Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: May 4, 2025
With its white plume it is a constant quantity in the landscape: one sees it from every point of view; and we had been scarcely anywhere that volcanic remains, or signs of such action, a thin crust shaking under our feet, as at Solfatara, where blasts of sulphurous steam drove in our faces, did not remind us that the whole ground is uncertain, and undermined by the subterranean fires that have Vesuvius for a chimney.
We are going to see the ruins of it presently; but first, we are going to see Solfatara."
The first threw out lava in 1718 and 1812; in the second there is a continual formation of sulphur by the condensation of vapours, which issue from the crevices of an ancient crater. The last eruption of the volcano of Guadaloupe took place in 1797. The Solfatara of St. Christopher's was still burning in 1692.
It was my intention to have passed the night in a rancho, in order next day to visit a solfatara which was said to be a day's journey further; but my companions were so exhausted by fatigue that they asked for at least a few hours' rest. In one place all the trees were hung, at a convenient height, with flowering aërids; of which one could have collected thousands without any trouble.
With its white plume it is a constant quantity in the landscape: one sees it from every point of view; and we had been scarcely anywhere that volcanic remains, or signs of such action, a thin crust shaking under our feet, as at Solfatara, where blasts of sulphurous steam drove in our faces, did not remind us that the whole ground is uncertain, and undermined by the subterranean fires that have Vesuvius for a chimney.
In the Phlægræn Field there are a number of other craters of small size, with very low cones about them. These appear to have been the product of brief, slight eruptions. That known as the Solfatara, though not in eruption during the historic period, is interesting for the fact that from the crevices of the rocks about it there comes forth a continued efflux of carbonic-acid gas.
Judging by mere inspection, I should have thought the funnel of still less depth. Its present state is that of a solfatara; and it is rather an object of curious investigation, than of imposing aspect.
The whole of the Solfatara crater has been enclosed for the purpose of manufacturing alum from its soil. On the hillside to the north there are several caverns, called stufe, from whence gas and hot steam arise, and these are used by the inhabitants as admirable vapour baths.
Invalids used at one time to inhabit Pozzuoli on account of its mild atmosphere, and even to visit the Solfatara daily on mule-back, in order to inhale its sulphureous fumes, which were then believed to be good for weak chests. But medical fashions vary like all others, and consumptive patients now seek other places than Pozzuoli for their cure.
A glorious prospect here unfolds itself: Naples with its bay, Puzzoli, and a number of beautiful islands, the lake Agnaro, the extinct craters of Solfatara, Baiae, Vesuvius with its chain of mountains, and the stupendous ocean, lie grouped, in varied forms and gorgeously blending colours, before the gaze of the astonished spectator.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking