In the year 1713, as some people were sinking a well, they discovered two statues, one of Hercules, and the other of Cleopatra; and continuing to dig in several directions, they found they had got into a Roman theatre, and after a while they discovered that this Theatre was that of the City of Herculaneum. But in consequence of the hardness of the ground, and the great depth of the city under the surface, which is one hundred feet, they have only been able to clear out a very few buildings, and those cannot be seen except by torchlight, so that very little is known about it. I cannot tell you exactly how the ruins of Pompeii were first discovered to be the remains of a city. It appears that an architect, who was employed to make a subterranean canal to convey water to the town of Torre dell'Annunziata, nearly 300 years ago, met with some fragments of buildings; and about eighty years afterwards, enough was seen to convince the discoverers that the ruins were extensive. In the year 1755, a regular plan of excavation was commenced, and nearly the whole city is now exposed to the light of day. The situation of Pompeii is considerably further from the crater of Vesuvius than that of Herculaneum, and to that circumstance is owing the superiority of its preservation, and the greater moveableness of the substances which covered it. It is probable that both cities were originally assailed by alluvions, or streams of mud, such as I told you of some time ago, as well as by showers of cinders and stones. But while Pompeii was only fourteen or fifteen feet below the surface, and never had anything besides cinders and earth above it, several streams of lava flowed over Herculaneum, with layers of the different substances, which the volcano throws into the air, between them, so as to raise the surface one hundred feet. [Illustration] Pompeii was three miles in circumference, and was a sea-port town, though it is now a full mile from the sea. This is known, because the steps which used to lead down from the quay, for the convenience of passengers going into boats, are still remaining, and so are some large metal rings which were intended for cables to be fastened to. There are several inscriptions in both cities commemorating the great injuries done by an earthquake which happened in the reign of the Emperor Nero, sixteen years before they were destroyed. There are also great cracks to be seen in some of the walls, testifying of the same event. This was one of the efforts of the volcanic power to get free before Vesuvius became the safety-valve.