In this state the eruption continued for several days, the fire being equally intense, with frequent and dreadful noises. On the twenty-eighth, amid these fearful symptoms, another aperture, ejecting fire and stones, situated behind the crater, was seen from Naples. The burning mass of lava which escaped from the crater on the following day, was distinguished from Torre del Greco, having the appearance of a vitreous fluid, and advancing toward the base of the mountain between the south and south-west. It reached the base on the thirtieth, having flowed from the aperture, in less than twenty-four hours, a distance of three thousand and fifty-three feet, while its mean breadth appeared to be about three hundred and fifty, but at the base, eight hundred and sixty feet. In its course it divided into four branches, and finally reached a spot called the Guide’s Retreat. Its entire progress to this point was more than a mile, so that, taking a mean proportion, this lava flowed at the rate of eighty-six feet an hour. At the time of this eruption, Kotzebue was at Naples. Vesuvius lay opposite to his window, and when it was dark he could clearly perceive in what manner the masses of fire rolled down the mountain. As long as any glimmering of light remained, that part of the mountain was to be seen on the declivity of which the lava formed a straight but oblique line. As soon, however, as it was perfectly dark, and the mountain itself had vanished from the eye, it seemed as if a comet with a long tail stood in the sky. The spectacle was awful and grand! Kotzebue ascended the mountain on the morning succeeding the opening of a new gulf, and approached the crater as nearly as prudence would allow. From its center ascended the sulphurous yellow cone which the eruption of this year had formed: on the other side, a thick smoke perpetually arose from the abyss opened during the preceding night. The side of the crater opposite to him, which rose considerably higher than that on which he stood, afforded a singular aspect; for it was covered with little pillars of smoke, which burst forth from it, and had some resemblance to extinguished lights. The air over the crater was actually embodied, and was clearly to be seen in a tremulous motion. Below, the volcano boiled and roared dreadfully, like the most violent hurricane; but occasionally a sudden deadly stillness ensued for some moments, after which the roaring renewed with double vehemence, and the smoke burst forth in thicker and blacker clouds. It was, he observes, as if the spirit of the mountain had suddenly tried to stop the gulf, while the flames indignantly refused to endure the confinement.