene. The chariots which we
had ordered to be drawn out were so agitated backward and forward,
though upon the most level ground, that we could not keep them steady,
even by supporting them with large stones. The sea seemed to roll back
upon itself, and to be driven from its banks by the convulsive motion of
the earth; it is certain, at least, that the shore was considerably
enlarged, and several sea-animals were left upon it. At the other side a
black and dreadful cloud, bursting with an igneous serpentine vapor,
darted out a long train of fire, resembling flashes of lightning, but
much larger....

"Soon afterwards the cloud seemed to descend and cover the whole ocean,
as indeed it entirely hid the island of Capreae and the promontory of
Misenum. My mother strongly conjured me to make my escape at any rate,
which, as I was young, I might easily do; as for hersel