Read the two passages about the destruction of Pompei.There was found a skeleton with a bronze axe, having attempted to break through the wall next to him. It is not unreasonable to suppose that he was . . . unable to flee by means of the courtyard, where the volcanic debris was too abundant, had attempted to make his way through the opposite wall.–François de Paule LatapieA cloud . . . was ascending, the appearance of which I cannot give you a more exact description of than by likening it to that of a pine tree, for it shot up to a great height in the form of a very tall trunk, which spread itself out at the top into a sort of branches.–Letter to Cornelius Tacitus, Pliny the Younger