from the summit. The lava took the direction of Torre del Greco and Annunciada, approaching Portici, on the road leading from Naples to Pompeii. Through out the whole of the second of June, a noise was heard, resembling that of two armies engaged, when the discharges of artillery and musketry are very brisk. The current of lava now resembled a wall of glass in a state of fusion, sparks and flashes issuing from time to time, with a powerful detonation. Vines, trees, houses,whatever objects, in short, it encountered on its way, were instantly overthrown or destroyed. In one part, where it met with the resistance of a wall, it formed a cascade of fire. In a few days Portici, Resina, and Torre del Greco, were covered with ashes thrown out by the volcano; and, on the ninth, the two former places were deluged with a thick black rain, consisting of a species of mud filled with sulphureous particles. On the first of July, the ancient crater had wholly disappeared, being filled with ashes and lava, and a new one was formed in the eastern part of the mountain, about 600 feet in depth, and having about the same width at the opening. Several persons, on the above day, descended about half way down this new mouth, and remained half an hour very near the flames, admiring the spectacle presented by the liquid lava, which bubbled up at the bottom of the crater, like the fused matter in a glass-house. This eruption continued until September, made great ravages, and was considered as one of the most terrible that had occurred in the memory of the inhabitants.

THE CAMEL'S HUMP.

BY THE REV. E. E. GRISWOLD.

The Camel's Hump, one of the finest mountains in New England, derives its name from a fancied resemblance of its outline to the figure of a Camel. It rises to an elevation of nearly 5000 feet, and is the highest peak but one in the Green Mountain range. The Camel's Hump is about fifty miles south of the Cana

da line and when viewed from Lake Champlain is a most picturesque object, rising in majestic preeminence above the neighboring hills and presenting in bold releif against the sky the figure of the animal whose name it bears. The outline is strikingly exact; the central and highest part representing the Hump, while a curve towards the north gives the figure of the neck and the southern declivity slopes in the direction of the tail.—In travelling through this section of Vermont in 1830, the writer observed the summit of the mountain covered with snow as early as the 3d of September, and was informed by the inhabitants that it might frequently be seen whitened over in June. Its base borders on the Onion River Valley, which, it is well known was the great thoroughfare of the Indians in the early history of the colonies. From this mountain they used to descend, like a torrent, on the towns of the Connecticut, and on its summit they built their signal fires which could be seen to an immense distance over the River on the one side and far into Canada on the other.

In the early part of July, the writer in company with a friend and guide, visited the mountain and spent a night on its summit. When we started, the sun shone brightly and gave abundant promise of a pleasant season for the excursion: but it soon became obscured. Our route for the last four miles, lay through tangled woods without a human habitation, and all the way ascending except when intercepted by deep ravines formed by descending torrents. On arriving at the summit, we found to our dismay, that it was sunset, and that the sun had set behind massses of black and threatening clouds. We immediately struck a fire and set about building ourselves a house with the boughs of the spruce, which grew in scattered clusters round the rocks. At this elevation the Spruce attains the height of about six feet, and sends out lateral branches of a length that frequently exceeds that of the tree. The lower branches extend so near the ground that it was necessary to climb over them in order to pass through the Copse.-The night was growing dark so rapidly, accompanied with the thickening signs of the approaching storm, that we almost despaired of completing any thing like an adequate shelter from the elements. But we plied our

hatchets lustily, urged by the strong impulse of necessity, and had the satisfaction of finishing our house just, as we were becoming enveloped in utter darkness.

I will not attempt to describe our sensations; those who have been placed in similar circumstances will readily appreciate them. All that constitutes the grand and the sublime formed the elements of the scene. Immediately before us was the brink of a tremendous precipice. Below, above, around, all was impenetrable darkness, into which our fire seemed vainly trying to send a few straggling rays, that only served to make its "darkness visible."-The fire itself seemed the sport of some superhuman agency. Being kindled on the very summit of the mountain, it was blown in one large sheet of flame, one instant to the north, the next to the south, and again directly into the black and matted foliage of the roof above our heads. Far in the world below, twinkled a few glimmering lights, that seemed like "stars fallen from their places," while around the cliffs, with a solemn, thunder like voice, bellowed the mighty winds, at times, shaking the mountain to its very base, as though they were pent up in its bowels and struggling for deliverance. All around combined to inspire the most exalted conceptions of Him "who hath weighed the mountains in scales, and holds the winds in his fists."-At length the morning dawned upon us, the clouds had partially passed away, and now, for the first time, could we fully enjoy the unrivalled glories of the scene, we were reminded of the prospect, as described by travellers, from the summit of Etna.-Clouds were sweeping by on a level with our feet or far below them, for a moment obscuring objects. and then leaving them in clearer view; on our right and in front as we faced the north, the river with its numerous tributary streams, like lines of silver, measured their way to the lake. On our left, spread out the beautifully undulating country between the mountain and Champlain, the lake itself, though twenty miles away, seeming to lie, with its beautiful green islands, at our very feet, while, beyond its western shore the mountains of Essex closed the view. -After enjoying the scene, we descended the mountain and continued our route.

Dec. 1832.

TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, NO. IX.

MADRID.

With an Engraving.-See page. 315.

The city of Madrid is the Capital of New Castile and of the whole Spanish Empire. It is situated on the left bank of the small stream of Manzarares, on several sand hills which form the last declivity of the mountains of Guadarrama. It is the highest capital in Europe, for its elevation is fifteen times as great as that of Paris, and nearly twice that of Geneva: it stands two thousand feet above the level of the sea, and nearly mathematically in the centre of the peninsula. There is nothing in the neighborhood of Madrid that announces the approach to a great city; it has no immediate environs, no villas of the rich inhabitants, none of those delightful little country seats usually found clustering round the walls of a capital; the country is very irregular, broken into an infinite succession of misshapen hills, totally destitute of wood and even of vines, and the villages being generally in hollows, there is little to relieve the dreariness of the scene.-But the view of the city itself, when seen from a neighboring mountain across the intervening valley of Manzarares, is extremely imposing; it offers a compact mass, crowned every where with countless domes of temples and palaces, which convey, in a high degree, the idea of magnificence and splendor. -The streets in Madrid are straight and, in general, wider than those in most cities in Europe; a fact which is probably owing to its being almost entirely modern, and being built under royal patronage. For although the Spaniards would carry back its origin to a period anterior to the foundation of Rome, the first mention that is any where made of it in history is in the tenth century, two hundred and twenty five years after the Moorish invasion, and the first king of Castile who was proclaimed in it was Don Enrique the third, in 1394.The principal streets are paved with square blocks of stone and they all meet in an open place in the heart of the city called the Puerta del sol, or gate of the sun. In former times it was the eastern gate of the city, but when the court came to Madrid, the nobility who follow