The road now began to be pretty steep, and the country looked broken and rugged, yet I passed a great many vineyards on the way, which shows that the ashes and volcanic matter of Vesuvius can make the rocky soil of this region very productive. After going two or three miles, I reached the station called the Hermitage, which is another stopping-place for travellers. It is a kind of rustic hotel standing in a lonely place, where the vineyards yield a species of wine which is in high repute. I found half a dozen travellers stopping here to refresh, and joined them. The keeper of this house goes by the name of the Hermit, but always expects pay for giving you a luncheon. This is fair enough, for, otherwise, he would soon be eaten out of house and home by his visiters. After taking some refreshment we all started together, taking a soldier with us for a guide and defence, being told this was indispensable, for fear of robbery. These people have a thousand cunning practices by which they obtrude their services upon you for a small compensation; and travellers generally put up with their tricks, to save themselves the trouble and delay of a dispute. My companions were all mounted on donkeys, but on this steep road, they never go faster than a common walk, so that I had no difficulty in keeping up with them. One of our number was a lady, who rode her gallant dapple in a queer, snug little sort of a pannier, or side-saddle, by the help of which she maintained her seat in safety, while the animal tottered and scrambled over the crags and gullies. In a short time the vineyards disappeared, and the road passed over broken heaps of lava. The great cone of Vesuvius lay before us, towering over our heads. On the left we looked down into a deep, rocky gulf, beyond which rose the long, craggy, red ridge of Monte Somma, the twin peak of Vesuvius. On our right, the eye wandered over an immense field of black lava, which darkened the sides of the mountain up to the very top of the cone. The road now grew every moment steeper, and wound through a wild region, among craggy and ponderous masses of lava which covered the ground in every direction. All this tract was impassable for a long time, after the last eruption; the lava being as hard as the firmest rock, and rent into abrupt chasms and crags like a field of broken ice. A path was at length made by cutting through these masses and beating the lava up into a sort of Mac Adam. We passed a mile or two on this wild road, and at length reached the foot of the cone.