It is true the noise ceased about that time after having
lasted five hours, as it had done the preceding days.
"On the 23d the lava still ran, but on the 24th it ceased; but smoke
continued. On the 25th there rose a vast column of black smoke, giving
out much forked lightning with thunder, in a sky quite clear except for
the smoke of the volcano. On the 26th smoke continued, but on the 27th
the eruption came to an end."
This eruption was also described by Sir William Hamilton, who continued
to keep a close watch on the movements of the volcano for many years.
The next outbreak of especial violence took place in 1779, when what
seemed to the eye a column of fire ascended two miles high, while cinder
fragments fell far and wide, destroying the hopes of harvest throughout
a wide district. They fell in abundance thirty miles distant, and the
dust of the explosion was carried a hundred miles away.
In 1793 the crater became active again, and in 1794 after a period of
short tranquillity or comparative inaction, the mountain again became
agitated, and one of the most formidable eruptions known in the history
of Vesuvius began. It was in some respects unlike many others, being
somewhat peculiar as to the place of its outburst, the temperature of
the lava, and the course of the current. Breislak, an Italian geologist,
observed the characteristic phenomena with the eye of science, and his
account supplies many interesting facts.
BREISLAK ON THE ERUPTION OF 1794
Breislak remarked certain changes in the character of the earth's
motions during this six hours' eruption, which led him to some
particular conjecture of the cause.
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