The lava carried vast masses of burnt stone and sulphur
on its surface, like dross on melted lead, and nothing
was visible toward Bosco Trecase but endless acres
of dark scoriae, broken here and there by the greenish,
curling smoke of sulphur. At one point a great
cone pine tree, torn up by its roots and turned to
black charcoal, stuck out of the mass at a sharp angle.
The air was almost unbearable, the heat intense, and
few could long bear the dangers and discomfort of the
situation.
The greatest depth of ashes encountered was in the
vicinity of Ottajano. Here large areas were buried
to a depth of several feet. Soldiers had been
sent there with military carts, carrying provisions
and surgical appliances, with orders to lend their
aid in the work of relief. They found it almost
impossible to make their way through the deep fine
dust, and the tales of horror and heroism they had
to tell resembled those that must of old have been
borne to Rome by the fleeing inhabitants of Pompeii.
Efforts were made to remove the children and old persons
in the carts, but when these had gone a few hundred
feet it was found that, although there were four horses
harnessed to each vehicle, they could not pull their
loads through the ashes. This caused a panic among
the children, who expected to be buried in the incessant
fall from the volcano, and they fled in all directions
in the darkness and blinding rain. Searching
parties went after them, but in spite of continuous
shouting and calling no trace was found of the little
ones, and numbers of the children were undoubtedly
smothered by the ashes and sand.
Many of the inhabitants had been buried in the ruins
of their houses, and the scenes when the victims were
unearthed were often piteous and terrible. The
positions of the bodies showed that the victims had
died while in a state of great terror, the faces being
convulsed with fear. Three bodies were found
in a confessional of one of the fallen churches.
One body was that of an old woman who was sitting with
her right arm raised as though to ward off the advancing
danger. The second was that of a child about
eight years old. It was found dead in a position,
which would indicate that the child had fallen with
a little dog close to it and had died with one arm
raised across its face, to protect itself and pet
from the crumbling ruins. The third body, that
of a woman, was reduced to an unrecognizable mass.
These three victims were reverently laid side by side
while a procession of friends and relatives offered
up prayers beside them.
