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diff --git a/31827.txt b/31827.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2b3e884 --- /dev/null +++ b/31827.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4181 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Etna, by G. F. Rodwell + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Etna + A History of the Mountain and of its Eruptions + +Author: G. F. Rodwell + +Release Date: March 30, 2010 [EBook #31827] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ETNA *** + + + + +Produced by Steven Gibbs, Adam Styles and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + ETNA. + + [Illustration: View of Etna from Catania] + + + + + ETNA + + _A HISTORY OF THE MOUNTAIN AND + OF ITS ERUPTIONS._ + + + BY + + G. F. RODWELL, + + SCIENCE MASTER IN MARLBOROUGH COLLEGE. + + WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. + + [Illustration] + + LONDON + + C. KEGAN PAUL & CO., 1, PATERNOSTER SQUARE + + 1878 + +[_The rights of translation and of reproduction are reserved._] + + + + + I DEDICATE THIS BOOK + + TO + + MY MOTHER. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +While preparing an account of MOUNT ETNA for the Encyclopaedia +Britannica, I was surprised to find that there exists no single work in +the English language devoted to the history of the most famous volcano +in the world. I was consequently induced to considerably enlarge the +Encyclopaedia article, and the following pages are the result. The facts +recorded have been collected from various sources--German, French, +Italian, and English, and from my own observations made during the +summer of 1877. I desire to express my indebtedness to Mr. Frank Rutley, +of H.M. Geological Survey, for his careful examination of the lavas +which were collected during my ascent of the mountain, and for the +account which he has written of them; also to Mr. John Murray for +permission to copy figures from Lyell's "Principles of Geology." My +thanks are also due to Mr. George Dennis, H.M. Consul-General in Sicily; +Mr. Robert O. Franck, Vice-Consul in Catania; and to Prof. Orazio +Silvestri, for information with which they have severally supplied me. + +G. F. RODWELL. + +MARLBOROUGH, + +_September 6th, 1878._ + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER I. + +HISTORY OF THE MOUNTAIN. 1 + + Position.--Name.--Mention of Etna by early writers.--Pindar.-- + AEschylus.--Thucydides.--Virgil.--Strabo.--Lucretius.--Lucilius + Junior.--Etna the home of early myths.--Cardinal Bembo.--Fazzello.-- + Filoteo.--Early Maps of the Mountain.--Hamilton.--Houel.--Brydone.-- + Ferrara.--Recupero.--Captain Smyth.--Gemellaro; his Map of Etna.-- + Elie de Beaumont.--Abich.--Hoffmann.--Von Waltershausen's _Atlas + des Aetna_.--Lyell.--Map of the Italian Stato Maggiore.--Carlo + Gemellaro.--Orazio Silvestri. + + +CHAPTER II. + +PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE MOUNTAIN. 26 + + Height.--Radius of Vision from the summit.--Boundaries.--Area.-- + Population.--General aspect of Etna.--The Val del Bove.--Minor + Cones.--Caverns.--Position and extent of the three Regions.-- + Regione Coltivata.--Regione Selvosa.--Regione Deserta.--Botanical + Regions.--Divisions of Rafinesque-Schmaltz, and of Presl.--Animal + life in the upper Regions. + + +CHAPTER III. + +ASCENT OF THE MOUNTAIN. 43 + + The most suitable time for ascending Etna.--The Ascent commenced.-- + Nicolosi.--Etna mules.--Night journey through the upper Regions of + the mountain.--Brilliancy of the Stars.--Proposed Observatory on + Etna.--The Casa Inglesi.--Summit of the Great Crater.--Sunrise + from the summit.--The Crater.--Descent from the Mountain.-- + Effects of Refraction.--Fatigue of the Ascent. + + +CHAPTER IV. + +TOWNS SITUATED ON THE MOUNTAIN. 62 + + Paterno.--Ste. Maria di Licodia.--The site of the ancient town of + Aetna.--Biancavilla.--Aderno.--Sicilian Inns.--Adranum.--Bronte.-- + Randazzo.--Mascali.--Giarre.--Aci Reale.--Its position.--The + Scogli de'Ciclopi.--Catania, its early history, and present + condition. + + +CHAPTER V. + +ERUPTIONS OF THE MOUNTAIN. 79 + + Their frequency within the historical period.--525 B.C.--477 B.C.-- + 426 B.C.--396 B.C.--140 B.C.--134 B.C.--126 B.C.--122 B.C.-- + 49 B.C.--43 B.C.--38 B.C.--32 B.C.--40 A.D.--72.--253.--420.--812.-- + 1169.--1181.--1285.--1329.--1333.--1371.--1408.--1444.--1446.--1447.-- + Close of the Fifteenth Century.--1536.--1537.--1566.--1579.--1603.-- + 1607.--1610.--1614.--1619.--1633.--1646.--1651.--1669.--1682.-- + 1688.--1689.--1693.--1694.--1702.--1723.--1732.--1735.--1744.--1747.-- + 1755.--Flood of 1755.--1759.--1763.--1766.--1780.--1781.--1787.-- + 1792.--1797.--1798.--1799.--1800.--1802.--1805.--1808.--1809.--1811.-- + 1819.--1831.--1832.--1838.--1842.--1843.--1852.--1865.--1874.-- + General character of the Eruptions. + + +CHAPTER VI. + +GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY OF THE MOUNTAIN. 114 + + Elie de Beaumont's classification of the rocks of Etna.--Hoffman's + geological map.--Lyell's researches.--The period of earliest + eruption.--The Val del Bove.--Two craters of eruption.--Antiquity of + Etna.--The lavas of Etna.--Labradorite.--Augite.--Olivine.-- + Analcime.--Titaniferous iron.--Mr. Rutley's examination of Etna + lavas under the microscope. + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + + View of Etna from Catania _To face Title._ + Topographical Map of Etna _To face page_ 1 + Sections of Etna " 30 + Grotto delle Palombe " 36 + The Casa Inglesi and Cone of Etna " 52 + View of the Val de Bove " 58 + View of Etna from Bronte " 66 + Island of Columnar Basalt off Trezza " 74 + Geological Map of Etna " 114 + Map of the Val del Bove (woodcut) 117 + Ideal Section of Mount Etna 119 + Profile of Etna 121 + Sections of Etna Lavas seen under the Microscope, _to face p._ 138 + +[Illustration: Topographical Map of Etna] + + + + +ETNA. + +A HISTORY OF THE MOUNTAIN AND OF ITS ERUPTIONS. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +HISTORY OF THE MOUNTAIN. + + Position.--Name.--Mention of Etna by early writers.--Pindar.-- + AEschylus.--Thucydides.--Virgil.--Strabo.--Lucretius.--Lucilius + Junior.--Etna the home of early myths.--Cardinal Bembo.--Fazzello.-- + Filoteo.--Early Maps of the Mountain.--Hamilton.--Houel.--Brydone.-- + Ferrara.--Recupero.--Captain Smyth.--Gemellaro; his Map of Etna.-- + Elie de Beaumont.--Abich.--Hoffmann.--Von Waltershausen's _Atlas + des Aetna_.--Lyell.--Map of the Italian Stato Maggiore.--Carlo + Gemellaro.--Orazio Silvestri. + + +The principal mountain chain of Sicily skirts the North and a portion of +the North-eastern coast, and would appear to be a prolongation of the +Apennines. An inferior group passes through the centre of the island, +diverging towards the South, as it approaches the East coast. Between +the two ranges, and completely separated from them by the valleys of +the Alcantara and the Simeto, stands the mighty mass of Mount Etna, +which rises in solitary grandeur from the eastern sea-board of the +island. Volcanoes, by the very mode of their formation, are frequently +completely isolated; and, if they are of any magnitude, they thus +acquire an imposing contour and a majesty, which larger mountains, +forming parts of a chain, do not possess. This specially applies to +Etna. "Coelebs degit," says Cardinal Bembo, "et nullius montis dignata +conjugium, caste intra suos terminos continetur." It is not alone the +conspicuous appearance of the mountain which has made it the most famous +volcano either of ancient or modern times:--the number and violence of +its eruptions, the extent of its lava streams, its association with +antiquity, and its history prolonged over more than 2400 years, have all +tended to make it celebrated. + +The geographical position of Etna was first accurately determined by +Captain Smyth in 1814. He estimated the latitude of the highest point of +the bifid peak of the great crater at 37 deg. 43' 31" N.; and the longitude +at 15 deg. East of Greenwich. Elie de Beaumont repeated the observations in +1834 with nearly the same result; and these determinations have been +very generally adopted. In the new Italian map recently constructed by +the Stato Maggiore, the latitude of the centre of the crater is stated +to be 37 deg. 44' 55" N., and the longitude 44' 55" E. of the meridian of +Naples, which passes through the Observatory of Capo di Monte. + +According to Bochart the name of Etna is derived from the Phoenician +_athana_--a furnace; others derive it from ~aitho~--to burn. +Professor Benfey of Gottingen, a great authority on the subject, +considers that the word was created by one of the early Indo-Germanic +races. He identifies the root _ait_ with the Greek ~aith~ and the +Latin _aed_--to burn, as in _aes_-tu. The Greek name ~Aitna~ was +known to Hesiod. The more modern name, _Mongibello_, by which the +mountain is still commonly known to the Sicilians, is a combination of +the Arabic _Gibel_, and the Italian _Monte_. During the Saracenic +occupation of Sicily, Etna was called _Gibel Uttamat_--the mountain of +fire; and the last syllables of Mongibello are a relic of the Saracenic +name. A mountain near Palermo is still called Gibel Rosso--the red +mountain; and names may not unfrequently be found in the immediate +neighbourhood of Etna which are partly, or sometimes even entirely, +composed of Arabic words; such, for example, as _Alcantara_--the river +of _the bridge_. Etna is also often spoken of distinctively as _Il +Monte_--the mountain _par excellence_; a name which, in its capacity of +the largest mountain in the kingdom of Italy, and the loftiest volcano +in Europe, it fully justifies. + +Etna is frequently alluded to by classical writers. By the poets it was +sometimes feigned to be the prison of the giant Enceladus or Typhon, +sometimes the forge of Hephaistos, and the abode of the Cyclops. + +It is strange that Homer, who has so minutely described certain portions +of the contiguous Sicilian coast, does not allude to Etna. This has been +thought by some to be a proof that the mountain was in a quiescent state +during the period which preceded and coincided with the time of Homer. + +Pindar (B.C. 522-442) is the first writer of antiquity who has described +Etna. In the first of the Pythian Odes for Hieron, of the town of Aitna, +winner in the chariot race in B.C. 474, he exclaims: + +... "He (Typhon) is fast bound by a pillar of the sky, even by snowy +Etna, nursing the whole year's length her dazzling snow. Whereout pure +springs of unapproachable fire are vomited from the inmost depths: in +the daytime the lava-streams pour forth a lurid rush of smoke; but in +the darkness a red rolling flame sweepeth rocks with uproar to the wide +deep sea.... That dragon-thing (Typhon) it is that maketh issue from +beneath the terrible fiery flood."[1] + +[1] Translated by Ernest Myers, M.A., 1874. + +AEschylus (B.C. 525-456) speaks also of the "mighty Typhon," +(_Prometheus_ V.): + + . . . . . "He lies + A helpless, powerless carcase, near the strait + Of the great sea, fast pressed beneath the roots + Of ancient Etna, where on highest peak + Hephaestos sits and smites his iron red hot, + From whence hereafter streams of fire shall burst, + Devouring with fierce jaws the golden plains + Of fruitful, fair Sikelia."[2] + +[2] Translated by E. Myers. + +Herein he probably refers to the eruption which had occurred a few years +previously (B.C. 476). + +Thucydides (B.C. 471-402) alludes in the last lines of the Third Book to +several early eruptions of the mountain in the following terms: "In the +first days of this spring, the stream of fire issued from Etna, as on +former occasions, and destroyed some land of the Catanians, who live +upon Mount Etna, which is the largest mountain in Sicily. Fifty years, +it is said, had elapsed since the last eruption, there having been three +in all since the Hellenes have inhabited Sicily."[3] + +[3] Translated by E. Crawley. + +Virgil's oft-quoted description of the mountain (_Eneid_, Bk. 3) we give +in the spirited translation of Conington: + + "But Etna with her voice of fear + In weltering chaos thunders near. + Now pitchy clouds she belches forth + Of cinders red, and vapour swarth; + And from her caverns lifts on high + Live balls of flame that lick the sky: + Now with more dire convulsion flings + Disploded rocks, her heart's rent strings, + And lava torrents hurls to-day + A burning gulf of fiery spray." + +Many other early writers speak of the mountain, among them Theokritos, +Aristotle, Ovid, Livy, Seneca, Lucretius, Pliny, Lucan, Petronius, +Cornelius Severus, Dion Cassius, Strabo, Diodorus Siculus, and Lucilius +Junior. Seneca makes various allusions to Etna, and mentions the fact +that lightning sometimes proceeded from its smoke. + +Strabo has given a very fair description of the mountain. He asserts +that in his time the upper part of it was bare, and covered with ashes, +and in winter with snow, while the lower slopes were clothed with +forests. The summit was a plain about twenty stadia in circumference, +surrounded by a ridge, within which there was a small hillock, the smoke +from which ascended to a considerable height. He further mentions a +second crater. Etna was commonly ascended in Strabo's time from the +south-west. + +While the poets on the one hand had invested the mountain with various +supernatural attributes, and had made it the prison-house of a chained +giant, and the workshop of a swart god, Lucretius endeavoured to show +that the eruptions and other phenomena could be easily explained by the +ordinary operations of nature. "And now at last," he writes, "I will +explain in what ways yon flame, roused to fury in a moment, blazes forth +from the huge furnaces of Aetna. And, first, the nature of the whole +mountain is hollow underneath, underpropped throughout with caverns of +basalt rocks. Furthermore, in all caves are wind and air, for wind is +produced when the air has been stirred and put in motion. When this air +has been thoroughly heated, and, raging about, has imparted its heat to +all the rocks around, wherever it comes in contact with them, and to the +earth, and has struck out from them fire burning with swift flames, it +rises up and then forces itself out on high, straight through the +gorges; and so carries its heat far, and scatters far its ashes, and +rolls on smoke of a thick pitchy blackness, and flings out at the same +time stones of prodigious weight--leaving no doubt that this is the +stormy force of air. Again, the sea, to a great extent, breaks its waves +and sucks back its surf at the roots of that mountain. Caverns reach +from this sea as far as the deep gorges of the mountain below. Through +these you must admit [that air mixed up with water passes; and] the +nature of the case compels [this air to enter in from that] open sea, +and pass right within, and then go out in blasts, and so lift up flame, +and throw out stones, and raise clouds of sand; for on the summit are +craters, as they name them in their own language, what we call gorges +and mouths."[4] + +[4] _De Natura Rerum_, Book 6, p. 580. Translated by E. Munro 1864. + +These ideas were developed by Lucilius Junior in a poem consisting of +644 hexameters entitled _Aetna_. The authorship of this poem has long +been a disputed point; it has been attributed to Virgil, Claudian, +Quintilius Varus, Manilius, and, by Joseph Scaliger[5] and others, to +Cornelius Severus. Wensdorff was the first to adduce reasons for +attributing the poem to Lucilius Junior, and his views are generally +adopted. Lucilius Junior was Procurator of Sicily under Nero, and, while +resident in the Island, he ascended Etna; and it is said that he +proposed writing a detailed history of the mountain. He adopted the +scientific opinions of Epicurus, as established in Rome by Lucretius, +and was more immediately a disciple of Seneca. The latter dedicated to +him his _Quaestiones Naturales_, in which he alludes more than once to +Etna. M. Chenu speaks of the poem of Lucilius Junior as "sans doute +tres-poetique, mais assez souvent dur, heurte, concis, et parcela meme, +d'une obscurite parfois desesperante."[6] At the commencement of the +poem, Lucilius ridicules the ideas of the poets as regards the +connection of Etna with Vulcan and the Cyclops. He has no belief in the +practice, which apparently prevailed in his time, of ascending to the +edge of the crater and there offering incense to the tutelary gods of +the mountain. He adopts to a great extent the tone and style of +Lucretius, in his explanation of the phenomena of the mountain. Water +filters through the crevices and cracks in the rocks, until it comes +into contact with the internal fires, when it is converted into vapour +and expelled with violence. The internal fires are nourished by the +winds which penetrate into the mountain. He traces some curious +connection between the plants which grow upon the mountain, and the +supply of sulphur and bitumen to the interior, which is, at best, but +partly intelligible. + +[5] See Lucilius Junioris AETNA. Recensuit notasque Jos. Scaligeri, +Frid. Lindenbruchii et suas addidit Fridericus Jacob. Lipsiae, 1826. + +[6] L'Etna de Lucilius Junior. Traduction nouvelle par Jules Chenu. +Paris, 1843. + + "Nunc superant, quacunque regant incendia silvae + Quae flammis alimenta vacent, quid nutriat Aetnam. + Incendi patiens illis vernacula caulis + Materia, appositumque igni genus utile terrae est, + Uritur assidue calidus nunc sulfuris humor, + Nunc spissus crebro praebetur flumine succus, + Pingue bitumen adest, et quidquid cominus acres + Irritat flammas; illius corporis AEtna est. + Atque hanc materiam penitus discurrere fontes + Infectae erumpunt et aquae radice sub ipsa." + +Many of the myths developed by the earlier poets had their home in the +immediate neighbourhood, sometimes upon the very sides, of Etna--Demeter +seeking Persephone; Acis and Galatea; Polyphemus and the Cyclops. Mr. +Symonds tells us that the one-eyed giant Polyphemus was Etna itself, +with its one great crater, while the Cyclops were the many minor cones. +"Persephone was the patroness of Sicily, because amid the billowy +corn-fields of her mother Demeter, and the meadow-flowers she loved in +girlhood, are ever found sulphurous ravines, and chasms breathing vapour +from the pit of Hades."[7] + +[7] Sketches in Italy and Greece, p. 201. + +It is said that both Plato and the Emperor Hadrian ascended Etna in +order to witness the sunrise from its summit. The story of + + "He who to be deemed + A god, leaped fondly into Etna flames, + Empedokles" + +is too trite to need repetition. A ruined tower near the head of the Val +del Bove, 9,570 feet above the sea, has from time immemorial been called +the _Torre del Filosofo_, and is asserted to have been the observatory +of Empedokles. Others regard it as the remains of a Roman tower, which +was possibly erected on the occasion of Hadrian's ascent of the +mountain. + +During the Middle Ages Etna is frequently alluded to, among others by +Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, and Cardinal Bembo. The latter gives a +description of the mountain in the form of a dialogue, which Ferrara +characterises as "_erudito, e grecizzante, ma sensa nervi_." He +describes its general appearance, its well-wooded sides, and sterile +summit. When he visited the mountain it had two craters about a stone's +throw apart; the larger of the two was said to be about three miles in +circumference, and it stood somewhat above the other.[8] + +[8] Petri Bembi DE AETNA. Ad Angelum Chabrielem Liber Impressum Venetiis +Aedibus Aldi Romani. Mense Februario anno M.V.D. (1495). + +In 1541 Fazzello made an ascent of the mountain, which he briefly +describes in the fourth chapter of his bulky volume _De Rebus +Siculis_.[9] This chapter is entitled "_De Aetna monte et ejus +ignibus_;" it contains a short history of the mountain, and some mention +of the principal towns which he enumerates in the following order: +Catana, Tauromenium, Caltabianco, Linguagrossa, Castroleone, +Francavilla, Rocella, Randatio (Randazzo), Bronte, Adrano, Paterno, and +Motta. Fazzello speaks of only one crater. + +[9] Fazzellus T. DE REBUS SICULIS. Panormi, 1558; folio. + +In 1591 Antonio Filoteo, who was born on Etna, published a work in +Venice in which he describes the general features of the mountain, and +gives a special account of an eruption which he witnessed in 1536.[10] +The mountain was then, as now, divided into three _Regions_. The first +and uppermost of these, he asserts, is very arid, rugged, and uneven, +and full of broken rocks; the second is covered with forests; and the +third is cultivated in the ordinary manner. Of the height he remarks, +"Ascensum triginta circiter millia passuum ad plus habet." In regard to +the name, _Mongibello_, he makes a curious error, deriving it from +_Mulciber_, one of the names of Vulcan, who, as we have seen, was +feigned by the earlier poets to have had his forge within the mountain. + +[10] Antonii Philothei de Homodeis Siculi, AETNAE TOPOGRAPHIA, +incendiorum Aetnaeorum Historia. Venetiis. 