The road from Resina winds along sometimes over the lava beds, and sometimes on a carriage-way, constructed at great expense, but now almost entirely useless. In some places the lava, though it had been lying there several years, was quite warm, and there were cracks, from which the heat steadily issued. Lava requires a long time for cooling, and sometimes, where it is of great depth, it will not cool enough for one to walk upon it within two years after it has flowed from the mountain. We got along very well, assisted as we were by the native loafers, who followed us, and occasionally took a turn at, or, rather, with, our animal’s tails. With the mild beasts they got along very well, and I think the animals would have had their tails twisted off before breaking into a run; but the vicious beasts did not like the arrangement, and they either quickened their pace, or let fly their heels at the twisters. [Sidenote: A SAFE HORSE.] My horse had been warranted to me as a safe beast, and after we had fairly started, I found that he was pretty nearly as safe as a dead horse. When he began to climb the mountain, he really seemed to be more dead than alive, and no persuasion, whether with my stick or heels, could induce him to break into a run. When we reached the foot of the cone, half a dozen boys offered to hold him; but I concluded he had better hold the boys—one was quite sufficient to keep him quiet while we made the upward journey. The real work of climbing Vesuvius began at the foot of the cone. The beasts that had brought us would not go beyond this point, and so we dismounted. After refreshing ourselves with a bottle of villanous wine, that tasted of sulphur, sewer-water, and other delightful things, we removed our coats and started upward. There was a fresh lot of loafers, who wanted to assist us. They had chairs strung upon two poles, by which four men could carry a person to the summit. The chairs were very good things in their way, but I preferred to walk, and so did my companions. The path sloped at an angle of forty-five degrees, and was made up of ashes and stones. The natives had arranged the stones in such a way, that a person could step from one to another without great difficulty, only that it happened that the stones were so far apart that they occasionally needed a pretty wide step. [Sidenote: SEDAN CHAIRS.]