were paved with broad blocks of lava; I showed
them the names on the houses and the sign-
boards hanging over the doors; in the courts
they saw the reservoirs of the fountains, orna-
mented with shells; but no stream of water
ascended from them, no songs resounded from
the richly painted apartments, where the brazen
dogs kept watch at the doors.
It was the city of the dead; Vesuvius alone
continued its eternal hymn, each verse of which
men call a new eruption. We went to the temple
of Venus, built of snow-white marble; its high
altar is erected in front of the broad steps and
between the columns grows the weeping willow;
the air was clear and blue, the mighty Vesuvius
formed the background, from which the fire
ascended like the stem of a pine-tree. Above it
in the still night lay a huge cloud of smoke,
like the pine-tree’'s crown, but of a blood red
colour.
iv singer amongst the com-
pony, a truly noble singer: for [ have myself been
-—pr tL