ASCENT OF THE CONE.--WONDERFUL DESCENT INTO THE
CRATER.--AND MOST WONDERFUL DISAPPEARANCE OF MR. FIGGS, AFTER WHOM
ALL HIS FRIENDS GO, WITH THEIR LIVES IN THEIR HANDS.--GREAT SENSATION
AMONG SPECTATORS.

To every visitor to Naples the most prominent object is Vesuvius. The
huge form of the volcano forever stands before him. The long pennon of
smoke from its crater forever floats out triumphantly in the air. Not
in the landscape only, but in all the picture-shops. In these
establishments they really seem to deal in nothing but prints and
paintings of Vesuvius.

It was a lovely morning when a carriage, filled with Americans, drew
up on an inn near the foot of the mountain. There were guides
without number waiting, like beasts of prey, to fall on them; and
all the horses of the country--a wonderful lot--an amazing lot--a
lean, cranky, raw-boned, ill-fed, wall-eyed, ill-natured, sneaking,
ungainly, half-foundered, half-starved lot; afflicted with all the
diseases that horse-flesh is heir to. There were no others, so but
little time was wasted. All were on an equal footing. To have a
preference was out of the question, so they amused themselves with
picking out the ugliest.

When the horses were first brought out Mr. Figgs looked uneasy,
and made some mysterious remarks about walking. He thought such nags
were an imposition. He vowed they could go faster on foot. On foot!
The others scouted the idea. Absurd! Perhaps he wasn't used to such
beasts. Never mind. He mustn't be proud. Mr. Figgs, however, seemed
to have reasons which were strictly private, and announced his
intention of walking. But the others would not hear of such a thing.
They insisted. They forced him to mount. This Mr. Figgs at length
accomplished, though he got up on the wrong side, and nearly pulled
his horse over backward by pulling at the curb-rein, shouting all
the time, in tones of agony, "Who-a!"

At length they all set out, and, with few interruptions, arrived at
a place half-way up the mountain called The Hermitage. Here they
rested, and leaving their horses behind, walked on over a barren
region to the foot of the cone. All around was the abomination of
desolation. Craggy rocks, huge, disjointed masses of shattered
lava-blocks, cooled off into the most grotesque shapes, mixed with
ashes, scoriae, and pumice-stones. The cone towered frowningly above
their heads. Looking up, the aspect was not enticing. A steep slope
ran up for an immense dista