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Show Tilt Phlegra:a11 Field1. 2. Monte Barbaro. 1. Monte Nuovo. 4. Lucrine Lake. 3. Lake Avernus. 6. Puzzuoli. 5 The Solfu.tara. f B . . 7. Bay o au~. f a pre-existent volcano, · than the crater 0 • f 1538 was nothmg more . 1 filled during the explosiOn o . and was almost en:ue y b 11 w pool, separated from the . emams but a s a o Nothmg now r l . ised artificially. · sea by an elevatedd" b.e a.c 1, t1o a M onte N uov o is the larger .v olc.a mcf Immediately a JOimng N 1~) the Gaurus mams o Cone of Monte Barbaro (fi~. ~' t o .. t pl~obably from its deep 11 t' g1ven o 1 L s Juvenal-an appe. a I?n uta mile in diameter. . arge a circular crater, which IS b~bo duced by a single eruptwn; and is this cone, it was proba y ~~~ magnitude some of the ~argest it does n?t, per~aps, h~~l~eethere is every reason ~o bebev:s:~ of those m Ischia, w. lC. historical era. It IS .comp have been formed Wlthm t~e l\1onte Nuovo, stratified con-biefly of indurated tufa, hke Th' hill was once very ce1e- ~ormably to its conical sudr~acet.'ll cov:red with vineyards; but • • 5 an 1s s I brated for Its wme ' rt ofPlatexui. d · duced from pa ~ * . e Phlegrrean Fiel sIS re . " to which we re er This representation of th k " Campi Phlegrrel, of Sir William Hamiltot~'s ~eat '~o:h~ scenery of that country. the reader for faithful O.elineabons o ' VOLCANOS OF TilE PIILEGRJEAN FIJ~LDS. 337 when the vine ·is not in leaf it has a sterile appearance, and late in the year, when seen from the beautiful bay of Baioo, it often contrasts so strongly in verdure with Monte N uovo, which is always clothed with arbutus, myrtle, and other wild evergreens, that a stmnger might well imagine the cone of older date to be that thrown up in the sixteenth century,.,._. There is nothing, indeed, so calculated to instruct the geologist, as the striking manner in which the recent volcanic hills of Ischia, and that now under consideration, blend with the surrounding landscape. Nothing seems wanting or redundant; every part of the picture is in such perfect harmony with the rest, that the whole has the appearance of having been called into existence by a singl<: effort of creative power. What other result could we have anticipated, if Nature has ever been governed by the same laws? Each new mountain thrown up-each new tract of land raised or depressed by earthquakes- should be in perfect accordance with those previously formed, if the entire configuration of the surface has been due to a long series of similar convulsions. Were it true that the greater part of the dry land Dl'iginated simultaneously in its present state, and that additions were afterwards made slowly and spccessively; then, indeed, there might be reason to expect a strong line of demarcation between the signs of ancient and modern changes. But the continuity of the plan, and the perfect identity of the causes, are to many a source of deception, and lead them to exaggerate the energy of agents which operated in the earlier ages. In the absence of all historical information they are as unable to separate the dates of the origin of different portions of our continents, as is the stranger to determine, by their physical features alone, the distinct ages of Monte N uovo, Monte Barbaro, Astroni, and the Solfatara. The vast scale and violence of the volcanic operations in Campania, in the-olden time, has been a theme of declamation, and has been contrasted with the comparative state of quiescence of this delightful region in the modern era. Instead of inferring, from analogy, that the ancient Vesuvius was always at rest when the craters of the Phlegrrean Fields were burning,-that each * Hamilton observes, (writing in 1770,) "the new mountain produces as yet but a very sleuder vegetation," This remark was not applicable in 1828.Cam} li Phlegrooi, r• 69. Vot, I. z |