1591. Preface dated September, +1590. + +In 1636 Carrera gave an account of Etna, followed by that of the Jesuit +Kircher, in 1638. The great eruption of 1669 was described at length by +various eye-witnesses, and furnished the subject of the first detailed +description of the eruptive phenomena of the mountain. Public attention +was now very generally drawn to the subject in all civilised countries. +It was described by the naturalist, Borelli, and in our own +_Philosophical Transactions_. Lord Winchelsea, our ambassador at +Constantinople, was returning to England by way of the Straits of +Messina at the time of the eruption, and he forwarded to Charles II "A +true and exact relation of the late prodigious earthquake and eruption +of Mount AEtna, or Monte Gibello." + +The first map of the mountain which we have been able to meet with, +was published in reference to the eruption of 1669; it is entitled, +"Plan du Mont Etna communenent dit Mount Gibel en l'Isle de Scicille +et de t'incedie arrive par un treblement de terre le 8me Mars dernier +1669." This plan is in the Bibliotheque Nationale, in Paris; it was +probably drawn from a simple description, or perhaps altogether from +the imagination, as it is utterly unlike the mountain, the sides of +which possess an impossible steepness. Another very inaccurate map was +published in Nuremberg about 1680, annexed to a map of Sicily, which +is entitled, "_Regnorum Siciliae et Sardiniae, Nova Tabula_." Again, in +1714 H. Moll, "geographer in Devereux Street, Strand," published a new +map of Italy, in which there is a representation of Etna during the +eruption of 1669. This also was probably drawn from the imagination; +no one who has ever seen the mountain would recognise it, for it has +a small base, and sides which rival the Matterhorn in abruptness. +Over against the coast of Sicily, and near the mountain, is +written:--"Mount Etna, or Mount Gibello. This mountain sometimes +issues out pure flame, and at other times a thick smoak with ashes; +streams of fire run down with great quantities of burning stones, and +has made many eruptions." + +During the eighteenth century Etna was frequently ascended, and as +frequently described. We have the accounts of Massa (1703), Count +D'Orville (1727), Riedesel (1767), Sir William Hamilton (1769), Brydone +(1776), Houel (1786), Dolomieu (1788), Spallanzani (1790), and many +minor writers, such as Borch, Brocchi, Swinburne, Denon, and Faujas de +Saint Fond. There is great sameness in all of these narratives, and much +repetition of the same facts; some of them, however, merit a passing +notice. + +Sir William Hamilton's _Campi Phlegraei_ relates mainly to Vesuvius and +the surrounding neighbourhood; but one of the letters "addressed to the +Secretary of the Royal Society on October 17th, 1769," describes an +ascent of Etna. Hamilton ascended on June 24th with the Canon Recupero +and other companions; the few observations of any value which he made +have been alluded to elsewhere under the head of the special subjects to +which they refer. The illustrations of the _Campi Phlegraei_, specially +the original water-colours which are contained in one of the British +Museum copies, are magnificent, and convey a better idea of volcanic +phenomena than any amount of simple reading. From them we can well +realise the opening of a long rift extending down the sides of a +mountain during its eruption, and the formation of subsidiary craters +along the line of fire thus opened. Various volcanic products are also +admirably painted. In the picture of Etna, however, which was drawn by +Antonio Fabris, the artist has scarcely been more successful than his +predecessors, and the slope of the sides of the mountain has been +greatly exaggerated. + +M. Houel, in his _Voyage pittoresque dans les Deux Siciles_, 1781-1786, +has given a fairly good account of Etna, accompanied by some really +excellent engravings. + +In 1776 Patrick Brydone, a clever Irishman with a good deal of native +shrewdness and humour, published two volumes of a _Tour in Sicily and +Malta_, in which he devoted several chapters to Mount Etna. He made the +ascent of the mountain, and collected from the Canon Recupero, and from +others, many facts concerning its then present, and its past history. He +also made observations as to the height, temperature of the air at +various elevations, brightness of the stars, and so on. Sir William +Hamilton calls Brydone "a very ingenious and accurate observer," and +adds that he was well acquainted with Alpine measurements. M. Elie de +Beaumont, writing in 1836, speaks of him as _le celebre Brydone_; while, +on the other hand, the Abbe Spallanzani, displeased at certain remarks +which he made concerning Roman Catholicism in Sicily, never fails to +deprecate his work, and deplores "his trivial and insipid pleasantries." +Albeit Brydone's chapters on Etna furnished a more complete account of +the volcano than any which had appeared in English up to that time; his +remarks are frequently very sound and just, and we shall have occasion +more than once to quote him. + +It was reserved, however, for the Abate Francesco Ferrara, Professor of +Physical Science in the University of Catania, to furnish the first +history of Etna and of its eruptions, which had any just claim to +completeness. It is entitled, _Descrizione dell' Etna, con la Storia +delle Eruzioni e il Catalogo del prodotti_. The first edition appeared +in 1793, and a second was printed in Palermo in 1818. The author had an +enthusiastic love for his subject:--"Nato sopra l'Etna," he writes, "che +io conobbi ben presto palmo a palmo la mia passione per lo studio fisso +la mia attenzione sul bello, e terribile fenomeno che avea avanti agli +occhi." The work commences with a general description of the +mountain--its height, the temperature of the different regions, the view +from the summit, the mass, the water-springs, the vegetable and animal +life, and the internal fires. This extends over sixty-nine octavo pages. +The second part of the book--eighty pages--gives a history of the +eruptions from the earliest times to the year 1811; the third +part--sixty-seven pages--treats of the nature of the volcanic products; +and the fourth part--thirty-four pages--discusses certain geological and +physical considerations concerning the mountain. At the end there are a +few badly drawn and engraved woodcuts, and a map which, although the +trend of the coast-line is quite wrong, is otherwise fairly good. The +engravings represent the mountain as seen from Catania; the Isole dei +Ciclopi, and the neighbouring coast; the Montagna della Motta; and a +view from Catania of the eruption of 1787. This work has evidently to a +great extent been a labour of love; it is full of personal observations, +and also embodies the results of many other observers. It has furnished +the foundation of much that has since been written concerning Etna. + +The Canon Recupero has been alluded to above; he accompanied Hamilton, +Brydone, and others to the summit of the mountain, and he was employed +by the Government to report on the flood which, in 1755, descended with +extraordinary violence through the Val del Bove. Beyond this, Recupero +does not appear to have published anything concerning Etna, although it +was well known that he had plenty of materials. He died in 1778, and it +was not till the year 1815 that his results were published under the +title of _Storia Naturale et Generale dell' Etna, del Canonico Giuseppe +Recupero.--Opera Postuma_. This work consists of two bulky quarto +volumes, the first of which is devoted to a general description of the +mountain, the second to a history of the eruptions, and an account of +the products of eruptions. Some idea may be formed of the extreme +prolixity of the author if we mention that two chapters, together +containing twelve quarto pages, are devoted to the discussion of the +height of Etna, while the first volume is terminated by sixty-three +closely printed pages of annotations. A few rough woodcuts accompany the +volumes; a view of the mountain which, as usual, is out of all reason +as regards abruptness of ascent, and a _carta oryctographia di +Mongibello_ in which the trend of the coast-line between Catania and +Taormina is altogether inexact, complete the illustrations of this most +detailed of histories. + +During the years 1814-1816 Captain Smyth, acting under orders from the +Admiralty, made a survey of the coast of Sicily, and of the adjacent +islands. At this time the Mediterranean charts were very defective; some +places on the coast of Sicily were mapped as much as twenty miles out of +their true position, and even the exact positions of the observatories +at Naples, Palermo, and Malta were not known. Among other results, Smyth +carefully determined the latitude and longitude of Etna, accurately +measured its height, and examined the surroundings of the mountain. His +results were published in 1824, and are often regarded as the most +accurate that we possess. + +In 1824 Dr. Joseph Gemellaro, who lived all his life on the mountain, +and made it his constant study, published an "Historical and +Topographical Map of the Eruptions of Etna from the era of the Sicani to +the year 1824." In it he delineates the extent of the three Regions, +_Coltivata_, _Selvosa_, and _Deserta_; he places the minor cones, to the +number of seventy-four, in their proper places, and he traces the course +of the various lava-streams which have flowed from them and from the +great crater. This map is the result of much patient labour and study, +and it is a great improvement upon those of Ferrara and Recupero, but of +course it is impossible for one man to survey with much accuracy an area +of nearly 500 square miles, and to trace the tortuous course of a large +number of lava-streams. Hence we must be prepared for inaccuracies, and +they are not uncommon--the coast line is altogether wrong as to its +bearings, some of the small towns on the sides of the mountain are +misplaced, and but little attention has been paid to scale. Still the +map is very useful, as it is the only one which shows the course of the +lava-streams. + +Mario Gemellaro, brother of the preceding, made almost daily +observations of the condition of Etna, between the years 1803 and 1832. +These results were tabulated, and they are given in the _Vulcanologia +dell' Etna_ of his brother, Professor Carlo Gemellaro, under the title of +_Registro di Osservazioni del Sigr. Mario Gemellaro_. + +Carlo Gemellaro contributed many memoirs on subjects connected with the +mountain. They are chiefly to be found in the _Atti dell' Accademia +Gioenia_ of Catania, and they extend over a number of years. Perhaps the +most important is the treatise entitled "_La Vulcanologia dell' Etna che +comprende la Topographia, la Geologia, la Storia, delle sue Eruzioni_." +It was published in Catania in 1858, and is dedicated to Sir Charles +Lyell, who ascended the mountain under the guidance of the author. The +latter also published a _Breve Raggualio della Eruzione dell' Etna, del +21 Agosto 1852_, which contains the most authentic account of this +important eruption, accompanied by some graphic sketches made on the +spot. The last contribution of Carlo Gemellaro to the history of Etna, +is fitly entitled _Un Addio al Maggior Vulcano di Europa_. It was +published in 1866, and with pardonable vanity the author reviews his +work in connection with the mountain, extending over a period of more +than forty years. He commences his somewhat florid farewell with the +following apostrophe:--"O Etna! splendida e perenne manifestazione della +esistenza dei Fuochi sotteranei massimo fra quanti altri monti, dalle +coste meridionali di Europa, dalle orientali dell' Asia e delle +settentrionali dell' Africa si specchiano nel Mediterraneo: tremendo pei +tuoi incendii: benigno per la fertilita del vulcanico tuo terreno +ridotto a prospera coltivazione ... io, nato appie del vasto tuo cono, +in quella Citta che hai minacciato piu d'una volta di sepellire sotto le +tue infocate correnti: allogato, nella mia prima eta, in una stanza +della casa paterna, che signoreggiava in allora piu basse abizioni +vicine, ed intiera godeva la veduta della estesa parte meridionale della +tua mole, io non potera non averti di continuo sotto gli occhi, e non +essere spettatore dei tuoi visibili fenomeni!" + +In 1834, M. Elie de Beaumont commenced a minute geological examination +of the mountain. His results were published in 1838, under the title of +_Recherches sur la structure et sur l'origine du Mont Etna_, and they +extend over 225 pages.[11] He re-determined the latitude and longitude +of the mountain, measured the slope of the cone, and the diameter of the +great crater, and minutely examined the structure of the rocks at the +base of the mountain. He also gives a good sectional view, elevations +taken from each quarter of the compass, and a geological map, which +although accurate in its general details, can scarcely be considered +very satisfactory. A relief map of Etna, a copy of which is in the Royal +School of Mines, was afterwards constructed from the flat map, and this +was, we believe, at the same time, the first geological map, and the +first map in relief, which had been made of the mountain. Elie de +Beaumont considers granite as the basis of the mountain, because it is +sometimes ejected from the crater; old basaltic rocks appear in the +Isole dei Ciclopi, and near Paterno, Licodia, and Aderno; _cailloux +roules_ near Motta; ancient lavas on each side of the Val del Bove; +modern lavas in every part of the mountain, and calcareous and +arenaceous rocks in the surrounding mountains. + +[11] Printed in vol. IV. of _Memoires pour servir a une description +Geologique de la France_. Par M.M. Dufrenoy et Elie de Beaumont. + +In 1836, Abich published some excellent sections of Etna, and an +accurate view of the interior of the crater, in a work entitled _Vues +illustratives de quelques Phenomenes Geologiques prises sur le Vesuve et +l'Etna pendant les annees 1833 and 1834_. + +The whole of the thirteenth volume (1839) of the Berlin _Archiv fuer +Mineralogie, Geognosie, Berghau und Huettenkunde_, is occupied by an +elaborate memoir on the geology of Sicily[12] by Friedrich Hoffmann, +accompanied by an excellent geological map. A long account of the +geology of Etna is given, and an enlarged map of the mountain was +afterwards constructed and published in the _Vulkanen Atlas_ of Dr. +Leonhard in 1850.[13] + +[12] Entitled _Geognostiche Beobachtungen Gesammelt auf einer Reise +durch Italian und Sicilien, in den jahren 1830 bis 1832, von Friedrich +Hoffmann_. + +[13] _Vulkanen Atlas zur naturgeschichte der Erde von K. G. Von +Leonhard._ Stuttgardt. 1850. + +In 1836 Baron Sartorius Von Waltershausen commenced a minute survey of +Etna, preparatory to a complete description of the mountain, both +geological and otherwise. He was assisted by Professor Cavallari of +Palermo, Professor Peters of Hensbourg, and Professor Roos of Mayence. +The survey occupied six years, (1836-1842), and the results of direct +observation in the form of maps and drawings, occupied a hundred sheets +160 millimetres (6-1/4 inches) long, by 133 m.m. (5-1/4 inches) broad. +Twenty-nine separate points were made use of in the triangulation; and +the scale chosen was 1 in 50,000. The results were published in a large +folio atlas, which appeared in eight parts; the first in 1845 and the +last in 1861, when the death of Von Waltershausen put an end to the +further publication. There are 26 fine coloured maps, and 31 engravings. +The cost of the atlas is L12. The maps are both geological and +topographical, and they are accompanied by outline engravings of various +details of special interest. The _Atlas des Aetna_ furnishes the most +exhaustive history of any one mountain on the face of the earth, and +Sartorius Von Waltershausen will always be the principal authority on +the subject of Etna. + +Sir Charles Lyell visited Etna in 1824, 1857, and again in 1858. He +embodied his researches in a paper presented to the Royal Society in +1859, and in a lengthy chapter in the _Principles of Geology_. His +investigations have added much to our knowledge of the formation and +geological characteristics of the mountain, especially of that part of +it called the Val del Bove. + +Later writers usually quote Von Waltershausen and Lyell, and do not add +much original matter. The facts of all subsequent writers are taken more +or less directly from these authors. The latest addition to the +literature of the mountain, is the _Wanderungen am Aetna_ of Dr. +Baltzer, in the journal of the Swiss Alpine Club for 1874.[14] + +[14] Jahrbuch des Schweizer Alpen Club. Neunter Jahrgang, 1873-1874. +Bern 1874. + +A fine map of Sicily, on the unusually large scale of 1 in 50,000, or +1.266 inch to a mile, was constructed by the Stato Maggiore of the +Italian government, between 1864 and 1868. The portion relating to Etna, +and its immediate surroundings occupies four sheets. All the small roads +and rivulets are introduced; the minor cones and monticules are placed +in their proper positions, and the elevation of the ground is given at +short intervals of space over the entire map. An examination of this map +shows us that distances, areas, and heights, have been repeatedly +misstated, the minor cones misplaced, and the trend of the coast line +misrepresented. For example, if we draw a line due north and south +through Catania, and a second line from the Capo di Taormina, (the +north-eastern limit of the base of Etna), until it meets the first line +at Catania, the lines, will be found to enclose an angle of 26 deg.. If we +adopt the same plan with Gemellaro's map, the included angle is found to +be 53 deg., and in the case of the maps of Ferrara and Recupero more than +60 deg.. Again, it has been stated on good authority, that the lava of 396 +B.C. which enters the sea at Capo di Schiso flowed for a distance of +nearly 30 miles; the map shows us that its true course was less than 16 +miles. Lyell in 1858 gives a section of the mountain from West 20 deg. N., +to East 20 deg. S., but a comparison with the new map proves that the +section is really taken from West 35 deg. N. to East 35 deg. S., an error which +at a radius of ten miles from the crater would amount to a difference of +nearly three miles. + +The mantle of Carlo Gemellaro appears to have fallen upon Cav. Orazio +Silvestri, Professor of Chemistry in the University of Catania. He has +devoted himself with unwearying vigour to the study of the mountain, and +his memoirs have done much to elucidate its past and present history. +His most recent work of importance on the subject is entitled _I +Fenomeni Vulcanici presentati dall'Etna nel 1863-64-65-66_. It was +published in Catania in 1867, and contains an account of some very +elaborate chemico-geological researches. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE MOUNTAIN. + + Height.--Radius of Vision from the summit.--Boundaries.--Area.-- + Population.--General aspect of Etna.--The Val del Bove.--Minor + Cones.--Caverns.--Position and extent of the three Regions.--Regione + Coltivata.--Regione Selvosa.--Regione Deserta.--Botanical Regions.-- + Divisions of Rafinesque-Schmaltz, and of Presl.--Animal life in the + upper Regions. + + +In the preceding chapter we have discussed the history of Mount Etna; +the references to its phenomena afforded by writers of various periods; +and the present state of the literature of the subject. We have now to +consider the general aspect and physical features of the mountain, +together with the divisions of its surface into distinct regions. + +The height of Etna has been often determined. The earlier writers had +very extravagant notions on the subject, and three miles has sometimes +been assigned to it. Brydone, Saussure, Shuckburgh, Irvine, and others, +obtained approximations to the real height; it must be borne in mind, +however, that the cone of a volcano is liable to variations in height at +different periods, and a diminution of as much as 300 feet occurred +during one of the eruptions of Etna, owing to the falling in of the +upper portion of the crater. During the last sixty years, however, the +height of the mountain has been practically constant. In 1815 Captain +Smyth determined it to be 10,874 feet. In 1824 Sir John Herschel, who +was unacquainted with Smyth's results, estimated it at 10,872-1/2 feet. +The new map of the Stato Maggiore gives 3312.61 metres = 10867.94 feet. + +When the Canon Recupero devoted two chapters of his quarto volume to a +discussion of the height of Etna, no such exact observations had been +made, consequently he compared, and critically examined, the various +determinations which then existed. The almost perfect concordance of the +results given by Smyth, Herschel, and the Stato Maggiore, render it +unnecessary for us to further discuss a subject about which there can +now be no difference of opinion. + +Professor Jukes says, "If we were to put Snowdon, the highest mountain +in Wales, on the top of Ben Nevis, the highest in Scotland, and +Carrantuohill, the highest in Ireland, on the summit of both, we should +make a mountain but a very little higher than Etna, and we should +require to heap up a great number of other mountains round the flanks of +our new one in order to build a gentle sloping pile which should equal +Etna in bulk." + +The extent of radius of vision from the summit of Etna is very variously +stated. The exaggerated notions of the earlier writers, that the coast +of Africa and of Greece are sometimes visible, may be at once set aside. +Lord Ormonde's statement that he saw the Gulf of Taranta, and the +mountains of Terra di Lecce beyond it--a distance of 245 miles--must be +received with caution. It is, however, a fact that Malta, 130 miles +distant, is often visible; and Captain Smyth asserts that a considerable +portion of the upper part of the mountain may sometimes be seen, and +that he once saw more than half of it, from Malta, although that island +is usually surrounded by a sea-horizon. It is stated on good authority +that Monte S. Giuliano above Trapani, and the OEgadean Isles, 160 miles +distant, are sometimes seen. Other writers give 128 miles as the limit. +The fact is, that atmospheric refraction varies so much with different +conditions of the atmosphere that it is almost impossible to give any +exact statement. The more so when we remember that there may be many +layers of atmosphere of different density between the observer and the +horizon. Distant objects seem to be just under one's feet when seen from +the summit of the mountain. Smyth gives the radius of vision as 150.7 +miles: and this we are inclined to adopt as the nearest approach to the +truth, because Smyth was an accurate observer, and he made careful +corrections both for error of instruments and for refraction. This +radius gives an horizon of 946.4 miles of circumference, and an +included area of 39,900 square miles--larger than the area of Ireland. +If a circle be traced with the crater of Etna as a centre, and a radius +of 150.7 miles, it will be found to take in the whole of Sicily and +Malta, to cut the western coast of Italy at Scalca in Calabria, leaving +the south-east coast near Cape Rizzuto. Such a circle will include the +whole of Ireland, or if we take Derby as the centre, its circumference +will touch the sea beyond Yarmouth on the East, the Isle of Wight on the +South, the Irish Channel on the West, and it will pass beyond Carlisle +and Newcastle-on-Tyne on the North. + +The road which surrounds the mountain is carried along its lower slopes, +and is 87 miles in length. It passes through the towns of Paterno, +Aderno, Bronte, Randazzo, Linguaglossa, Giarre, and Aci Reale. It is +considered by some writers to define the base of the mountain, which is +hence most erroneously said to have a circumference of 87 miles; but the +road frequently passes over high beds of lava, and winds considerably. +It is about 10 miles from the crater on the North, East, and West sides, +increasing to 15-1/2 miles at Paterno, (S.W.). The elevation on the North +and West flanks of the mountain is nearly 2,500 feet, while on the South +it falls to 1,500 feet, and on the East to within 50 feet of the level +of the sea. It is quite clear that it cannot be asserted with any +degree of accuracy to define the base of the mountain. + +[Illustration: Sections of Etna] + +The "natural boundaries" of Etna are the rivers Alcantara and Simeto on +the North, West, and South, and the sea on the East to the extent of 23 +miles of coast, along which lava streams have been traced, sometimes +forming headlands several hundred feet in height. The base of the +mountain, as defined by these natural boundaries, is said to have a +circumference of "at least 120 miles," an examination of the new map, +however, proves that this is over-estimated. + +If we take the sea as the eastern boundary, the river Alcantara, +(immediately beyond which Monte di Mojo, the most northerly minor cone +of Etna is situated), as the northern boundary, and the river Simeto as +the boundary on the west and south, we obtain a circumference of 91 +miles for the base of Etna. In this estimate the small sinuosities of +the river have been neglected, and the southern circuit has been +completed by drawing a line from near Paterno to Catania, because the +Simeto runs for the last few miles of its course through the plain of +Catania, quite beyond the most southerly stream of lava. The Simeto +(anciently _Simaethus_) is called the Giaretta along the last three miles +of its course, after its junction with the Gurna Longa. + +The area of the region enclosed by these boundaries is approximately 480 +square miles. Reclus gives the area of the mountain as 1,200 square +kilometres--461 square miles. (_Nouvelle Geographie Universelle_, 1875.) +The last edition of a standard Gazetteer states it as "849 square +miles;" but this estimate is altogether absurd. This would require a +circle having a radius of between sixteen and seventeen miles. If a +circle be drawn with a radius of sixteen miles from the crater, it will +pass out to sea to a distance of 4-1/2 miles on the East, while on the +West and North it will pass through limestone and sandstone formations +far beyond the Alcantara and the Simeto, and beyond the limit of the +lava streams. + +There are two cities, Catania and Aci Reale, and sixty-two towns or +villages on Mount Etna. It is far more thickly populated than any other +part of Sicily or Italy, for while the population of the former is 228 +per square mile, and of the latter 233, the population of the habitable +zone of Etna amounts to 1,424 per square mile. More than 300,000 persons +live on the slopes of the mountain. Thus with an area rather larger than +that of Bedfordshire (462 square miles) the mountain has more than +double the population; and with an area equal to about one-third that of +Wiltshire, the population of the mountain is greater by nearly 50,000 +inhabitants. We have stated above that the area of Etna is 480 square +miles, but it must be borne in mind that the habitable zone only +commences at a distance of about 9-1/4 miles from the crater. A circle, +having a radius of 9-1/4 miles, encloses an area of 269 square miles; +and 480 minus 269 leaves 211 square miles as the approximate area of the +habitable zone. Only a few insignificant villages on the East side are +nearer to the crater than 9-1/4 miles. Taking the inhabitants as +300,000, we find, by dividing this number by 211, (the area of the +habitable zone), that the population amounts to 1,424 per square mile. +Even Lancashire, the most populous county in Great Britain, (of course +excepting Middlesex), and the possessor of two cities, which alone +furnish more than a million inhabitants, has a population of only 1,479 +to the square mile. + +Some idea of the closeness of the towns and villages may be found by +examining the south-east corner of the map. If we draw a line from Aci +Reale to Nicolosi, and from Nicolosi to Catania, we enclose a nearly +equilateral triangle, having the coast line between Aci Reale and +Catania as its third side. + +Starting from Aci Reale with 24,151 inhabitants, and moving westwards to +Nicolosi, we come in succession to Aci S. Lucia, Aci Catena, Aci S. +Antonio, Via Grande, Tre Castagni, Pedara, Nicolosi, completing the +first side of the triangle; then turning to the south-east and following +the Catania road, we pass Torre di Grifo, Mascalucia, Gravina, and reach +Catania with 85,055 inhabitants; while on the line of coast between +Catania and Aci Reale we have Ognina, Aci Castello, and Trezza. Within +the triangle we find Aci Patane, Aci S. Filippo, Valverde, Bonacorsi, S. +Gregorio, Tremestieri, Piano, S. Agata, Trappeto, and S. Giovanni la +Punta: in all twenty-five, two of which are cities, several of the +others towns of about 3,000 inhabitants, and the rest villages. These +are all included within an area of less than thirty square miles, which +constitutes the most populous portion of the habitable zone of Etna. + +That the population is rapidly increasing is well shown by a comparison +of the number of inhabitants of some of the more important towns in 1824 +and in 1876.[15] + + _1824_ _1876_ + + Catania 45,081 85,055 + Aci Reale 14,094 24,151 + Giarre 13,705 17,965 + Paterno 9,808 16,512 + Aderno 6,623 15,657 + Bronte 9,153 15,081 + Biancavilla 5,870 13,261 + Linguaglossa 2,415 9,120 + Randazzo 4,700 8,378 + Piedimonte Etnea 1,404 4,924 + Zaffarana Etnea 700 3,884 + Pedara 2,068 3,181 + Trecastagni 2,406 3,061 + +[15] I am indebted for these figures to Mr. George Dennis, H.M. Consul +General for Sicily. + +The general aspect of Etna is that of a pretty regular cone, covered +with vegetation, except near the summit. The regularity is broken on the +East side by a slightly oval valley, four or five miles in diameter, +called the _Val del Bove_, or in the language of the district Val del +_Bue_. This commences about two miles from the summit, and is bounded on +three sides by nearly vertical precipices from 3,000 to 4,000 feet in +height. The bottom of the valley is covered with lavas of various date, +and several minor craters have from time to time been upraised from it. +Many eruptions have commenced in the immediate neighbourhood of the Val +del Bove, and Lyell believes that there formerly existed a centre of +permanent eruption in the valley. The Val del Bove is altogether +sterile; but the mountain at the same level is, on other sides, clothed +with trees. The vast mass of the mountain is realised by the fact that, +after twelve miles of the ascent from Catania, the summit looks as far +off as it did at starting. Moreover, Mount Vesuvius might be almost +hidden away in the Val del Bove. + +A remarkable feature of Etna is the large number of minor craters which +are scattered over its sides. They look small in comparison with the +great mass of the mountain, but in reality some of them are of large +dimensions. Monte Minardo, near Bronte, the largest of these minor +cones, is still 750 feet high, although its base has been raised by +modern lava-streams which have flowed around it. There are 80 of the +more conspicuous of these minor cones, but Von Waltershausen has mapped +no less than 200 within a ten mile radius from the great crater, while +neglecting many monticules of ashes. As to the statement made by Reclus +to the effect that there are 700 minor cones, and by Jukes, that the +number is 600, it is to be supposed that they include not only the most +insignificant monticules and heaps of cinders, but also the _bocche_ and +_boccarelle_ from which at any time lava or fire has issued. If these be +included, no doubt these numbers are not exaggerations. + +[Illustration: Grotto delle Palombe] + +The only important minor cone which has been produced during the +historical period, is the double mountain known as Monti Rossi, from the +red colour of the cinders which compose it. This was raised from the +plain of Nicolosi during the eruption of 1669; it is 450 feet in height, +and two miles in circumference at the base. In a line between the Monti +Rossi and the great crater, thirty-three minor cones may be counted. +Hamilton counted forty-four, looking down from the summit towards +Catania, and Captain Smyth was able to discern fifty at once from an +elevated position on the mountain. Many of these parasitic cones are +covered with vegetation, as the names Monte Faggi, Monte Ilice, Monte +Zappini, indicate. The names have not been happily chosen; thus there +are several cones in different parts of the mountain called by the same +name--Monte Arso, Monte Nero, Monte Rosso, Monte Frumento, are the most +common of the duplicates. Moreover, the names have from time to time +been altered, and it thus sometimes becomes difficult to trace a cone +which has been alluded to under a former name, or by an author who wrote +before the name was changed. In addition to the minor cones from which +lava once proceeded, there are numerous smaller vents for the +subterranean fires called _Bocche_, or if very small, _Boccarelle_, _del +Fuoco_. In the eruption of 1669, thirteen mouths opened in the course of +a few days; and in the eruption of 1809, twenty new mouths opened one +after the other in a line about six miles long. Two new craters were +formed in the Val del Bove in 1852, and seven craters in 1865. The +outbursts of lava from lateral cones are no doubt due to the fact that +the pressure of lava in the great crater, which is nearly 1000 feet in +depth, becomes so great that the lava is forced out at some lower point +of less resistance. The most northerly of the minor cones is Monte di +Mojo, from whence issued the lava of 396 B.C., it is 11-1/2 miles from +the crater; the most southerly cone is Monte Ste Sofia, 16 miles from +the crater. Nearly all the minor cones are within 10 miles of the +crater, and the majority are collected between south-east, and west, +that is, in an angular space of 135 deg., starting midway between east and +south, (45 deg. south of due east) to due west, (90 deg. west of due south). +Lyell speaks of the minor cones "as the most grand and original feature +in the physiognomy of Etna." + +A number of caverns are met with in various parts of Etna; Boccacio +speaks of the Cavern of Thalia, and several early writers allude to the +Grotto delle Palombe near Nicolosi. The latter is situated in front of +Monte Fusara, and the entrance to it is evidently the crater of an +extinct monticule. It descends for 78 feet, and at the bottom a cavern +is entered by a long shaft; this leads to a second cavern, which +abruptly descends, and appears to be continued into the heart of the +neighbouring Monti Rossi. Brydone says that people have lost their +senses in these caverns, "imagining that they saw devils, and the +spirits of the damned; for it is still very generally believed that Etna +is the mouth of Hell." Many of the caverns near the upper part of the +mountain are used for storing snow, and sometimes as places of shelter +for shepherds. We have already seen to what extent Lucretius attributed +the eruptions to air pent up within the interior caverns of the +mountains. + +The surface of the mountain has been divided into three zones or +regions--the _Piedimontana_ or _Coltivata_; the _Selvosa_ or _Nemorosa_; +and the _Deserta_ or _Discoperta_. Sometimes the name of _Regione del +Fuoco_ is given to the central cone and crater. As regards temperature, +the zones correspond more or less to the Torrid, Temperate, and Frigid. +The lowest of these, the _Cultivated Region_, yields in abundance all +the ordinary Sicilian products. The soil, which consists of decomposed +lava, is extremely fertile, although of course large tracts of land are +covered by recent lavas, or by those which decompose slowly. In this +region the vine flourishes, and abundance of corn, olives, pistachio +nuts, oranges, lemons, figs, and other fruit trees. + +The breadth of this region varies; it terminates at an approximate +height of 2000 feet. A circle drawn with a radius of 10 miles from the +crater, roughly defines the limit. The elevation of this on the north is +2,310 feet near Randazzo; on the south, 2,145 feet near Nicolosi; on the +east, 600 feet near Mascali; and on the west, 1,145 feet near Bronte. +The breadth of this cultivated zone is about 2 miles on the north, east, +and west, and 9 or 10 on the south, if we take for the base of the +mountain the limits proposed above. + +The _Woody Region_ commences where the cultivated region ends, and +extends as a belt of varying width to an approximate height of 6,300 +feet. It is terminated above by a circle having a radius of nearly 1-1/2 +miles from the crater. There are fourteen separate forests in this +region: some abounding with the oak, beech, pine, and poplar, others +with the chestnut, ilex, and cork tree. + +The celebrated _Castagno di Cento Cavalli_, one of the largest and +oldest trees in the world, is in the Forest of Carpinetto, on the East +side of the mountain, five miles above Giarre. This tree has the +appearance of five separate trunks united into one, but Ferrara declares +that by digging a very short distance below the surface he found one +single stem. The public road now passes through the much-decayed trunk. +Captain Smyth measured the circumference a few feet from the ground, and +found it to be 163 feet, which would give it a diameter of more than 50 +feet. The tree derives its name from the story that one of the Queens of +Arragon took shelter in its trunk with a suite of 100 horsemen. Near +this patriarch are several large chestnuts, which, without a shadow of +doubt, are single trees; one of these is 18 feet in diameter, and a +second 15 feet, while the _Castagno della Galea_, higher up on the +mountain, is 25 feet in diameter, and probably more than 1000 years old. +The breadth of the Regione Selvosa varies considerably, as may be seen +by reference to the accompanying map; in the direction of the Val del +Bove it is very narrow, while elsewhere it frequently has a breadth of +from 6 to 8 miles. + +The Desert Region is embraced between the limit of 6,300 feet and the +summit. It occupies about 10 square miles, and consists of a dreary +waste of black sand, scoriae, ashes, and masses of ejected lava. In +winter it remains permanently covered with snow, and even in the height +of summer snow may be found in certain rifts. + +Botanists have divided the surface of Etna into seven regions. The first +extends from the level of the sea to 100 feet above it, and in it +flourishes the palm, banana, Indian fig or prickly pear, sugar-cane, +mimosa, and acacia. It must be remembered, however, that it is only on +the east side of the mountain that the level within the base sinks to +100 feet above the sea; and, moreover, that the palm, banana, and +sugar-cane, are comparative rarities in this part of Sicily. Prickly +pears and vines are the most abundant products of the lower slopes of +the eastern side of Etna. The second, or hilly region, reaches from 100 +to 2000 feet above the sea, and therefore constitutes, with the +preceding, the _Regione Coltivata_ of our former division. In it are +found cotton, maize, orange, lemon, shaddock, and the ordinary Sicilian +produce. The culture of the vine ceases near its upward limit. The +third, or woody region, reaches from 2000 to 4000 feet, and the +principal trees within it are the cork, oak, maple, and chestnut. The +fourth region extends from 4000 to 6000 feet, and contains the beech, +Scotch fir, birch, dock, plaintain, and sandworth. The fifth, or +sub-Alpine region, extending from 6000 to 7000 feet, contains the +barberry, soapwort, toad-flax, and juniper. In the sixth region, 7,500 +to 9000 feet, are found soapwort, sorrel, and groundsel; while the last +narrow zone, 9000 to 9,200 feet, contains a few lichens, the commonest +of which is the _Stereocaulon Paschale_. The flora of Etna comprises 477 +species, only 40 of which are found between 7000 feet and the summit, +while in the last 2000 feet only five phanerogamous species are found, +viz., Anthemis Etnensis, Senecio Etnensis, Robertsia taraxacoides, +(which are peculiar to Etna), Tanacetum vulgare, and Astragulus Siculus. +Common ferns, such as the _pteris aquilina_, are found in abundance +beneath the trees in the Regione Selvosa. + +This division has been advocated by Presl in his _Flora Sicula_.[16] He +names the different regions beginning from below: _Regio Subtropica_, +_Regio Collina_, _Regio Sylvatica inferior_, _Regio fagi Sylvestris_. +These four are common to all Sicily. The three remaining regions, _Regio +Subalpina_, _Regio Alpina_, and _Regio Lichenum_, together extending +from 6000 to 9,200 feet, belong to Etna alone. + +[16] "Flora sicula: exhibens Plantas vasculosas in Sicilia aut sponte +crescentes aut frequentissime cultas, secundum systema naturale +digestas." Auctore G. B. Presl. Pragae, 1824. + +At the conclusion of the first volume of Recupero's _Storia Naturale et +Generale dell' Etna_ we find a somewhat different botanical division +proposed by Signor Rafinesque-Schmaltz.[17] He makes his divisions in +the following manner:-- + + 1. Florula Piedemontana. + 2. Florula Nemorosa. + 3. Florula excelsa o della Regione Discoperta. + 4. Florula Arenosa o della Regione delle Scorie. + +[17] Chloris Aetnensis: o le quattro Florule dell' Etna, opusculo del +Sig. C. S. Rafinesque-Schmaltz, Palermo. Dicembre, 1813. + +In the latter region, (to which he assigns no limit as to height), he +found Potentilla Argentea, Rumex Scutatus, Tanacetum Vulgare, Anthemis +Montana, Jacobaea Chrysanthemifolia, Seriola Uniflora, and Phalaris +Alpina. + +As regards the animal life on Etna, of course it is the same as that of +the eastern sea-board of Sicily, except in the higher regions, where it +becomes more sparse. The only living creatures in the upper regions are +ants, a little lower down Spallanzani found a few partridges, jays, +thrushes, ravens, and kites. + +Brydone says of the three regions: "Besides the corn, the wine, the oil, +the silk, the spice, and delicious fruits of its lower region; the +beautiful forests, the flocks, the game, the tar, the cork, the honey of +its second; the snow and ice of its third; it affords from its caverns a +variety of minerals and other productions--cinnabar, mercury, sulphur, +alum, nitre, and vitriol; so that this wonderful mountain at the same +time produces every necessary, and every luxury of life." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +ASCENT OF THE MOUNTAIN. + + The most suitable time for ascending Etna.--The ascent commenced.-- + Nicolosi.--Etna mules.--Night journey through the upper Regions of + the mountain.--Brilliancy of the Stars.--Proposed Observatory on + Etna.--The Casa Inglesi.--Summit of the Great Crater.--Sunrise from + the summit.--The Crater.--Descent from the Mountain.--Effects of + Refraction.--Fatigue of the Ascent. + + +The ascent of Mount Etna has been described many times during the last +eighteen centuries, from Strabo in the second century to Dr. Baltzer in +1875. One of the most interesting accounts is certainly that of Brydone, +and in this century perhaps that of Mr. Gladstone. Of course the +interest of the expedition is greatly increased if it can be combined +with that spice of danger which is afforded by the fact of the mountain +being in a state of eruption at the time. + +The best period for making the ascent is between May and September, +after the melting of the winter snows, and before the autumnal rains. In +winter snow frequently extends from the summit downwards for nine or +ten miles; the paths are obliterated, and the guides refuse to accompany +travellers. Even so late in the spring as May 29th Brydone had to +traverse seven miles of snow before reaching the summit. Moreover, +violent storms often rage in the upper regions of the mountain, and the +wind acquires a force which it is difficult to withstand, and is at the +same time piercingly cold. Sir William Hamilton, in relating his ascent +on the night of June 26th, 1769, remarks that, if they had not kindled a +fire at the halting place, and put on much warm clothing, they would +"surely have perished with the cold." At the same time the wind was so +violent that they had several times to throw themselves on their faces +to avoid being overthrown. Yet the guides said that the wind was not +unusually violent. Some writers, well used to Alpine climbing, have +asserted that the cold on Etna was more severe than anything they have +ever experienced in the Alps. + +The writer of this memoir made the ascent of the mountain in August +1877, accompanied by a courier and a guide. We took with us two mules; +some thick rugs; provisions consisting of bread, meat, wine, coffee, and +brandy; wooden staves for making the ascent of the cone; a geological +hammer; a bag for specimens; and a few other requisites. It has to be +remembered that absolutely nothing is to be met with at the Casa +Inglesi, where the halt is made for the night; even firewood has to be +taken, a fire being most necessary in those elevated regions even during +a midsummer's night. For some time previous to our ascent the weather +had been uniformly bright and fine, and there had been no rain for more +than three months. The mean temperature in the shade at Catania, and +generally along the eastern sea-base of the mountain, was 82 deg. F. + +As we desired to see the sunrise from the summit of the mountain, we +determined to ascend during the cool of the evening, resting for an hour +or two before sunrise at the Casa Inglesi at the foot of the cone. +Accordingly we left Catania soon after midday, and drove to Nicolosi, +twelve miles distant, and 2,288 feet above the sea. The road for some +distance passed through a very fertile district; on either side there +were corn fields and vineyards, and gardens of orange and lemon trees, +figs and almonds, growing luxuriantly in the decomposed lava. About half +way between Catania and Nicolosi stands the village of Gravina, and a +mile beyond it Mascalucia, a small town containing nearly 4000 +inhabitants. Near this is the ruined church of St. Antonio, founded in +1300. Nine miles from Catania the village of Torre di Grifo is passed, +and the road then enters a nearly barren district covered with the lava +and scoriae of 1527. The only prominent form of vegetation is a peculiar +tall broom--_Genista Etnensis_--which here flourishes. We are now +entering the region of minor cones; the vineclad cone of Monpilieri is +visible on the left, and just above it Monti Rossi, 3,110 feet above the +sea; to the right of the latter we see Monte San Nicola, Serrapizzuta, +and Monte Arso. We reach Nicolosi at half-past four; for although the +distance is short, the road is very rugged and steep. + +Nicolosi has a population of less than 3,000; it consists of a long +street, bordered by one-storied cottages of lava. In the church the +priests were preparing for a _festa_ in honour of S. Anthony of Padua. +They politely took us into the sacristy, and exhibited with much pride +some graven images of rather coarse workmanship, which were covered with +gilding and bright coloured paint. Near Nicolosi stands the convent of +S. Nicola dell' Arena, once inhabited by Benedictine monks, who however +were compelled to abandon it in consequence of the destruction produced +by successive shocks of earthquake. Nicolosi itself has been more than +once shaken to the ground. We dined pretty comfortably, thanks to the +courier who acted as cook, in the one public room of the one primitive +inn of the town; starting for the Casa Inglesi at 6 o'clock. The good +people of the inn surrounded us at our departure and with much warmth +wished us a safe and successful journey. + +For a short distance above Nicolosi, stunted vines are seen growing in +black cinders, but these soon give place to a large tract covered with +lava and ashes, with here and there patches of broom. There was no +visible path, but the mules seemed to know the way perfectly, and they +continued to ascend with the same easy even pace without any guidance, +even after the sun had disappeared behind the western flank of the +mountain. In fact, you trust yourself absolutely to your mule, which +picks his way over the roughest ground, and rarely stumbles or changes +his even step. I found it quite easy to write notes while ascending, and +even to use a pocket spectroscope at the time of the setting sun. +Subsequently we saw a man extended at full length, and fast asleep upon +a mule, which was leisurely plodding along the highway. The same +confidence must not however be extended to the donkeys of Etna, as I +found to my cost a few days later at Taormina. Here the only animal to +be procured to carry me down to the sea-shore, 800 feet below, was a +donkey. It was during the hottest part of the day, and it was necessary +to carry an umbrella in one hand, and comfortable to wear a kind of +turban of many folds of thin muslin round one's cap. The donkey after +carefully selecting the roughest and most precipitous part of the road, +promptly fell down, leaving me extended at full length on the road, with +the open umbrella a few yards off. At the same time the turban came +unfolded, and stretched itself for many a foot upon the ground. +Altogether it was a most comical sight, and it reminded me forcibly, and +at the instant, of a picture which I once saw over the altar of a +church in Pisa, and which represented S. Thomas Aquinas discomfiting +Plato, Aristotle, and Averroees. The latter was completely overthrown, +and in the most literal sense, for he was grovelling in the dust at the +feet of S. Thomas, while his disarranged turban had fallen from him. + +The district of lava and ashes above Nicolosi is succeeded by forests of +small trees, and we are now fairly within the _Regione Selvosa_. At +half-past 8 o'clock the temperature was 66 deg., at Nicolosi at 4 o'clock it +was 80 deg.. About 9 o'clock we arrived at the Casa del Bosco, (4,216 feet), +a small house in which several men in charge of the forest live. Here we +rested till 10 o'clock, and then after I had put on a great-coat and a +second waistcoat, we started for the higher regions. At this time the +air was extraordinarily still, the flame of a candle placed near the +open door of the house did not flicker. The ascent from this point +carried us through forests of pollard oaks, in which it was quite +impossible to see either a path or any obstacles which might lie in +one's way. The guide carried a lantern, and the mules seemed well +accustomed to the route. At about 6,300 feet we entered the _Regione +Deserta_, a lifeless waste of black sand, ashes, and lava; the ascent +became more steep, and the air was bitterly cold. There was no moon, but +the stars shone with an extraordinary brilliancy, and sparkled like +particles of white-hot steel. I had never before seen the heavens +studded with such myriads of stars. The milky-way shone like a path of +fire, and meteors flashed across the sky in such numbers that I soon +gave up any attempt to count them. The vault of heaven seemed to be much +nearer than when seen from the earth, and more flat, as if only a short +distance above our heads, and some of the brighter stars appeared to be +hanging down from the sky. Brydone, in speaking of his impressions under +similar circumstances says: + +"The sky was clear, and the immense vault of heaven appeared in awful +majesty and splendour. We found ourselves more struck with veneration +than below, and at first were at a loss to know the cause, till we +observed with astonishment that the number of the stars seemed to be +infinitely increased, and the light of each of them appeared brighter +than usual. The whiteness of the milky-way was like a pure flame that +shot across the heavens, and with the naked eye we could observe +clusters of stars that were invisible in the regions below. We did not +at first attend to the cause, nor recollect that we had now passed +through ten or twelve thousand feet of gross vapour, that blunts and +confuses every ray before it reaches the surface of the earth. We were +amazed at the distinctness of vision, and exclaimed together, 'What a +glorious situation for an observatory! had Empedocles had the eyes of +Galileo, what discoveries must he not have made!' We regretted that +Jupiter was not visible, as I am persuaded we might have discovered some +of his satellites with the naked eye, or at least with a small glass +which I had in my pocket." + +Brydone wrote a hundred years ago, but his idea of erecting an +observatory on Mount Etna was only revived last year, when Prof. +Tacchini the Astronomer Royal at Palermo, communicated a paper to the +Accademia Gioenia, entitled "_Della Convenienza ed utilita di erigere +sull' Etna una Stazione Astronomico-Meteorologico_." Tacchini mentions +the extraordinary blueness of the sky as seen from Etna, and the +appearance of the sun, which is "whiter and more tranquil" than when +seen from below. Moreover, the spectroscopic lines are defined with +wonderful distinctness. In the evening at 10 o'clock, Sirius appeared to +rival Venus, the peculiarities of the ring of Saturn were seen far +better than at Palermo; and Venus emitted a light sufficiently powerful +to cast shadows; it also scintillated. When the chromosphere of the sun +was examined the next morning by the spectroscope, the inversion of the +magnesium line, and of the line 1474 was immediately apparent, although +it was impossible to obtain this effect at Palermo. Tacchini proposes +that an observatory should be established at the Casa Inglesi, in +connection with the University of Catania, and that it be provided with +a good six-inch refracting telescope, and with meteorological +instruments. In this observatory, constant observations should be made +from the beginning of June to the end of September, and the telescope +should then be transported to Catania, where a duplicate mounting might +be provided for it, and observations continued for the rest of the year. +There seems to be every probability that this scheme will be carried out +in the course of next year. + +During this digression we have been toiling along the slopes of the +_Regione Deserta_ and looking at the sky; at length we reach the _Piano +del Lago_ or Plain of the Lake, so called because a lake produced by the +melting of the snows existed here till 1607, when it was filled up by +lava. The air is now excessively cold, and a sharp wind is blowing. +Progress is very slow, the soil consists of loose ashes, and the mules +frequently stop; the guide assures us that the Casa Inglesi is quite +near, but the stoppages become so frequent that it seems a long way off; +at length we dismount, and drag the mules after us, and after a toilsome +walk the small lava-built house, called the Casa Inglesi, is reached +(1.30 a.m., temperature 40 deg. F.) It stands at a height of 9,652 feet +above the sea, near the base of the cone of the great crater, and it +takes its name from the fact that it was erected by the English officers +stationed in Sicily in 1811. It has suffered severely from time to time +from the pressure of snow and from earthquakes, but it was thoroughly +repaired in 1862, on the occasion of the visit of Prince Humbert, and is +now in tolerable preservation. It consists of three rooms, containing a +few deal chairs, a table, and several shelves like the berths of ships +furnished with plain straw mattresses; there is also a rough fireplace. +We had no sooner reached this house, very weary and so cold that we +could scarcely move, than it was discovered that the courier had omitted +to get the key from Nicolosi, and there seemed a prospect of spending +the hours till dawn in the open air. Fortunately we had with us a chisel +and a geological hammer, and by the aid of these we forced open the +shutter serving as a window, and crept into the house; ten minutes later +a large wood fire was blazing up the chimney, our eatables were +unpacked, some hot coffee was made, and we were supremely comfortable. + +[Illustration: The Casa Inglesi and Cone of Etna] + +At 3 a.m. we left the Casa Inglesi for the summit of the great crater, +1,200 feet above us, in order to be in time to witness the sunrise. Our +road lay for a short distance over the upper portion of the Piano del +Lago, and the walking was difficult. The brighter stars had disappeared, +and it was much darker than it had been some hours before. The guide led +the way with a lantern. The ascent of the cone was a very stiff piece of +work; it consists of loose ashes and blocks of lava, and slopes at an +angle of "45 deg. or more" according to one writer, and of 33 deg. according to +another; probably the slope varies on different sides of the cone: we do +not think that the slope much exceeds 33 deg. anywhere on the side of the +cone which we ascended. Fortunately there was no strong wind, and we did +not suffer from the sickness of which travellers constantly complain in +the rarefied air of the summit. We reached the highest point at 4.30 +a.m., and found a temperature of 47 deg. F. + +When Sir William Hamilton ascended towards the end of June the +temperature at the base of the mountain was 84 deg. F., and at the summit +56 deg. F. When Brydone left Catania on May 26th, 1770, the temperature was +76 deg. F., Bar. 29 in. 8-1/2 lines; at Nicolosi at midday on the 27th it +was 73 deg. F., Bar. 27 in. 1-1/2 lines; at the Spelonca del Capriole (6,200 +feet), 61 deg. F., Bar. 26 in. 5-1/2 lines; at the foot of the crater, temp. +33 deg. F., Bar. 20 in. 4-1/2 lines, and at the summit of the crater just +before sunrise, temp. 27 deg. F., Bar. 19 in. 4 lines. + +On reaching the summit we noticed that a quantity of steam and +sulphurous acid gas issued from the ground under our feet, and in some +places the cinders were so hot that it was necessary to choose a cool +place to sit down upon. A thermometer inserted just beneath the soil +from which steam issued registered 182 deg. F. For a short time we anxiously +awaited the rising of the sun. Nearly all the stars had faded away; the +vault of heaven was a pale blue, becoming a darker and darker grey +towards the west, where it appeared to be nearly black. Just before +sunrise the sky had the appearance of an enormous arched spectrum, +extremely extended at the blue end. Above the place where the sun would +presently appear there was a brilliant red, shading off in the direction +of the zenith to orange and yellow; this was succeeded by pale green, +then a long stretch of pale blue, darker blue, dark grey, ending +opposite the rising sun with black. This effect was quite distinct, it +lasted some minutes, and was very remarkable. This was succeeded by the +usual rayed appearance of the rising sun, and at ten minutes to 5 +o'clock the upper limb of the sun was seen above the mountains of +Calabria. Examined by the spectroscope the Fraunhofer lines were +extremely distinct, particularly two lines near the red end of the +spectrum. + +The top of the mountain was now illuminated, while all below was in +comparative darkness, and a light mist floated over the lower regions. +We were so fortunate as to witness a phenomenon which is not always +visible, viz., the projection of the triangular shadow of the mountain +across the island, a hundred miles away. The shadow appeared vertically +suspended in space at or beyond Palermo, and resting on a slightly misty +atmosphere; it gradually sank until it reached the surface of the +island, and as the sun rose it approached nearer and nearer to the base +of the mountain. In a short time the flood of light destroyed the first +effects of light and shadow. The mountains of Calabria and the west +coast of Italy appeared very close, and Stromboli and the Lipari Islands +almost under our feet; the east coast of Sicily could be traced until it +ended at Cape Passaro and turned to the west, forming the southern +boundary of the island, while to the west distant mountains appeared. No +one would have the hardihood to attempt to describe the various +impressions which rapidly float through the mind during the +contemplation of sunrise from the summit of Etna. Brydone, who is by no +means inclined to be rapturous or ecstatic in regard to the many +wonderful sights he saw in the course of his tour, calls this "the most +wonderful and most sublime sight in nature." "Here," he adds, +"description must ever fall short, for no imagination has dared to form +an idea of so glorious and so magnificent a scene. Neither is there on +the surface of this globe any one point that unites so many awful and +sublime objects. The immense elevation from the surface of the earth, +drawn as it were to a single point, without any neighbouring mountains +for the senses and imagination to rest upon, and recover from their +astonishment in their way down to the world. This point or pinnacle, +raised on the brink of a bottomless gulph, as old as the world, often +discharging rivers of fire and throwing out burning rocks with a noise +that shakes the whole island. Add to this, the unbounded extent of the +prospect, comprehending the greatest diversity and the most beautiful +scenery in nature, with the rising sun advancing in the east to +illuminate the scene." + +When the sun had risen we had time to examine the crater, a vast abyss +nearly 1000 feet in depth, and with very precipitous sides. Its +dimensions vary, but it is now between two and three miles in +circumference. Sometimes it is nearly full of lava, at other times it +appears to be bottomless. At the present time it is like an inverted +cone; its sides are covered with incrustations of sulphur and ammonia +salts, and jets of steam perpetually issue from crevices. Near the +summit we found a deposit, several inches in thickness, of a white +substance, apparently lava decomposed by the hot issuing gases. +Hydrochloric acid is said to frequently issue from the crater; the gases +that were most abundant appeared to be sulphurous acid and steam. The +interior of the crater appeared to be very similar to that of the +Solfatara near Puzzuoli. During the descent from the cone we collected +various specimens of ash and cinder, some red, others black and very +vesicular, others crystalline, some pale pink. The steep slope of the +cone was well shown by the fact that, although the surface is either +extremely rugged owing to the accumulation of masses of lava, or soft +and yielding on account of the depth of cinders, a large mass of lava +set rolling at the top rushes down with increasing velocity until it +bounds off to the level plain below. + +[Illustration: View of the Val de Bove] + +The great cone is formed by the accumulation of sand, scoriae, and masses +of rock ejected from the crater; it is oval in form, and has varied both +in shape and size in the course of centuries. When we saw it, it was not +full of smoke or steam; but it was possible to see to the bottom of it, +in spite of small jets of steam which issued from the sides. It +presented the appearance of a profound funnel-shaped abyss; the sides of +which were covered with an efflorescence of a red or yellow, and +sometimes nearly white, colour. The crater presented the same appearance +when it was seen by Captain Smyth in 1814, but he was so fortunate as to +witness it in a less quiescent state. "While making these observations," +he writes, "on a sudden the ground trembled under our feet, a harsh +rumbling with sonorous thunder was heard, and volumes of heavy smoke +rolled over the side of the crater, while a lighter one ascended +vertically, with the electric fluid escaping from it in frequent flashes +in every direction.... During some time the ground shook so violently +that we apprehended the whole cone would tumble into the burning gulf +(as it actually had done several times before) and destroy us in the +horrible consequences; however, in less than a couple of hours all was +again clear above and quiet within." When Mr. Gladstone ascended in +1838, the volcano was in a slight state of eruption: "The great +features of this action," he writes, "are the sharp and loud claps, +which perceptibly shook from time to time the ground of the mountain +under our feet; the sheet of flame which leapt up with a sudden +momentary blast, and soon disappeared in smoke; then the shower of +red-hot stones and lava. At this time, as we found on our way down, lava +masses of 150 or 200 pound weight were being thrown a distance of +probably a mile and a half; smaller ones we found even more remote. +These showers were most copious, and often came in the most rapid +succession. Even while we were ascending the exterior of the cone, we +saw them alighting on its slope, and sometimes bounding down with +immense rapidity within, perhaps, some thirty or forty yards of our +rickety footing on the mountain side. They dispersed like the sparks of +a rocket; they lay beneath the moon, over the mountain, thicker than +ever the stars in heaven; the larger ones ascended as it were with +deliberation, and descended, first with speed and then with fury. Now +they passed even over our heads, and we could pick up some newly fallen, +and almost intolerably hot. Lastly, there was the black grey column, +which seemed smoke, and was really ash, and which was shot from time to +time out of the very bowels of the crater, far above its edge, in +regular unbroken form." + +At the Casa Inglesi we remounted the mules, and made a slight detour to +the east in order to look down into the Val del Bove, which is here seen +as a gigantic valley, bounded on the north by the precipitous cliffs of +the Serra delle Concazze, and on the South by the Serra del Solfizio. It +is believed by Lyell and others that in the Balzo di Trifoglietto, at +which point the precipices are most profound and abrupt, there was a +second permanent crater of eruption. The Torre del Filosofo, a ruined +tower, traditionally the observatory of Empedocles, stands near the Casa +Inglesi. Not far from this a great deposit of ice was found in 1828. It +was preserved from melting by a layer of ashes and sand, which had +covered it, soon after its first existence, as a glacier: a stream of +lava subsequently flowed over the ashes, and completely protected the +ice; the non-conducting power of the ashes prevented the lava from +melting the ice. The snow which falls on the mountain is stowed away in +caves, and used by the Sicilians during summer. A ship load is also sent +to Malta, and the Archbishop of Catania derives a good deal of his +income from the sale of Etna snow. + +During our descent from the mountain we were much struck by the apparent +nearness of the minor cones beneath us, and of the villages at the base +of the mountain. They seemed to be painted on a vertical wall in front +of us, and although from ten to fifteen miles distant they appeared to +be almost within a stone's throw. This curious effect, which has often +been observed before, is due to refraction. At the summit of Etna we +have left one-third of the atmosphere beneath us, and the air is now +pressing upon the surface of the earth with a weight of ten pounds on +the square inch, instead of the usual fifteen pounds experienced at the +level of the sea. In looking towards the base of the mountain we are +consequently looking from a rarer to a denser medium; and it is a law of +optics, that when light passes from a denser to a rarer medium it is +refracted away from the perpendicular, and thus the object, from which +it emanates, appears raised, and nearer to us than it really is. The +objects around Etna appear near to us and raised vertically from the +horizon for the same reason that a stick plunged in water appears bent. + +We reached Nicolosi again about noon, having left it eighteen hours +before. The ascent of the mountain, although it does not involve much +hard walking, is somewhat trying on account of the extremes of +temperature which have to be endured. In the course of the morning of +our descent we had experienced a difference equal to more than 40 deg. F. As +to the ascent, you are moving upwards nearly all night; you have six +hours of riding on a mule, some of it in a bitterly cold atmosphere; you +get very much heated by the final steep climb of 1100 feet, and you find +at the summit a piercing wind; of course there is no shelter, and you +sit down to wait for sunrise on cinders which are gently giving off +steam and sulphurous acid; the former condenses to water as soon as it +meets the cold air, and you find your great coat, or the rug on which +you have sat down, speedily saturated with moisture. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +TOWNS SITUATED ON THE MOUNTAIN. + + Paterno.--Ste. Maria di Licodia.--The site of the ancient town of + Aetna.--Biancavilla.--Aderno.--Sicilian Inns.--Adranum.--Bronte.-- + Randazzo.--Mascali.--Giarre.--Aci Reale.--Its position.--The Scogli + de'Ciclopi.--Catania, its early history, and present condition. + + +We have before alluded to the fact that Etna is far more thickly +populated than any other part of Sicily or Italy; in fact, more so than +almost any equal area in the world, of course excepting large cities and +their neighbourhood. This is due to the wonderful fertility of the soil, +the salubrity of the climate, and, on the eastern base, to the proximity +of a sea-coast indented with excellent harbours. The habitable zone of +Etna is restricted to the _Regione Coltivata_, nevertheless some of the +towns on the north and west have a considerable elevation; thus Bronte +is 2,782 feet above the sea, and Randazzo 2,718. All the principal towns +are situated on the base road of the mountain, which was indeed +constructed in order to connect them. Out of the sixty-four towns and +villages on the mountain, the following are the most important: +Catania, Aci Reale, Paterno, Aderno, Bronte, Randazzo, Aci S. Antonio, +Biancavilla, Calatabiano, Giarre, Francavilla, Linguagrossa, Licodia, +Mascali, Misterbianco, Nicolosi, Pedara, Piedemonte, Trecastagne, and +Tremestieri. + +On our return from the summit, we rested for awhile at Nicolosi, and in +the cool of the evening started to make a _giro_ of the mountain by way +of the base road. Descending by the Nicolosi road as far as Mascalucia, +we branched off to the west, and made for Paterno, passing near the town +of Belpasso, which was destroyed by the earthquake of 1669, and +subsequently erected on a new site. It still contains more than 7,000 +inhabitants, although the district is extremely unhealthy. + +Paterno, the second largest town on the flanks of Etna after Catania and +Aci Reale, stands in the very heart of the Regione Coltivata, and +possesses more than 16,000 inhabitants. According to Cluverius, it is +the site of the city of Hybla Major (~Hybla Megale~), a Sikelian +city which was unsuccessfully attacked by the Athenians soon after they +first landed in Sicily. During the second Punic War, the inhabitants +went over to the Carthagenians, but the city was speedily recovered by +the Romans. Pliny, Cicero, and Pausanias allude to it, but its later +history has not come down to us. An altar was lately found in Paterno +dedicated to _Veneri Victrici Hyblensi_. Several towns in Sicily were +called Hybla, probably--according to Pausanias--in honour of a local +deity. Paterno was founded by Roger I. in 1073: it was once a feudal +city of some importance, and possessed a cathedral and castle, and +several large monasteries. Although much fallen to decay, it still +possesses a good deal of vitality, and the population is on the +increase. + +On leaving Paterno the road turns to the North-west, and passes through +the village of Ste. Maria di Licodia. Here originally stood the Sikelian +City of Inessa (~Inessa~), which, after the death of Hiero I., +was peopled by colonists from Katana (then called ~Aitne~). The +new occupants of the city changed its name from Inessa to Aetna, which +it retained. The town later fell into the hands of the Syracusans, and +in 462 B.C. the Athenians in vain attempted to take it. During the +Athenian expedition both Aetna and Hybla were allies of Syracuse. In 403 +B.C. Aetna was taken by Dionysius, who placed in it a body of Campanian +mercenaries. Sixty-four years later (B.C. 339) the town was taken by +Timoleon. For many succeeding years we find no further mention of it. +Cicero speaks of it in his time as an important place, and the centre of +a very fertile district; it is also mentioned by Pliny and Ptolemy, and +Strabo says that it was usually the starting point for those who +ascended the mountain. Of its later history we know absolutely nothing. + + +Six miles to the north-west of St. Mariah di Licodia, the road passes +through Biancavilla--a town of 13,000 inhabitants, and the centre of a +cotton district. + +The road continues in the same direction until the town of Aderno is +reached; and here we arrived late in the evening, and gained our first +experience of a Sicilian inn in an out-of-the-way town. After many +enquiries we were directed to the only inn which the place could boast, +kept by a doctor. No one appeared at or near the entrance, of course +there was no bell or knocker, and we made our way up a dark stone +staircase till we arrived at a dimly-lighted passage. A horrible old +Sicilian woman now appeared, and showed us with great incivility the +only room in the house, which its inmates were willing to place at our +disposal. It was a fairly large room, with a stone floor which +apparently had not been swept for weeks, and walls that had once been +whitewashed; the furniture consisted of three beds placed on tressels, a +plain deal table, and some primitive chairs. As to food they had neither +bread, meat, wine, eggs, macaroni, fruit, or butter in the house; +neither did they offer to procure anything. Even when some eggs had been +obtained, and (after an hour's delay) cooked, there was not a single +teaspoon to eat them with. The people of the town appear to subsist +chiefly on beans and a kind of dried fish. If our courier had not been a +very handy fellow and a tolerable cook, we should have been obliged +more than once to go to bed supperless. As it was, the best he could do +on this occasion was to get some bread, eggs, and wine, and--best of +all--some snow, for the heat was intolerable. In a town of the same +size--15,657 inhabitants--in England, we should have at least two really +comfortable inns ready at any moment to receive and entertain the weary +traveller. + +[Illustration: View of Etna from Bronte] + +Aderno stands on the site, and has preserved the name, of the ancient +Sikelian city of Adranum (~Adranon~). According to Diodorus there +existed here, from very early times, the temple of a local deity named +Adranus. The city was founded by the elder Dionysius in 400 B.C.; it +owed its importance to the renown of its temple, which was guarded by a +thousand dogs. In 345 B.C. the city fell into the hands of Timoleon, and +it was taken by the Romans at the commencement of the first Punic War. +After this we cease to hear of it. The modern town was founded by Roger +I. in the 12th century. The fine Norman tower--now used as a prison--and +the monastery, were both built by King Roger. + +After leaving Aderno the base-road ascends, turns nearly due north, and +leads us past a number of lava streams, notably those of 1610, 1603, and +1651. A good view of Monte Minardo, and the minor cones in its more +immediate neighbourhood, is obtained on the left, while on the right we +see the Valley of the Simeto, and Centorbi high upon the hills. + +Nearly due west of the great crater is the town of Bronte, which is +2,782 feet above the sea, and has a population of more than 15,000. It +is a very primitive place, and several centuries behind the age; it +reminded us forcibly, in one or two particulars, of Pompeii: the streets +are narrow and tortuous, and the roadway very uneven. Awnings are +sometimes hung across the street from side to side to provide shade. The +shops are exactly like those at Pompeii; and in the main street we +noticed an open-air kitchen, to which the would-be diner repairs, +purchases a plateful of food, and eats it standing in the public way. +The inn was even worse than that of Aderno, and apparently had never +before received guests. We were offered one miserable room, without a +lock to the door, and unprovided with either table or chair. Of course +the bare idea of offering to procure, or furnish, or cook, any kind of +food was too monstrous to be entertained for a moment. With difficulty +the courier obtained some eggs, macaroni, and fruit, on which we dined +in a small barn attached to a wine-shop. + +At Bronte we are only nine miles from the crater, on the steepest side +of the mountain, and near the Tertiary sandstone which underlies this +portion of the mountain. A short distance outside the town we saw great +beds of the lava of 1832, piled up fantastically in all sorts of forms, +and excessively rugged and uneven. It is quite bare of vegetation, and +does not appear to have even commenced to be decomposed. + +Bronte gave its name to Lord Nelson, who was created Duke of Bronte by +Ferdinand IV.:--an appropriate name for a great warrior ([Greek: +bronte], thunder). The Nelson estates are scattered around the town. + +On leaving Bronte the road conducted us past several high hills of +sandstone and quartzite near Monte Rivoglia; then we passed near +Maletto, and, leaving the malarious lake Gurrita on our left, we soon +after arrived at Randazzo. Near Maletto the road reaches it highest +point--3,852 feet. + +The town of Randazzo was founded by the Lombards in the 10th century; +during the Middle Ages it appears to have been a prosperous, populous, +place; at present it possesses more than 8,000 inhabitants. The Emperor +Frederick II. created his son Duke of Randazzo, and added to the name of +the town, _Etnea_. It contains several very interesting architectural +remains; a church of the 13th century, a mediaeval palace--the Palazzo +Finochiaro,--and a ducal palace now used as a prison. The houses are for +the most part built of lava, and some of the shops have massive lava +counters extending half across their open front, while the door occupies +the remainder, as at Pompeii. The view from Randazzo is very fine in +every direction; the crater of Etna appears near, and Monte +Spagnuolo--many hours distant--just outside the town. The town is 2,718 +feet above the sea, just above the Valley of the Alcantara--of which it +commands a fine view, and also of the limestone hills on the other side. + +We were obliged to pass the night in the town, in an inn scarcely +superior to that of Aderno, but distinctly better than the miserable +Albergo Collegio at Bronte. At least the people were civil, and did +their best. The one room of the inn had a bed in each corner, and a deal +table in the middle. Three of the beds were occupied by engineers who +were surveying in connection with a new line of railway; the fourth was +made over to the courier. I slept in a small kind of ante-room on a bed +chiefly composed of deal boards placed on tressels. Here again the +courier was invaluable, in fact it would be simply impossible to make +the circuit of Etna without a courier. He procured some eggs, macaroni, +fruit, snow, tomatoes, and even meat, and cooked everything well, +without a trace of garlic. He also took care that the linen was clean, +and the general arrangements as comfortable as they could be under the +circumstances. Let us also admit that neither at Aderno, Bronte, nor +Randazzo were we troubled with musquitoes or any worse species of +insect. These, we were assured, would appear in full force in the +following month (September). Our only inconvenience of this nature +arose from swarms of flies. The inns of these out-of-the-way towns +probably receive scarcely a dozen travellers in the year, and these are +Sicilians, who are not used to better accommodation. Evidently a +_forestiare_ is quite a novelty: the people of these small towns used to +look at us with great curiosity, and crowded round the carriage when we +started. At Bronte we had a good example of this curiosity: owing to the +hardness of the lava of 1832 the head had come off the handle of our +hammer, and we went into a carpenter's shop to have it put on again. +Presently we noticed that eleven people, including a priest, were +looking on, apparently with intense and absorbing interest. + +From Randazzo the base-road descends, until at Giarre it is near the +sea-level. This road is one of the most beautiful in Sicily; it is part +of the old military route from Messina to Palermo, and it was traversed +by Himilco in 396 B.C.; by Timoleon in 344 B.C.; and by Charles V. in +1534. After leaving Randazzo the valley of the Alcantara becomes +visible, while beyond it rise the lofty mountains of the Nebrodes. The +road passes near Monte Dolce, and soon reaches Linguaglossa, a small +town from whence the craters of 1865 may be reached in about four hours. +The rapidly descending road passes through Piedemonte and Mascali, in +the heart of an extraordinarily fertile region. Mascali, a village of +3050 inhabitants, was considered by Cluverius to be the site of the +Greek town of Callipolis, founded by a colony from Naxos as early as the +fifth century, B.C. A full view of the coast line is obtained from the +Capo di Taormina on the north, to a point below Riposto on the south. We +descended through plantations of nuts, and groves of oranges and lemons, +to gentle slopes covered with vineyards. + +From the town of Giarre, (17,965 inhabitants), we get a view of the Val +del Bove, which, however, is almost always obscured by thin white +clouds, while the summit of the mountain is clear. We noticed, indeed, +every day that the summit, which had been absolutely clear all the day +and night, became covered with clouds shortly before sunset, while about +an hour later the clouds cleared off, and the mountain was sharply +defined against the sky during the starlit night. Some of the effects of +sunset behind clouds resting on the summit, while all the rest of the +sky was bright blue, were exceedingly beautiful, and were quite +untranslatable into any known language, save that of painting, and of +music. Perhaps Turner could have done justice to them. + +After leaving Giarre we passed through a good deal of highly cultivated +land belonging to Baron Pennisi, the largest landholder and richest man +in Sicily. He makes good use of his wealth, and seems to be very +popular among all classes. He possesses three palaces in Aci Reale, and +has done a great deal to beautify the town. Archaeologists will remember +him as the possessor of the finest collection of Sicilian coins in the +world. Many of these have been found on his own estates, but he never +scruples to give large sums of money for any coin which he covets. + +Aci Reale, one of the prettiest towns in Europe, is situated in the +midst of a very fertile region 550 feet above the sea. To the east it +faces the Ionian sea, while on the west towers Etna. The town is full of +wealthy inhabitants, and the houses are large, lofty, and well built. It +contains 24,151 inhabitants, and possesses celebrated sulphur baths, and +one of the best hotels in Sicily. The wealth of this small town is well +shown by the following fact: Since its foundation in the tenth century, +till within a year or two of the present time, the town had been under +the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Catania. It happened, however, a +few years ago, on the occasion of a religious procession in Catania, +that the people of Aci considered that their patron Saint, S. Venera, +was slighted. In fact the image of S. Agata, the patron Saint of the +Catanese--whose veil has so often averted the lava-streams from the +city--was put in all the prominent parts of the procession, while the +image of S. Venera was comparatively neglected. The people of Aci at +once returned home, and sent a petition to the Pope, praying that they +might have a Bishop of their own directly subject to the Holy See, in +order that they might no longer be subjected to such slights. The +Vatican having duly considered the question consented to raise Aci to +the dignity of a Bishopric, and to pay the Bishop a yearly stipend of +10,000 lire, (about L400, but equal to L600 in Sicily), on condition +that 200,000 lire were paid at once into the coffers of the Vatican. +This was promptly done, and now Monsignore Gerlando Genuardi, Bishop of +Aci Reale, may snap his fingers in the face of Monsignore Giuseppe +Benedetto Dusmet, a Benedictine of the Congregation of Monte Cassino, +and Archbishop of Catania. + +[Illustration: Island of Columnar Basalt off Trezza] + +Six villages in the neighbourhood of Aci Reale bear the name of Aci: Aci +Castello, Aci Sant' Antonio, and so on, but Aci Reale claims to stand +upon the very site rendered memorable by the story of Acis and Galatea. +The river Acis (now called _Acque Grande_) rises from a bed of lava, and +falls into the sea a mile from its source. Aci Reale stands on seven +different beds of superposed lava, having layers of earth resulting from +decomposed lava between. The Canon Recupero calculated from observation, +that a lava requires at least 2000 years to form even a scanty layer of +earth, consequently he inferred that the lowest of the lava streams upon +which Aci rests must have been formed 14,000 years ago. These views he +stated to Brydone a hundred years ago; the latter says, "Recupero tells +me he is exceedingly embarrassed by these discoveries in writing the +history of the mountain. That Moses hangs like a dead weight upon him, +and blunts all his zeal for enquiry; for that really he has not the +conscience to make his mountain so young as that prophet makes the +world. What do you think of these sentiments from a Roman Catholic +Divine? The Bishop, who is strenuously orthodox--for it is an excellent +See--has already warned him to be upon his guard, and not to pretend to +be a better natural historian than Moses; not to presume to urge +anything that may, in the smallest degree, be deemed contradictory to +his sacred authority." The Canon Recupero lost his church preferment on +the publication of Brydone's book, and the whole body of clergy of +Girgenti received a reprimand on account of a capital story which +Brydone told of a dinner at which the Bishop presided, during which +several of the reverend Canons suffered severely from the effects of +English punch, which Brydone had brewed for them. We quite agree with +Admiral Smyth when he says, "It is a pity that Mr. Brydone laboured +under such a cacoethes, as to sacrifice a friend for the sake of a good +story." Of course we now know that Recupero's estimate of the age of +Etna was far within the true limits, but we derive this information +from other sources. No true estimate can be obtained from the +observation of the decomposition of lavas, for it has been often +observed that two lavas will decompose at very different rates. + +A little to the north of the village of La Scaletta, at the base of the +rocks upon which Aci Reale stands, there are two small caverns in the +abrupt face of the basalt, which can only be approached in a boat. They +consist of columnar basalt bent very curiously, and capped by amorphous +basalt. + +A drive of a few miles to the South of Aci Reale brings us to Trezza, a +small village built of lava. A short distance from the shore are the +celebrated _Scogli di Ciclopi_, or rocks of the Cyclops, said to be +those which Polyphemus hurled at Ulysses after his escape from the cave. +The rocks, seven in number, form small islets, the largest of which, the +Isola d'Aci, is about 3000 feet in circumference, and 150 feet high. It +consists of crudely columnar basalt capped by a kind of marl. Near the +top of the island there is a cave called the "Grotto of Polyphemus," +also a cistern of water. To the south of this island a very picturesque +rock rises from the sea. It is 2000 feet in circumference and about 200 +feet in height, and consists of columnar basalt in four and eight-sided +prisms, but not very regular; a hard calcareous substance is found in +their interstices. Fine crystals of analcime are sometimes met with in +the basalts of the Cyclops Islands. Lyell considers these basalts "the +most ancient monuments of volcanic action within the region of Etna." + +A few miles south of the Isole di Ciclopi are the bay and city of +Catania. We started from the latter when we commenced our ascent of +Etna, and now on returning to it, we completed the circuit of the +mountain by its base-road of 87 miles. + +Katana (~Katane~) is believed to have been founded about 730 B.C. +by a Greek colony of Naxos, which had originally come from Chalcis. The +city maintained its independence till the time of Hieron, who expelled +the original inhabitants in 476 B.C., and peopled the city with +Syracusans and inhabitants of the Peloponnesus to the number of 10,000. +At the same time the name of the city was changed to Aetna ([Greek: +Aitne]). In 461 B.C., however, the old inhabitants retook their city, +and drove out the newly-settled strangers, who betook themselves to +Inessa, occupied it, and changed its name to _Aetna_. At a later period +the Katanians sided with the Athenians against the Syracusans. But in +403 B.C. Dionysius of Syracuse took and plundered the city, sold the +inhabitants as slaves, and established in it a body of Campanian +mercenaries. The latter quitted it and retired to Aetna in 396 B.C., +when the city was taken by the Carthaginians after a battle off the +rocks of the Cyclops. Katana submitted to the Romans in 263 B.C., +during the first Punic War, and it soon became a very populous city. +Cicero mentions it as a wealthy city and important seaport. During the +Middle Ages it underwent many changes both at the hands of nature and of +man; it belonged in succession to the Goths, Saracens, and Normans; and +in 1169 was destroyed by an earthquake, during which 15,000 of its +inhabitants perished. Again in 1669, and 1693, it was almost destroyed +by earthquakes. The present town is comparatively new, many of its more +ancient remains are covered with lava, among them the remains of a fine +Greco-Roman theatre, in which it is probable that Alcibiades addressed +the Catanians in 415 B.C. There are also remains of a Roman +amphitheatre, bath, and tombs. Of more modern structures, the cathedral +is the first to claim our notice. It was commenced by Roger I. in 1091, +but in less than a century was almost entirely destroyed by an +earthquake. At one corner of the building you descend through a narrow +passage cut in the lava, to a crypt in which some ancient Roman arches +are shown, partly filled up with lava. Here also is seen a small stream +of very clear water flowing through the lava. The cathedral contains +several interesting tombs, and in the chapel of S. Agata, her body is +preserved in a silver sarcophagus, which during certain fetes is carried +through the town in procession, attended by all the authorities. S. +Agata was martyred by the Praetor Quintianus in the reign of Decius, and +is the patron saint of the city. Whenever Catania has been in trouble +from the approach of lava streams, or from earthquakes, the veil of S. +Agata has been used as a charm to avert the evil. + +The University of Catania is the most celebrated in Sicily. It was +founded in 1445 by Alfonso of Arragon, and has produced several men of +eminence. The city also possesses one of the finest monasteries in the +world, now converted into schools and barracks. Formerly the monastery +of S. Nicola was occupied by 40 monks, all members of noble families; it +is sufficiently large to hold 400. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +ERUPTIONS OF THE MOUNTAIN. + + Their frequency within the historical period.--525 B.C.--477 B.C.-- + 426 B.C.--396 B.C.--140 B.C.--134 B.C.--126 B.C.--122 B.C.--49 B.C. + --43 B.C.--38 B.C.--32 B.C.--40 A.D.--72.--253.--420.--812.--1169. + --1181.--1285.--1329.--1333.--1371.--1408.--1444.--1446.--1447.-- + Close of the Fifteenth Century.--1536.--1537--1566.--1579.--1603.-- + 1607.--1610.--1614.--1619.--1633.--1646.--1651.--1669.--1682.--1688. + --1689.--1693.--1694.--1702.--1723.--1732.--1735.--1744.--1747.-- + 1755.--Flood of 1755.--1759.--1763.--1766.--1780.--1781.--1787.-- + 1792.--1797.--1798.--1799.--1800.--1802.--1805.--1808.--1809.--1811. + --1819.--1831.--1832.--1838.--1842.--1843.--1852.--1865.--1874.-- + General character of the Eruptions. + + +A list of all the eruptions of Etna from the earliest times has been +given by several writers, notably by Ferrara in his _Descrizione +dell' Etna_, and by Gemellaro. The latter places the first eruption in +1226 B.C. in the time of the Sicani; the second in 1170 B.C.; and of the +third he says, "In 1149 B.C. there was an eruption, and Hercules in +consequence fled from the island." Of course these dates are worthless, +and the statements are no doubt based upon the assertion of Diodorus, +that before the Trojan war the Sicani were driven from the east side of +Sicily by the eruptions of the volcano. + +1. The first eruption appears to have occurred in the time of +Pythagoras; we have no details as to its nature. + +2. The second eruption occurred in 477 B.C. It is mentioned by +Thucydides, and it must be the eruption to which Pindar and AEschylus +allude. The former visited the tomb of Hiero I. of Syracuse in 473 B.C., +and the latter was in Sicily in 471 B.C. On the occasion of this +eruption, two heroic youths named Anapias and Amphinomus, +performed a deed to which Seneca and other writers allude with +enthusiasm. While the lava was rapidly overwhelming the city of Katana, +they placed their aged parents on their shoulders, and, at the risk of +their lives, bore them through the flaming streets, and succeeded in +placing them in safety. It was said that the fiery stream of lava parted +to make way for them. Statues were raised to the honour of the _Pii +Fratres_, and their burial place was long known as the _Campus Piorum_. +Even a temple was erected to commemorate the deed. + +Lucilius Junior devotes the concluding lines of his poem on Etna to the +glory of the brothers: "The flames blushed to touch the filial youths, +and wherever they plant their footsteps, they retire. That day is a day +of fortune; harmless that land. On their right hand fierce dangers +prevail; on their left are burning fires. Athwart the flames they pass +in triumph, his brother and he, each safe beneath his filial burden. +There the devouring fire flees backward, and checks itself round the +twin pair. At length they issue forth unharmed, and bear with them their +deities in safety. Songs of poets honour and admire them; them has Pluto +placed apart beneath a glorious name, nor can the mean Fates reach the +holy youths, but have truly granted them the homes and dominion of the +blessed."[18] + +[18] Translated by L. E. Upcott, M.A. + +3. The third eruption occurred in the year 426 B.C. It is mentioned by +Thucydides as having commenced in the sixth year of the Peloponnesian +War. It destroyed a portion of the territory of the inhabitants of +Katana. + +4. An important eruption occurred in the year 396 B.C. It broke out from +Monte di Mojo, the most northerly of the minor cones of Etna, and +following the course of the river Acesines, (now the Alcantara) entered +the sea at the site of the ancient Greek colony of Naxos. Himilco the +Carthaginian general, was at this time on his way from Messana to +Syracuse, and he was compelled to march his troops round the west side +of the mountain in order to avoid the stream of lava. + +5. We hear of no further eruption for 256 years, when in the year 140 +B.C., in the consulship of C. Laelius Sapiens and Q. Servilius Caepio, +there was an outburst from the volcano which destroyed 40 people. + +6. Six years later an eruption occurred according to Orosius and Julius +Obsequens, in the consulship of Sergius Fulvius Flaccus, and Quintus +Calpurnius Piso. We have no details concerning its nature or extent. + +7. The same authorities state that in the year 126 B.C. in the +consulship of L. OEmilius Lepidus, and L. Aurelius Orestes, Sicily +suffered from a very severe earthquake, and a deluge of fiery matter +poured from Etna, overwhelming large tracts of country, and rendering +the waters of the adjacent Ionian sea positively hot. It is said that +the sea near the island of Lipari boiled, and that the inhabitants ate +so large a number of the fishes which were cast, already cooked, upon +their shores, that a distemper appeared which destroyed a large number +of people. + +8. Four years later Katana was nearly destroyed by a new eruption. The +roofs of many of the houses were broken in by the weight of hot ashes +which fell upon them; but the lava stream turned aside near the city and +flowed into the sea. The lava is believed to have issued from a small +crater near Gravina, about 2-1/2 miles from Katana. The city was so much +injured by this eruption that the Romans granted the inhabitants an +immunity from all taxes for a space of ten years. + +9. An eruption, of which we have no details, occurred during the civil +war between Caesar and Pompey. + +10. Livy speaks of an eruption and earthquake which took place shortly +before the death of Caesar, which it was believed to portend. + +11. In 38 B.C., during the civil war between Octavianus and Sextus +Pompeius, a violent eruption occurred on the east side of the mountain, +accompanied by fearful noises and outbursts of flame. + +12. Six years afterwards an eruption of a less violent character took +place. + +13. The next eruption of which we hear is that mentioned by Suetonius in +his Life of Caligula. The Emperor happened to be at Messina at the time, +and he fled from the town through fear of the eruption. This was in 40 +A.D. + +14. An eruption is said to have occurred in 72, in the second year after +the capture of Jerusalem by Titus. + +15. Etna was now quiescent for nearly two centuries, but in the year +253, in the reign of the Emperor Decius, a violent eruption lasting nine +days occurred. The lava flowed in the direction of Catania, and the +inhabitants for the first time tested the efficacy of the veil of S. +Agatha, which afterwards stood them in such good stead on more than one +occasion. The Saint had been martyred the year before, and when the +frightened inhabitants saw the stream of lava approaching the city, +they rushed to the tomb, and removed the veil which covered her body. +This was carried to the edge of the descending torrent of lava, and is +asserted to have at once arrested its progress. + +16. According to Carrera and Photius an eruption occurred in the year +420. + +17. We now find no record of any volcanic action for nearly four hundred +years. Geoffrey of Viterbo states that an eruption occurred in 812, when +Charlemagne was in Messina. + +18. After another long interval of more than three centuries and a half, +the mountain again entered into eruption. In February, 1169, occurred +one of the most disastrous eruptions on record. A violent earthquake, +which was felt as far as Reggio, occurred about dawn, and in a few +minutes Catania was a heap of ruins. It is estimated that 15,000 persons +were buried beneath the ruins. It was the vigil of the feast of S. +Agatha, and the Cathedral of Catania was crowded with people, who were +all buried beneath the ruins, together with the Bishop and forty-four +Benedictine monks. The side of the cone of the great crater towards +Taormina fell into the crater. At Messina the sea retired to some +distance from the shore, and then suddenly returned, overwhelming a +portion of the city, and sweeping away a number of persons who had fled +to the shore for safety. The clear and pure fountain of Arethusa at +Syracuse became muddy and brackish; while the fountain of Ajo, near the +village of Saraceni, ceased to flow for two hours, and then emitted +water of the colour of blood. Ludovico Aurelio states that the vines, +corn, and trees were burnt up over large districts. + +19. According to Nicolo Speziale, there was a great eruption from the +eastern side of the mountain in 1181. + +20. A stream of lava is said to have burst from the eastern side of the +mountain in 1285, when Charles of Anjou was on his death-bed, and to +have flowed fifteen miles. + +21. In the year 1329 Niccolo Speziale was in Catania, and witnessed the +eruption of which he has left us an account. On the evening of June +28th, about the hour of vespers, Etna was strongly convulsed, terrible +noises were emitted, and flames issued from the south side of the +mountain. A new crater--Monte Lepre--opened in the Val del Bove above +the rock of Musarra, and emitted large quantities of dense black smoke. +Soon afterwards a torrent of lava poured from the crater, and red-hot +masses of rock were projected into the air. These effects continued till +the 15th of July, when a second crater opened ten miles to the S.E. of +Montelepre, and near the Church of S. Giovanni Paparometto. Soon after +four other craters opened around it, and emitted smoke and lava. The +sun was obscured from morning till evening by the smoke and ashes, and +the adjacent fields were burnt up by the hot sand and ashes. Multitudes +of birds and animals perished, and many persons are said to have died +from terror. The lava streams were divided into three portions, two of +which flowed towards Aci, and the third towards Catania. The ashes were +carried as far as Malta, a distance of 130 miles. + +22. Four years afterwards an eruption is recorded by Silvaggio. + +23. A manuscript preserved in the archives of the Cathedral of Catania +mentions an eruption which occurred on the 6th of August, 1371, which +caused the destruction of numerous olive groves near the city. + +24. An eruption which lasted for twelve days commenced on the 9th of +November, 1408; it originated in the great crater, but several mouths +subsequently opened near the base of the mountain. Large quantities of +red-hot ashes were emitted, some of which fell in Calabria. The villages +of Pedara and Tre Castagne suffered severely from this eruption. + +25. A violent earthquake in 1444 caused the upper cone of the mountain +to fall into the crater. A torrent of lava also issued from the +mountain, and moved for a space of twenty days towards Catania, but it +did not reach the city. + +26. Two years later lava issued from the Val del Bove near the Rock of +Musarra; the crater then formed was perhaps the present Monte Finocchio. + +27. A short eruption, of which we have no details, occurred in 1447: +after which Etna was quiescent for 89 years. + +28. Bembo and Fazzello mention an eruption which occurred towards the +close of the 15th century, during which a current of lava flowed from +the great crater, and destroyed a portion of Catania. In 1533 Filoteo, +of whom we have before spoken as one of the earliest historians of Etna, +descended into the crater, which possessed its present funnel-like form. +He found at the bottom a hole, not larger than a man's head, from which +issued a thin moist sulphurous vapour. + +29. In March, 1536, a quantity of lava issued from the great crater, and +several new apertures opened near the summit of the mountain and emitted +lava. It divided into several streams, flowing in different directions, +one towards Randazzo, a second towards Aderno, and a third towards +Bronte. The lava swept everything before it; at the same time quantities +of smoke and ashes were ejected, the mountain was convulsed, and fearful +noises were heard. Three new craters were formed on the south and west +sides of the mountain, and on the 26th of March twelve new craters, or +_bocche_, opened between Monte Manfre and Monte Vituri. A physician of +Lentini, named Negro di Piazza, having approached too near to the scene +of the eruption, was destroyed by a volley of red-hot stones. Several +rifts were formed in the sides of the mountain from which issued flames +and hot cinders. + +30. A year later, in May, 1537, a fresh outburst occurred; a number of +new mouths were opened on the south slope of the mountain near La +Fontanelle, and a quantity of lava was emitted, which flowed in the +direction of Catania, destroying a part of Nicolosi, and S. Antonio. In +four days the lava had run fifteen miles. At the same time violent +shocks of earthquake occurred all over Sicily, the inhabitants thought +that the last day had come, and many prepared for their end by receiving +Extreme Unction. According to Filoteo the noises were so violent that +many persons were struck deaf. The sun was obscured by smoke and dust, +ashes fell in sufficient quantities to destroy the olive plantations of +Messina, and were even carried 300 miles out to sea. The great crater +suddenly fell in, so as to become level with the Piano del Lago. The +height of the mountain was thus diminished by 320 feet. + +31. Three new craters opened in November, 1566, on the north-east slope +of the mountain. Quantities of lava were emitted, which flowed towards +Linguaglossa and Randazzo. + +32. A slight eruption, of which we have no details, occurred in 1579. + +33. According to Carrera, an eruption occurred in June, 1603. The +mountain was shaken with earthquakes, and great volumes of smoke and +flame were emitted. + +34. A stream of lava issued from the great crater four years later, and +filled up the lake which had previously existed in the Piano del Lago. + +35. In February, 1610, lava was emitted from the great crater. It flowed +towards Aderno, and filled up the bed of the Simeto, a little above the +Ponte di Carcaci. A few months later a second stream destroyed a large +portion of the forest Del Pino. + +36. In 1614 several new craters were opened between Randazzo and the +great crater on the north side of the mountain. A quantity of lava +issued from them, which united into one stream, and ran for ten miles, +destroying a great deal of wooded country. + +37. A slight eruption occurred in 1619. + +38. In February, 1633, Nicolosi was partially destroyed by a violent +earthquake; and in the following December earthquakes became frequent on +the mountain. A new crater opened above the cone called Serrapizzuta, +five miles from the great crater, and emitted a good deal of lava. A +second crater afterwards opened about two miles to the east of the +former. The eruption lasted off and on for four years: the ejected lava +then covered a tract eighteen miles in length by two miles in width, +the thickness sometimes attaining 42 feet. In 1643 a severe earthquake +occurred, which was mainly felt on the west side of the mountain. + +39. In 1646 a new mouth opened on the north-north-east side of the +mountain, five miles from the great crater. The lava flowed towards +Castiglione. + +40. In February, 1651, several new mouths opened on the west side of the +mountain, and poured out vast volumes of lava which threatened to +overwhelm Bronte. In twenty-four hours the lava ran sixteen miles with a +breadth of four miles. + +41. We have a more detailed account of the eruption of 1669 than of any +previous outburst. It was observed by many men of different nations; and +we find accounts of it in our own _Philosophical Transactions_, in +French, and of course in Italian. Perhaps the most accurate and complete +description is that given by Alfonso Borelli, Professor of Mathematics +in Catania. The eruption was, in every respect, one of the most terrible +on record. On the 8th of March the sun was obscured, and a whirlwind +blew over the face of the mountain; at the same time earthquakes +commenced, and continued to increase in violence for three days, when +Nicolosi was converted into a heap of ruins. On the morning of the 11th +a fissure nearly twelve miles in length opened in the side of the +mountain, and extended from the Piano di S. Leo to Monte Frumento, a +mile from the summit. The fissure was only six feet wide, but it seemed +to be of unknown depth, and a bright light proceeded from it. Six mouths +opened in a line with the principal fissure; they emitted vast columns +of smoke, accompanied by loud bellowings which could be heard 40 miles +off. Towards the close of the day, a crater opened about a mile below +the others, and it ejected red hot stones to a considerable distance, +and afterwards sand and ashes which covered the country for a distance +of 60 miles. The new crater soon vomited forth a torrent of lava which +presented a front of two miles, it encircled Monpilieri, and afterwards +flowed towards Belpasso, a town of 8000 inhabitants, which was speedily +destroyed. Seven mouths of fire opened around the new crater, and in +three days united with it, forming one large crater 800 feet in +diameter. The torrent of lava all this time continued to descend, and it +destroyed the town of Mascalucia on the 23rd of March. On the same day +the crater cast up great quantities of sand, ashes, and scoriae, and +formed above itself the great double-coned hill now called Monti Rossi +from the red colour of the ashes of which it is mainly composed. On the +25th very violent earthquakes occurred, and the cone of the great +central crater was shaken down into the crater for the fifth time since +the first century A.D. The original current of lava had divided into +three streams, one of which destroyed S. Pietro, the second +Camporotondo, and the third the lands about Mascalucia, and afterwards +the village of Misterbianco. Fourteen villages were altogether +destroyed, and the lava was on its way to Catania. At Albanelli, two +miles from the city, it undermined a hill covered with cornfields, and +carried it forward a considerable distance; a vineyard was also seen to +be floating on its fiery surface. When the lava reached the walls of +Catania it accumulated without progression until it rose to the top of +the wall, 60 feet in height, and it then fell over in a fiery cascade, +and overwhelmed a part of the city. Another portion of the same stream +threw down 120 feet of the wall, and flowed into the city. On the 23rd +of April the lava reached the sea, which it entered as a stream 600 +yards broad and 40 feet deep. The stream had moved at the rate of +thirteen miles in twenty days, but as it cooled it moved less quickly, +and during the last twenty-three days of its course it only moved two +miles. On reaching the sea the water of course began to boil violently, +and clouds of steam arose, carrying with them particles of scoriae. +Towards the end of April the stream on the west side of Catania, which +had appeared to be consolidated, again burst forth, and flowed into the +garden of the Benedictine Monastery of S. Niccola, and then branched +off into the city. Attempts were made to build walls to arrest its +progress. An attempt of another kind was made by a gentleman of Catania, +named Pappalardo, who took fifty men with him, having previously +provided them with skins for protection from the intense heat, and with +crowbars to effect an opening in the lava. They pierced the solid outer +crust of solidified lava, and a rivulet of the molten interior +immediately gushed out, and flowed in the direction of Paterno; +whereupon 500 men of that town, alarmed for its safety, took up arms, +and caused Pappalardo and his men to desist. The lava did not altogether +stop for four months; and two years after it had ceased to flow it was +found to be red hot beneath the surface. Even eight years after the +eruption quantities of steam escaped from the lava after a shower of +rain. The stones which were ejected from the crater during this eruption +were often of considerable magnitude, and Borelli calculated that the +diameter of one which he saw was 50 feet; it was thrown to a distance of +a mile, and as it fell it penetrated the earth to a depth of 23 feet. +The volume of lava emitted during this eruption amounted to many +millions of cubic feet: Ferrara considers that the length of the stream +was at least fifteen miles, while its average width was between two and +three miles, so that it covered at least forty square miles of surface. + +In a somewhat rare tract,[19] Lord Winchelsea, who was returning to +England from Constantinople, and who landed at Catania, gives an account +of what he saw of the eruption. He appears to have been frightened at +the sight, and took good care to keep in a safe place; hence his letter, +which is a short one, is mainly founded on hearsay. However, he says, "I +could discern the river of fire to descend the mountain, of a terrible +fiery or red colour, and stones of a paler red to swim thereon, and to +be as big as an ordinary table.... Of 20,000 persons which inhabited +Catania, 3000 did only remain; all their goods are carried away, the +cannon of brass are removed out of the castle, some great bells taken +down, the city gates walled up next the fire, and preparations made by +all to abandon the city." The noble earl is less happy in his scientific +ideas than in his general statement of the facts of which he was an +eye-witness; we can only hope that he joined the recently-formed Royal +Society on his return to England, and listened to Robert Hooke's +discourse on fire. In describing the lava, Lord Winchelsea says, "The +composition of this fire, stones, and cinders, are sulphur, nitre, +quicksilver, sal-ammoniac, lead, iron, brass, and all other mettals!" +Two other accounts are appended to the above letter; in one of these we +are told that as the lava approached Catania, the various religious +bodies carried their relics in procession, "followed by great multitudes +of people, some of them mortifying themselves with whips, and other +signs of penance, with great complaints and cries, expressing their +dreadful expectation of the events of those prodigious fiery +inundations." In the midst of all this, news was brought that a large +band of robbers had taken advantage of the general distress, and were +robbing right and left, and murdering the people: whereupon a troop of +Spanish horse was sent out to protect the city and country, three pair +of gallows were set up, and such as were found robbing were executed +without trial by martial law. + +[19] "A true and exact relation of the late prodigious earthquake and +eruption of Mount AEtna or Monte Gibello; as it came in a letter written +to his Majesty from Naples by the Rt. Honble. the Earl of Winchelsea +late Ambassadour at Constantinople, who in his return from thence +visiting Catania in the Island of Sicily, was an eye-witness of that +dreadful spectacle." Published by Authority. Printed by T. Newcomb in +the Savoy. 1669. + +As the lava streams approached the city, the Senate, accompanied by the +Bishop and all the clergy, secular and regular, went in procession out +of the city to Monte di S. Sofia with all their relics, etc. There they +erected an altar in view of the burning mountain, and celebrated mass, +"and used the exorcismes accustomed upon such extraordinary occasions, +all which time the mountain ceased not as before with excessive roaring +to throw up its smoak and flames with extraordinary violence, and +abundance of great stones, which were carried through the air." + +42. For a few years after this terrible eruption Etna was quiescent, but +in 1682 a new mouth opened on the east side of the mountain, a little +below the summit, and above the Val del Bove. Lava issued from it, and +rushed down the precipices of the Val del Bove as far as the rock of +Musarra. + +43. Six years later a torrent of lava burst from an opening in the great +cone, and flowed into the Val del Bove for a distance of three miles. + +44. In the following year lava was emitted from a mouth in the Val del +Bove, and it descended for about ten miles, destroying everything in its +course, until it reached a little valley near Macchia. + +45. Early in January 1693, clouds of black smoke were poured from the +great crater, and loud noises resembling the discharge of artillery were +heard. A violent earthquake succeeded, and Catania was shaken to the +ground, burying 18,000 of its inhabitants in the ruins. It is said that +in all fifty towns were destroyed in Sicily, together with from 60,000 +to 100,000 inhabitants. Lava was emitted from the crater, which was +lowered by the eruption. + +46. In the following year Etna again entered into eruption, ejecting +large quantities of ashes, some of which were carried as far as Malta. + +47. In March 1702, three mouths opened in the Contrada del Trifoglietto, +near the head of the Val del Bove. Lava was emitted from them, which +flowed into the Valley of Calanna. + +48. Towards the end of 1723 loud bellowings issued from the mountain; +earthquakes occurred, and a torrent of lava issued from the crater, +which flowed towards Bronte, through the Bosco di Bronte. + +49. A small lava stream issued from the crater in 1732, and descended +the western slope of the mountain, but without producing any damage. + +50. In October 1735, the usual noises which presage an eruption were +heard, earthquakes followed, and a little later the crater emitted +flames and red-hot stones. Lava also issued from it, and the stream +divided into three branches, one of which flowed towards Bronte, a +second towards Linguaglossa, and a third towards Mascali; but they did +not get beyond the upper regions of the mountain. + +51. In 1744 the mountain threw out great quantities of ashes, but no +lava. + +52. In 1747 a quantity of lava flowed from the great crater into the Val +del Bove, and the height of the cone was considerably increased during +the eruption. + +53. Early in the year 1755, Etna began to show signs of disturbance; a +great column of black smoke issued from the crater, from which forked +lightning was frequently emitted. Loud detonations were heard, and two +streams of lava issued from the crater. A new mouth opened near the +Rocca di Musarra in the Val del Bove, four miles from the summit, and a +quantity of lava was ejected from it. An extraordinary flood of water +descended from the Val del Bove, carrying all before it, and strewing +its path, with huge blocks. Recupero estimated the volume of water as +16,000,000 cubic feet, probably a greater amount than could be furnished +by the melting of all the winter's snow on the mountain. It formed a +channel two miles broad, and, in some places, thirty-four feet deep, and +it flowed at the rate of a mile in a minute and a half during the first +twelve miles of its course. Lyell considers the flood was probably +produced by the melting, not only of the winter's snow, but also of +older layers of ice, which were suddenly melted by the permeation of hot +steam and lava, and which had been previously preserved from melting by +a deposit of sand and ashes, as in the case of the ancient glacier found +near the summit of the mountain in 1828. In November 1758, a smart shock +of earthquake caused the cone of the great crater to fall in, but no +eruption occurred at the time. + +54. Great quantities of ashes, and some small streams of lava, were +emitted from the crater in 1759, a little later the cone, which had been +again raised by the eruption, gave way, and the greater part of it fell +into the crater. Two parts of it however were left standing. + +55. Severe shocks of earthquakes were felt on the east side of the +mountain in 1763, and a new mouth opened in the Bosco di Bronte, ten +miles from the town, between Monte Rosso and Monte Lepre. Four other +mouths were afterwards opened in a line; they threw up quantities of +scoriae and ashes, and afterwards lava. In the middle of June several +mouths opened on the south side of the mountain, and a fissure 2000 feet +long opened downwards in a southerly direction. The lava divided into +two branches, the larger of which was ten miles long and 250 feet wide, +with a depth of 25 feet. + +56. Several new mouths opened in the spring of 1766, and ejected large +volumes of ashes, also streams of lava, which flowed in the direction of +Nicolosi and Pedara. The Canon Recupero, one of the historians of Etna, +witnessed this eruption, and narrowly escaped being destroyed. He had +ascended a small hill 50 feet high, of ancient volcanic matter, in order +to witness the approach of the lava stream which was slowly advancing +with a front of two miles and a half. Suddenly two small streams +detached themselves from the main stream, and ran rapidly towards the +hill. Recupero and his guide at once hastened to descend, and had +barely escaped when they saw the hill surrounded by lava, and in a few +minutes it was melted down and sank into the molten mass. + +57. In the early part of 1780, earthquakes were felt all over Sicily, +and on the 18th of May a fissure opened on the south-west side of the +mountain, and extended from the base of the great crater for seven +miles, terminating in a new mouth from which a stream of lava emanated. +This encountered the cone of Palmintelli in its course, and separated +into two branches, each of which was 400 feet wide. Other mouths opened +later in the year, and emitted large quantities of lava, which +devastated the country of Montemazzo. + +58. In 1781 the volcano emitted a quantity of lava which flowed into the +Val del Bove. Clouds of grey ashes were also ejected. At the +commencement of the great Calabrian earthquake of 1783, Etna ejected +large quantities of smoke, but it was otherwise quiescent. + +59. In the middle of 1787 lava burst from the great crater, which also +discharged quantities of sand, scoriae, and red-hot ashes. Large heated +masses of rock were ejected to a great height, and subterranean +bellowings were heard by the dwellers on the mountain. + +60. Five years afterwards a fresh outburst occurred, earthquakes were +prevalent, and vast volumes of smoke bore to seaward, and seemed to +bridge the sea between Sicily and Africa. A torrent of lava flowed +towards Aderno, and a second flowed into the Val del Bove as far as +Zoccolaro. A pit called _La Cisterna_, 40 feet in diameter, opened in +the Piano del Lago, near the great cone, and ejected smoke and masses of +old lava saturated with water. Several mouths opened below the crater, +and the country round about Zaffarana was desolated. The Abate Ferrara, +the author of the _Descrizione dell' Etna_, witnessed this eruption: "I +shall never forget," he writes, "that this last mouth opened precisely +on the spot where, the day before, I had made my meal with a shepherd. +On my return next day he related how, after a stunning explosion, the +rocks on which we had sat together were blown into the air, and a mouth +opened, discharging a flood of fire, which, rushing down with the +rapidity of water, hardly gave him time to make his escape." + +61. In 1797 a slight eruption occurred, and the great crater threw out +ashes and sand, but no lava. Earthquakes were frequent. + +62. In the following year lava was emitted, and severe earthquakes +occurred. + +63. The eruptions continued during 1799. + +64. In February 1800 loud explosions were heard by the dwellers on the +mountain, and columns of fire issued from the crater, accompanied by +forked lightning. This was succeeded by a discharge of hot ashes and +scoriae, which, falling on the snows accumulated near the summit of the +mountain, produced devastating floods of water. + +65. In November 1802 a new mouth opened near the Rocca di Musarra in the +Val del Bove, which emitted a copious stream of lava. In a day and a +half the lava had run twelve miles. + +66. In 1805 the great crater was in a state of eruption, and a cone was +thrown up within it to a height of 1,050 feet. + +67. In 1808 the mountain again became active, and fire and smoke were +emitted from the crater. + +68. In March 1809, no less than twenty-one mouths of fire opened in the +direction of Castiglione. They ejected volumes of smoke, large +quantities of scoriae and ashes, and afterwards lava, which, uniting into +one torrent, flowed with a front of 450 feet for 8 miles. Fissures were +formed in the earth, and loud explosions constantly occurred within the +great crater; a small cone was thrown up. + +69. Two years afterwards more than thirty mouths opened in a line +running eastwards for five miles. They ejected jets of fire accompanied +by much smoke. The eruptions soon diminished in the higher mouths, and +became more and more violent in the lower mouths, until the eruption +centred in the lowest one called S. Simone, near the head of the Val del +Bove. From this, great black clouds, having a lustre like that of black +wool, issued, and afterwards quantities of lava, which formed a stream +a mile wide, and eight miles long. It flowed nearly as far as the +village of Milo. Frequent earthquakes accompanied this outburst, and +they continued in various parts of the island for the following five +years. + +70. In 1819 five new mouths of fire opened near the scene of the +eruption of 1811; three of these united into one large crater, and +poured forth a quantity of lava into the Val del Bove. The lava flowed +until it reached a nearly perpendicular precipice at the bend of the +valley of Calanna, over which it fell in a cascade, and, being hardened +by its descent, it was forced against the sides of the tufaceous rock at +the bottom, so as to produce an extraordinary amount of abrasion, +accompanied by clouds of dust, worn off by the friction. Mr. Scrope +observed that the lava flowed at the rate of about a yard an hour, nine +months after its emission. + +71. A slight eruption occurred in 1831 from the great crater, which +threw out lava on its northern side. + +72. In October of the following year a violent eruption occurred. A new +crater was formed in the Val del Serbo, above Bronte and three miles +from the summit. Seven mouths afterwards opened, three miles below the +first. From one of these lava was emitted, which flowed to within a mile +and a half of Bronte. The stream was a mile and a half broad, and 40 +feet deep. + +73. A slight eruption occurred in 1838, when a small quantity of lava +was poured from the great crater into the Val del Bove. + +74. Four years later the crater discharged ashes and scoriae, and lava +burst from the cone 300 feet from the summit. It flowed into the Val del +Bove, in a stream 600 feet wide, and it came to a standstill ten miles +from the summit. + +75. Near the end of the following year, fifteen mouths of fire opened +near the crater of 1832, at a height of 7000 feet above the sea. They +began by discharging scoriae and sand, and afterwards lava, which divided +into three streams, the two outer ones soon came to a standstill, while +the central stream continued to flow at the rapid rate of 180 feet a +minute, the descent being an angle of 25 deg.. The heat at a distance of 120 +feet from the current was 90 deg. F. A new crater opened just above Bronte, +and discharged lava which threatened the town, but it fortunately +encountered Monte Vittoria and was diverted into another course. While a +number of the inhabitants of Bronte were watching the progress of the +lava, the front of the stream was suddenly blown out as by an explosion +of gunpowder; in an instant red-hot masses were hurled in every +direction; and a cloud of vapour enveloped everything. Thirty-six +persons were killed on the spot, and twenty survived but a few hours. +The great crater showed signs of disturbance, by emitting dense volumes +of smoke, and loud bellowings, also quantities of volcanic dust +saturated with hydrochloric acid, which destroyed the vegetation +wherever it fell. + +76. A very violent eruption which lasted more than nine months, +commenced on the 21st of August, 1852. It was first witnessed by a party +of six English tourists, who were ascending the mountain from Nicolosi +in order to see the sunrise from the summit. As they approached the Casa +Inglesi the crater commenced to give forth ashes and flames of fire. In +a narrow defile they were met by a violent hurricane, which overthrew +both the mules and their riders, and urged them towards the precipices +of the Val del Bove. They sheltered themselves beneath some masses of +lava, when suddenly an earthquake shook the mountain, and their mules in +terror fled away. They returned on foot towards daylight to Nicolosi, +fortunately without having sustained injury. In the course of the night +many _bocche del fuoco_ opened in that part of the Val del Bove called +the Balzo di Trifoglietto, and a great fissure opened at the base of the +Giannicola Grande, and a crater was thrown up from which for seventeen +days showers of sand and scoriae were ejected. During the next day a +quantity of lava flowed down the Val del Bove, branching off so that one +stream advanced to the foot of Monte Finocchio, and the other to Monte +Calanna. Afterwards it flowed towards Zaffarana, and devastated a large +tract of woody region. Four days later a second crater was formed near +the first, from which lava was emitted together with sand and scoriae, +which caused cones to rise around the craters. The lava moved but +slowly, and towards the end of August it came to a stand, only a quarter +of a mile from Zaffarana: on the second of September, Gemellaro ascended +Monte Finocchio in the Val del Bove in order to witness the outburst. He +states that the hill was violently agitated, like a ship at sea. The +surface of the Val del Bove appeared like a molten lake; scoriae were +thrown up from the craters to a great height, and loud explosions were +heard at frequent intervals. The eruption continued to increase in +violence. On October 6th two new mouths opened in the Val del Bove, +emitting lava which flowed towards the Valley of Calanna, and fell over +the Salto della Giumenta, a precipice nearly 200 feet deep. The noise +which it produced was like that of the clash of metallic masses. The +eruption continued with abated violence during the early months of 1853, +and it did not finally cease till May 27. The entire mass of lava +ejected is estimated to be equal to an area six miles long by two miles +broad, with an average depth of about twelve feet. + +I am indebted to M. Antonin Moris of Palermo for the following account +of the eruption of 1852: + +The eruption of 1852 commenced on the 21st of August. The earthquakes, +the jets of flame from the great crater, and the subterranean rumblings +which usually precede an eruption, did not herald the approach of this +one. An English family, who were then making the ascent of the mountain, +together with a poor shepherd of Riposto, were the only witnesses of the +first outburst. The latter was asleep in the midst of his flocks, and +was awakened by violent shakings of the ground; he fled in haste, and +some seconds afterwards the earth opened with a loud noise, vomiting a +terrible column of fire, at the very spot which he had just abandoned. +An enormous crevasse opened on the north side of Trifoglietto in the +direction of the great crater. On its summit near the opening called the +Piccolo Teatro, several openings were produced at the very first, but +they only emitted feeble currents of lava. All the force of the eruption +was concentrated at the foot of the escarpment of the Serra di +Giannicola, 4 kilometres, (2-1/2 miles) from the summit of Etna. To the +west of, and somewhat above the principal crater, a second one was +formed, but its activity was of short duration. The liquid lava issued +with such violence that in 24 hours it had reached the base of Monte +Calanna, a distance of 3 kilometres, (nearly 2 miles). After surrounding +this hill, it divided into two currents, one of which ran towards +Zaffarana, and the other towards Milo. At a distance they seemed to +present a united front of 2 kilometres, (1-1/4 mile), which threatened +to destroy all the villages below. The Val del Bove was already +entirely overrun; Isoletta dei Zappinelli in the midst of the lavas of +1811 and 1819 was overwhelmed; the valley of Calanna was buried under +the fire with lava, when on the 28th of August the lava hurled itself +into the narrow passage of the Portella di Calanna. A frightful cascade +of lava was then seen to precipitate itself from a height of 60 metres, +with a harsh metallic noise, accompanied by loud cracking. Zaffarana was +on the eve of total ruin; the fire had taken the direction of the ravine +which terminates there, when suddenly, in the beginning of September, +the devastating stream stayed its march against the ill-fated district. + +On the contrary that which had taken the direction of Milo, reinforced +by a new current on the 10th of September, destroyed the hamlet of +Caselle del Milo; and afterwards divided itself into two branches, which +left the village of Caselle in safety between them. + +The inhabitants of La Macchia and Giarre gave themselves up for lost; +for it seemed that the lava would be obliged to follow the valley of +Santa Maria della Strada; happily, however, from the 20th of September +onward, it ceased to advance perceptibly. The eruption did not totally +subside till March 1853; but the lava-flows did no more than travel by +the side, or on the top of the older, without extending beyond them. + +The crater of 1852 was called the Centenario, from its having been +formed at the time of the centenary of the fete of S. Agatha. Santiago, +in the island of Cuba, was destroyed by an earthquake on the very day of +the eruption. + +During the whole period of the eruption, only one explosion proceeded +from the great crater of Etna. By it an enormous column of ashes and +scoriae was cast into the air. + +On the 9th of September white ashes were seen on the summit, which at a +distance appeared like snow. When pressed together by the hand they took +the consistence of clay, but they hardened in the fire, and could then +be reduced to powder. They have been considered to be the _debris_ of +felspathic rocks, disintegrated by the heat of the lava, and blown out +by the expansive power of disengaged gas. + +The eruption of 1852 was one of the grandest of the recorded eruptions +of Etna. More than 2,000,000,000 cubic feet of red hot lava was spread +over three square miles. This eruption was minutely described by Carlo +Gemellaro, in a memoir entitled, "_Breve ragguaglio della eruzione +dell' Etna del 21 Agosto, 1852_." + +77. In October 1864, frequent shocks of earthquakes were felt by the +dwellers on Etna. In January clouds of smoke were emitted by the great +crater, and roaring sounds were heard. On the night of the 30th a +violent shock was felt on the north-east side of the mountain, and a +mouth opened below Monte Frumento, from which lava was ejected. It +flowed at a rate of about a mile a day, and ultimately divided into two +streams. By March 10th the new mouths of fire had increased to seven in +number, and they were all situated along a line stretching down from the +summit. The three upper craters gave forth loud detonations three or +four times a minute. Professor Orazio Silvestri has devoted a quarto of +267 pages to an account of _I Fenomeni Vulcanici presentati dall'Etna +nel 1863-64-65-66_. + +78. In August 1874 the inhabitants of the towns situated on the north, +west, and east sides of the mountain, were awakened by loud subterranean +rumblings. Soon afterwards a formidable column of black smoke issued +from the crater, accompanied by sand, scoriae, and ignited matter +(_infuocata materia_). Severe shocks of earthquake were felt, the centre +of impulsion being apparently situated on the northern flank of the +mountain, at a height of 2450 metres above the level of the sea. Some +small _bocche eruttive_ opened near the great crater, and ejected lava, +but the quantity was comparatively small, and but little damage was +done. An account of this eruption was given by Silvestri in 1874, in a +small pamphlet entitled, _Notizie sulla eruzione dell' Etna del 29 +Agosto, 1874_. Since 1874 the mountain has been in a quiescent state. +The centre of disturbance was at an elevation of 2450 metres (7600 feet) +above the sea, on the north side of the crater, and between the minor +cones known as the _Fratelli Pii_ and _Monte Grigio_. A new crater, +having an elliptical contour, and a diameter of about 100 metres, was +formed at this point. It is composed of a prehistoric grey labradorite, +and of doleritic lava. Downwards from the main crater, in the direction +of Monte di Mojo, a long fissure extended for 400 metres, and along the +line of this fissure no less than _thirty-five_ minor cones opened, with +craters of from thirty to three metres in diameter. The stream of lava +ejected from the various _boccarelle_ was 400 metres long, 80 wide, and +2 metres in thickness, and the bulk of volcanic material brought to the +surface, including the principal cone and its thirty-five subordinates +and their ejectamenta, was calculated to amount to 1,351,000 cubic +metres. The lava is of an augitic character, and magnetic; it possesses +a specific gravity of 2.3636 at 25 deg. C. + +It will be seen from the account of the foregoing eruptions that there +is a great similarity in the character of the eruptions of Etna. +Earthquakes presage the outburst; loud explosions follow, rifts and +_bocche del fuoco_ open in the sides of the mountain; smoke, sand, +ashes, and scoriae are discharged, the action localises itself in one or +more craters, cinders are thrown up, and accumulate around the crater +and cone, ultimately lava rises, and frequently breaks down one side of +the cone, where the resistance is least. Then the eruption is at an +end. + +Smyth says, "The symptoms which precede an eruption are generally +irregular clouds of smoke, ferilli, or volcanic lightnings, hollow +intonations, and local earthquakes that often alarm the surrounding +country as far as Messina, and have given the whole province the name of +Val Demone, as being the abode of infernal spirits. These agitations +increase until the vast cauldron becomes surcharged with the fused +minerals, when, if the convulsion is not sufficiently powerful to force +them from the great crater (which, from its great altitude and the +weight of the candent matter, requires an uncommon effort), they explode +through that part of the side which offers the least resistance with a +grand and terrific effect, throwing red-hot stones and flakes of fire to +an incredible height, and spreading ignited cinders and ashes in every +direction." After the eruption of ashes, lava frequently follows, +sometimes rising to the top of the cone of cinders, at others breaching +it on the least resisting side. When the lava has reached the base of +the cone, it begins to flow down the mountain, and being then in a very +fluid state, it moves with great velocity. As it cools the sides and +surface begin to harden, its velocity decreases, and in the course of a +few days it only moves a few yards in an hour. The internal portions, +however, part slowly with their heat, and months after the eruption, +clouds of steam arise from the black and externally cold lava beds after +rain, which, having penetrated through the cracks, has found its way to +the heated mass within. + +Of the seventy-eight eruptions described above, it will be noticed that +not more than nineteen have been of extreme violence, while the majority +have been of a slight and comparatively harmless character. + +[Illustration: Geological Map of Etna] + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY OF THE MOUNTAIN. + + Elie de Beaumont's classification of rocks of Etna.--Hoffman's + geological map.--Lyell's researches.--The period of earliest + eruption.--The Val del Bove.--Two craters of eruption.--Antiquity of + Etna.--The lavas of Etna.--Labradorite.--Augite.--Olivine.-- + Analcime.--Titaniferous iron.--Mr. Rutley's examination of Etna + lavas under the microscope. + + +The opinion of geologists is divided as to the manner in which a volcano +is first formed. Some hold that the volcanic forces have upraised the +rocks from beneath, and at last finding vent have scattered the lighter +portions of such rocks into the air, and have poured out lava through +the rent masses, thus forming a _crater of elevation_. Others maintain +that the volcanic products are ejected from an aperture or fissure +already existing in rocks previously formed, and that the accumulation +of these products around the vent forms the mass of the volcano and the +_crater of eruption_. Lyell favours the latter view; Von Buch, Dufrenoy, +and Elie de Beaumont the former. + +According to M. Elie de Beaumont, Etna is an irregular crater of +elevation. The original deposits were nearly horizontal, and lavas were +poured through fissures in these, and accumulated at first in layers; +afterwards the whole mass was upheaved and a crater formed.[20] The +upheaving force does not appear to have acted at one point, but along a +line traversing the Val del Bove. The latter he refers to a subsidence +of a portion of the mountain. He divides the rocks of Etna into six +orders: 1. The lowest basis of the mountain would appear to consist of +granite, because masses of that rock have from time to time been +ejected. 2. Calcareous and arenaceous rocks, of which the mountains +surrounding Etna are composed, and which appear capped with lava near +Bronte and elsewhere. 3. Basaltic rocks, which are met with near Motta +S. Anastasia, Paterno, Licodia, and Aderno, and in the Isole de'Ciclopi. +4. Rolled pebbles, which form a range of slightly rising ground between +the first slopes of Etna on the southern side and the plain of Catania. +(Lyell speaks of this rising ground as consisting of "argillaceous and +sandy beds with marine shells, nearly all of living Mediterranean +species, and with associated and contemporaneous volcanic rocks.") 5. +Ancient lavas forming the escarpments around the Val del Bove; and 6th, +Modern lavas. He considers that the fissures which abound on Etna are +shifts or faults produced by dislocation, and that the minor cones are +points along such fissures from which ashes and lava have been ejected. +He admits the existence of two cones. The geological map of Etna +prepared by M. Elie de Beaumont to accompany his memoir can scarcely be +regarded as a great addition to our knowledge of the mountain. For +although in the main points it is correct, so many details have been +omitted that the map must be considered to have now been quite +superseded by those of Von Waltershausen and Friedrich Hoffmann. + +[20] "Recherches sur la structure et sur l'origine du Mont Etna." 1836. + +The most convenient geological map of the mountain is without doubt that +of Hoffmann, given in the _Vulkanen Atlas_ of Dr. Von Leonhard; and here +reproduced. Von Waltershausen's geological map has been the foundation +of all others which have subsequently appeared. It is a marvel of +accurate work, and patient industry. The form however is inconvenient, +as it nowhere appears as a whole, but in separate portions, which are +scattered through the folio sheets of the very expensive _Atlas des +Aetna_. It is accurate, and at the same time very clear and +intelligible. By reference to the map it will be seen that from Capo di +Schiso westward, to near Paterno, Etna is surrounded by sandstone hills; +at the south we have recent clays, and, at intervals, chalk. A large +triangular space having the two angles at its base, respectively near +Maletto and Aderno, and its apex at the great crater, is covered with +new lava; while around Nicolosi there is volcanic sand. At the Isole +de'Ciclopi, Motta S. Anastasia, and a few other places, basalt is seen; +on each side of the Val del Bove, dolerite; and near Misterbianco and +Piedemonte, small deposits of clay slate. The great mass of the surface +of the mountain, not specially mentioned above, is volcanic tuff. + +[Illustration: Map of the Val del Bove, to illustrate the theory of a +double axis of eruption. (_Lyell_).] + +Among the more important and recent additions to our knowledge of the +geology of Etna may be mentioned Lyell's paper on the subject, +communicated to the Royal Society in 1858, the matter of which is +incorporated in a lengthy chapter on Etna in the "Principles of +Geology." Lyell visited the mountain in 1828, 1857, and 1858, and he +then collected together a great number of personal observations; he also +made use of the maps and plans of Von Waltershausen, and he has analysed +the views of Elie de Beaumont and other writers. He alludes at the +outset to the numerous minor cones of Etna produced by lateral eruption, +and points out the fact that they are gradually obliterated by the lava +descending from the upper part of the mountain, which flows around them +and heightens the ground on which they stand. In this way the crater of +Monte Nocilla is now level with the plain, and the crater of Monte +Capreolo was nearly filled by a lava stream in 1669. Thus without +doubt beneath the sloping sides of Etna a multitude of obliterated +monticules exist. + +[Illustration: Ideal section of Mount Etna] + +The strata which surround Mount Etna on the south are of Newer Pliocene +date, and contain shells which are nearly all of species still living in +the Mediterranean. Out of sixty-five species collected by Lyell in 1828, +sixty-one were found to belong to species still common in the +Mediterranean. These strata are about the age of the Norwich crag; and +the oldest eruptions of Etna must have taken place during the glacial +period, but before the period of greatest cold in Northern Europe. + +Before visiting Etna, Lyell had been told by Dr. Buckland that in his +opinion the Val del Bove was the most interesting part of Etna, +accordingly he specially and minutely examined that part of the +mountain. This vast valley is situated on the eastern flanks of the +mountain, and it commences near the base of the cone, stretching for +nearly five miles downwards. It is a large oval basin formed in the side +of the mountain, and surrounded by vast precipices, some of which at the +head of the valley are between three and four thousand feet in height. +The surface is covered with lava of various dates, and several minor +cones, notably those of 1852, are within its boundaries. The abrupt +precipices reveal the presence of a large number of vertical dikes, +radiating from a point within the valley, some of them, according to Von +Waltershausen, being of ancient greenstone. Other dikes of more modern +doleritic lava radiate from the present crater. From the slope of the +beds in the Val del Bove, Lyell and Von Waltershausen have independently +inferred that there was once a second great centre of eruption in the +Val del Bove between the Sierra Giannicola, and Zoccolaro (_vide_ the +Figure on p. 117). The axis of eruption passing through this point Lyell +calls the _Axis of Trifoglietto_; while he distinguishes the present +centre of eruption as the _Axis of Mongibello_. These centres probably +existed simultaneously, but were unequal as regards eruptive violence; +the crater of Mongibello was the more active of the two, and eventually +overwhelmed the crater of Trifoglietto with its products, by which means +the whole mountain became a fairly symmetrical cone, having the crater +of Mongibello at its apex (_vide_ the Figures on pp. 119 and 121). +Subsequently the Val del Bove was formed, probably by some paroxysmal +explosion, caused by pent-up gases escaping from fissures. Possibly also +subsidence may have occurred. + +[Illustration: Profile of Etna] + +We must then in the first place think of Etna as a submarine volcano +of the Newer Pliocene age; when it reached the surface it increased +rapidly in bulk by pouring out scoriae and lava from its two centres +of eruption--the centre of Mongibello, and the centre of +Trifoglietto,--general upheaval of the surrounding district followed, +and ultimately the crater of Trifoglietto was obliterated by the +discharges from the crater of Mongibello. Afterwards the Val del Bove +was blown out by sudden eruptive force from beneath, and the mountain +assumed its present aspect. Then the historical eruptions commenced, +and of these we have given an account in the preceding chapter. + +The most obvious method of obtaining some idea as to the age of Etna, is +to ascertain the thickness of matter added during the historical period +to the sides of the mountain, and to compare this with the thickness of +the beds of ancient lava and scoriae exposed at the abrupt precipices of +the Val del Bove. There is reason for believing, however, that none of +the ancient lavas equalled in volume the lava streams of 1809 and 1852, +and the question is much complicated by other considerations. Lyell +compares the growth of a volcano to that of an exogenous tree, which +increases both in bulk and height by the external application of +ligneous matter. Branches which shoot out from the trunk, first pierce +the bark and proceed outwards, but if they die or are broken off they +become inclosed in the body of the tree, forming knots in the wood. +Similarly the volcano consists of a series of conical masses placed one +above the other, while the minor cones, corresponding to the branches of +the tree, first project, and then become buried again, as successive +layers of lava flow around them. But volcanic action is very +intermittent, the layers of lava and scoriae do not accumulate evenly and +regularly like the layers of a tree. A violent paroxysmal outbreak may +be succeeded by centuries of quiescence, or by a number of ordinary +eruptions; or, again, several paroxysmal outbreaks may occur in +succession. Moreover, each conical envelope of the mountain is made up +of a number of distinct currents of lava, and showers of scoriae. "Yet we +cannot fail to form the most exalted conception of the antiquity of this +mountain, when we consider that its base is about 90 miles in +circumference; so that it would require ninety flows of lava, each a +mile in breadth at their termination, to raise the present foot of the +volcano as much as the average height of one lava current." If all the +minor cones now visible on Etna could be removed, with all the lava and +scoriae which have ever proceeded from them, the mountain would appear +scarcely perceptibly smaller. Other cones would reveal themselves +beneath those now existing. Since the time when, in the Newer Pliocene +period, the foundations of Etna were laid in the sea, it is quite +impossible even to hint at the number of hundreds of thousands of years +which have elapsed. + +We collected specimens of lava from various points around and upon the +mountain. They presented a wonderful similarity of structure, and a +mineralogist to whom they were shown remarked that they might almost +all have come from the same crater, at the same time. A specimen of the +lava of 1535 found near Borello, was ground by a lapidary until it was +sufficiently transparent to be examined under the microscope by +polarised light. It was found to contain good crystals of augite and +olivine, well striated labradorite, and titaniferous iron ore. + +Elie de Beaumont affirms that the lavas of Etna consist of labradorite, +pyroxene (augite), peridot (olivine), and titaniferous iron. Rose was +the first to prove that the lavas of Etna do not contain ordinary +felspar (or potash felspar), but labradorite (or lime felspar.) +(_Annales des Mines_, 3 serie, t. viii., p. 3.) Elie de Beaumont +detached a quantity of white crystals from the interior of a lava found +between Giarre and Aci Reale; these were analysed by M. Auguste Laurent +with the following results in 100 parts:-- + + Silica 47.9 + Alumina 34.0 + Oxide of Iron 2.4 + Soda (Na{2}O) 5.1 + Potash (K{2}O) .9 + Lime 9.5 + Magnesia .2 + ----- + 100.0 + +Von Waltershausen gives the following as the composition of two +specimens of Labradorite from Etna:-- + + I. II. + + Silica 53.56 55.83 + Alumina 25.82 25.31 + Sesquioxide of Iron 3.41 3.64 + Magnesia .52 .74 + Lime 11.69 10.49 + Soda 4.09 3.52 + Potash .54 .83 + Water .95 -- + ------ ------ + 100.58 100.36 + +Specimens of Augite from Etna have been examined by Von Waltershausen +and Rammelsberg, with the following results:-- + + _Greenish_ _From_ _From_ + _Black._ _Black._ _Mascali._ _Monti Rossi._ + + Silica 47.63 51.70 49.69 47.38 + Alumina 6.74 4.38 5.22 5.52 + Protoxide of Iron 11.39 4.24 10.75 7.89 + " Manganese .21 -- -- .10 + Magnesia 12.90 21.11 14.74 15.29 + Lime 20.87 18.02 18.44 19.10 + Sesquioxide of Iron -- -- -- 3.85 + Water .28 .49 .51 .43 + ------ ----- ----- ----- + 100.02 99.94 99.35 99.56 + +Olivine is generally met with in the lavas of Etna. It has an olive, or +bottle-glass green colour, and is disseminated through the lavas in the +form of small crystalline grains, sometimes of some magnitude. Specific +gravity 3.334. A specimen from Etna gave the following results on +analysis:-- + + Silica 41.01 + Protoxide of Iron 10.06 + Magnesia 47.27 + Alumina .64 + Oxide of Nickel .20 + Water 1.04 + ------ + 100.22 + +The titaniferous iron of Etna is found disseminated through the mass of +the lavas, and is plainly distinguished when a thin section is examined +under the microscope. It is sometimes met with in masses. A specimen +from Etna, analysed by Von Waltershausen, was found to contain:-- + + Titanic Acid 11.14 + Sesquioxide of Iron 58.86 + Protoxide of Iron 30.00 + ------ + 100.00 + +The basalts of the Isole de'Ciclopi enclose beautiful transparent +crystals of Analcime, the _zeolite dure_ of Dolomieu. The word is +derived from ~analkis~ weak, in allusion to the weak electric +power which the mineral acquires when heated or rubbed. Dana prefers the +term _analcite_. Specimens from the Cyclops Islands have been analysed +by Von Waltershausen and Rammelsberg, with the following results:-- + + I. II. III. + + Silica 53.72 55.22 54.34 + Alumina 24.03 23.14 23.61 + Lime 1.23 .25 .21 + Soda (Na{2}O) 7.92 12.19 12.95 + Potash (K{2}O) 4.46 1.52 .66 + Water 8.50 7.68 8.11 + Magnesia .05 -- -- + Sesquioxide of Iron -- -- .12 + ----- ------ ------ + 99.91 100.00 100.00 + +The minerals of Etna are not nearly as numerous as those of Vesuvius. It +has been remarked that no area of equal size on the face of the globe +furnishes so many different species of minerals as Vesuvius and its +immediate neighbourhood. Out of the 380 species of simple minerals +enumerated by Hauy, no less than 82 had been found on and around +Vesuvius, as long ago as 1828, and many have been since found. + +Of other common products of Etna, there are sulphur in various forms, +sulphurous acid gas, ammonia salts, hydrochloric acid gas, and steam. A +curious white mass, which we found near the summit, proved to be the +result of the decomposition of lava by hot acid vapours. In the +different lavas, the crystals of labradorite, and of olivine, vary in +size considerably. Magnetic oxide of iron is very visible in thin +slices of the lavas when placed under the microscope; and iron appears +to be a constant constituent in nearly all the products of the mountain. + +Within the last few months Prof. Silvestri has detected a mineral oil in +the cavities of a prehistoric doleritic lava found near Paterno.[21] The +lava is in close contiguity to the clay deposits of a mud volcano, and +when examined under the microscope is seen to consist mainly of augite, +together with olivine and transparent crystals of labradorite. It +contains numerous cavities coated with arragonite, and filled with a +mineral oil which constitutes about one per cent of the whole weight of +the lava. It was taken from the lava at a temperature of 24 deg. C., (75.2 deg. +F.), and solidified at 17 deg. C. (62.6 deg. F.) to a yellowish green mass, +which on analysis gave the following percentage composition:-- + + Liquid hydrocarbons boiling at 79 deg. C. = 17.97 + Hydrocarbons solidifying below 0 deg. C., boiling } + between 280 deg. and 400 deg. C. } = 31.95 + Paraffine melting between 52 deg. and 57 deg. C. = 42.79 + Asphalt containing 12 per cent of ash = 2.90 + Sulphur = 4.32 + ------ + 99.93 + +[21] "Atti Accademia Gioenia," serie iii., vol. xii. + +Prof. Silvestri has recently made some interesting determinations of the +specific gravity and chemical composition of the different products of +Etna. They are given in full in his work entitled, "_I Fenomeni +Vulcanici presentati dall'Etna, nel 1863, 1864, 1865, 1866_," which was +published in Catania in 1867. The following table gives the specific +gravity of various ancient and modern forms of lava, ashes, etc. of +Etna:-- + + _Sp. Gr._ + + Ashes ejected in 1865 2.644 + Sand " " " 2.715 + Scoriae " " " 2.633 + Compact lava " " 2.771 + Scoriae ejected in 1669 2.622 + Compact lava " " 2.697 + Lapilli ejected in 1444 2.420 + Compact lava ejected in prehistoric times 2.854 + +A very decided change in the specific gravity was found to take place +after fusion. This can only be accounted for on the supposition that a +chemical change is effected during the fusion:-- + + _Sp. Gr._ _Sp. Gr._ + _before fusion._ _after fusion._ + + Pyroxene of Etna 3.453 2.148 + Felspar " " 2.925 1.361 + Olivine " " 3.410 2.290 + Lava of 1865 2.771 1.972 + Ancient basaltic lava from } 2.854 2.000 + the Scogli de'Ciclopi } + Ancient basaltic lava from } 2.795 1.947 + Aci Reale } + +It will be seen from the following analyses that the sand, ashes, +scoriae, and compact lava have virtually the same composition--indeed +they consist of the same substance in different states of aggregation. + + _Ashes._ _Sand._ _Scoriae._ _Compact lava._ + + Silica 50.00 49.80 50.00 49.95 + Alumina 19.08 18.20 19.00 18.75 + Protoxide of iron 12.16 12.42 11.70 11.21 + Protoxide of Manganese .40 .45 .50 .49 + Lime 9.98 11.00 10.28 11.10 + Magnesia 4.12 4.00 4.20 4.05 + Potash .60 .49 .69 .70 + Soda 3.72 3.60 3.40 3.71 + Water .36 .29 .33 .23 + Phosphoric acid } + Titanic acid } traces traces traces traces + Vanadic acid } + Sesquioxide of iron } + ------ ------ ------ ------ + 100.42 100.25 100.10 100.19 + +With these we may compare the composition of the lava which issued from +Monti Rossi in 1669, and was analysed by Lowe, and of an ancient lava of +Etna ejected during an unknown eruption, and analysed by Hesser. + + _Ancient lava._ _Lava of 1669._ + + Silica 49.63 48.83 + Alumina 22.47 16.15 + Protoxide of Iron 10.80 16.32 + Protoxide of Manganese .63 .54 + Lime 9.05 9.31 + Magnesia 2.68 4.58 + Soda 3.07 3.45 + Potash .98 .77 + ----- ----- + 99.31 99.95 + +The sublimations from the fumaroles are chiefly chloride of ammonium, +perchloride of iron, and sulphur. An analysis of the gases of the +fumaroles of 1865 gave the following results:-- + + Carbonic acid 50.5 + Hydrosulphuric acid 11.9 + Oxygen 7.1 + Nitrogen 30.5 + ----- + 100.0 + +An account of microscopic analysis of some of the lavas of Etna, for +which I am indebted to Mr. Frank Rutley, will be found appended to this +chapter. He considers that they are Plagioclase-basalts, and +occasionally Olivine-basalts; and that they consist of Plagioclase, +Augite, Olivine, Magnetite, Titaniferous iron, and a residuum of glass. + +Near the summit of the great crater I found a mass of perfectly white, +vesicular, and very friable substance, somewhat pumiceous in appearance. +It proved to be a decomposed lava, and was found elsewhere on the sides +of the crater. Mr. Rutley examined a section of it, and reports: "Under +the microscope a tolerably thin section shows the outlines of felspar +crystals, lying in a hazy milk-white semi-opaque granular matrix. The +felspar crystals are lighter and more translucent than the matrix, but +are of much the same character, having a granulated or flocculent +appearance, somewhat like that of the decomposed felspars in diabase. +There are numerous roundish cavities in the section which may once have +contained olivine, or some other mineral, or they may be merely +vesicles." + +A qualitative analysis of this substance, made by Mr. H. M. Elder, has +proved that it contains a large quantity of Silica (about 70 per cent.), +and smaller proportions of Alumina, Iron, Magnesium, Calcium, and +Potash; together with very small amounts of Sulphuric Acid and a trace +of Ammonia. Lithium is absent, and Sodium is only present in very minute +quantity. Water is present to the extent of nearly 20 per cent. + +During the eruption of Etna in 1869 Von Waltershausen noticed on some of +the lava blocks which were still hot and smoking, silver-coloured +particles, which rapidly underwent change. An insufficient quantity for +analysis was collected, but during the eruption of 1874, Silvestri found +a quantity of the substance and analysed it. (_Poggendorff's Annalen_, +CLVII. 165, 1876.) It possesses a specific gravity of 3.147, and shows a +metallic lustre similar to that of steel. On analysis it was found to +consist of:-- + + Iron 90.86 + Nitrogen 9.14 + ------ + 100.00 + +which corresponds with the formula Fe{5}N{2},--a formula assigned by +Fremy to Nitride of iron. It has been named _Siderazote_. This new +mineral species appears to be formed by the action of hydrochloric acid, +and of ammonia on red-hot lava containing a large percentage of iron. It +was formed artificially by exposing fragments of lava alternately to the +action of hydrochloric acid and ammonia in a red-hot tube. At a high +temperature Siderazote undergoes decomposition, nitrogen being evolved. +In contact with steam at a red heat it forms magnetite and ammonia. + + + + +_The Mineral Constitution and Microscopic Characters of some of the +Lavas of Etna._ + +By Frank Rutley, F.R.G.S., of H.M. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. + + +A cursory examination of the series of specimens collected by Mr. +Rodwell, seemed to show that all the lavas of Etna, irrespective of +their differences in age, exhibit a remarkable similarity in +mineralogical constitution. Occasionally, however, there appears to have +been a little difference in their respective viscidity at the time of +the eruption, the crystals in some of them lying in all directions, +while in others there appears to be a more or less definite arrangement +of the felspar crystals, as seen in the lava of A.D. 1689. + +Although the specimens which I have examined microscopically do not +appear to differ in the nature of their constituents, yet in some of +them certain minerals fluctuate in quantity, some containing a +comparatively large amount of olivine and well-developed crystals of +augite, while, in others, these minerals, although one or other is +always present, are but poorly represented by minute and +sparsely-disseminated grains. It seems probable that all the Etna lavas +contain traces of a vitreous residuum, since, when sections are +examined under the microscope, a more or less general darkness pervades +their ground mass as soon as the Nicols are crossed, and this general +darkness does not appear to be dissipated during the horizontal +revolution of the sections themselves. The translucent minerals in these +sections are all doubly refracting, and as I have not been able to +detect the presence of hauyne, noseau, sodalite, analcime, or any other +cubic mineral in them, the natural inference is that the obscurity +between crossed Nicols is due to amorphous matter. I have only been able +to ascertain the presence of glass distinctly in a microscopic section +of the lava of Salto di Pulichello. In the other sections which I have +examined there appears to be a small quantity of interstitial glass, but +it is so finely disseminated between the microliths of felspar and +granules of olivine, augite and magnetite, which constitute the +ground-mass of these rocks, that it is most difficult to determine the +single refraction of such minute specks during revolution between +crossed Nicols, and I therefore merely express a belief, which, in some +instances, I cannot demonstrate with any certainty. + +[Illustration: Sections of Etna Lavas seen under the Microscope] + +Plagioclastic felspars are unquestionably the dominant constituents of +these lavas. Lyell, in his "Principles of Geology," (9th Edition, p. +411), states that the felspar is Labradorite. He does not, however, give +the grounds for this conclusion, and, as microscopic examination alone +merely indicates the crystalline system and not the species of felspar, +it is unsafe to speculate upon this point in the absence of chemical +investigation. In some of these lavas Sanidine is also present, but it +is always subordinate to the plagioclase, and does not, as a rule, +appear to play a part sufficiently prominent to entitle the rock to the +appellation Trachy-dolerite. + +Augite and olivine are generally present in the Etna lavas, especially +the latter mineral. + +Magnetite appears to occur in all of them. Titaniferous iron may also be +represented, but I have failed to detect any well-defined crystals, or +any traces of the characteristic white decomposition product which would +justify me in citing the presence of this mineral, although it is stated +by Lyell to occur in these rocks. + +The constituent minerals of the Etna lavas now to be described, namely, +those of B.C. 396 and A.D. 1535, 1603 and 1689, are:-- + +Plagioclase, augite, olivine, magnetite, and, in some cases, +sanidine--possibly titaniferous iron--and in some, if not in all, a +slight residuum of glass. These lavas must therefore be regarded as +plagioclase-basalts, or occasionally as olivine-basalts. The plagioclase +crystals vary greatly in size, some being mere microliths while others +are over the eighth of an inch in length. They show the characteristic +twin lamellation by polarized light, but the lamellae are often very +irregular as regards their boundaries. The sections of the crystals +themselves are also frequently bounded by irregular outlines, but they +often show internally delicate zonal markings, as indicated in Fig. +1,[22] which correspond with the outlines of perfectly developed +crystals. The inclosures in the larger plagioclastic felspars consist +for the most part either of brownish glass, containing fine dark +granular matter--probably magnetite, which often renders them +opaque,--or of matter similar to that which constitutes the groundmass +of the surrounding rock. These stone and glass cavities are very +numerous and most irregular in outline, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. They +appear, however, to be elongated generally in the direction of the +planes of composition of the twin lamellae. Zirkel has noted the +plentiful occurrence of these glass inclosures in the felspar crystals +and fragments of crystals which partly constitute the volcanic sands of +Etna, in which he has also detected the presence of numerous isolated +particles of brownish glass.[23] The felspar microliths, which +constitute so large a proportion of the ground-mass in the Etna lavas, +are in most instances probably triclinic. Monoclinic felspar does, +however, occur in some of these rocks; but the difficulty of +ascertaining the precise character of microliths renders it unsafe to +speculate on the amount of sanidine which may be present. Some crystals, +such as that shown in the centre of Fig. 2, appear at first sight to be +sanidine, twinned on the Carlsbad type, but closer inspection often +demonstrates the presence of other and very delicate twin lamellae. + +[22] _The figures in this plate are magnified 35 diameters._ Fig. 1. +Lava of B.C. 396. The upper half of the drawing is occupied by a crystal +of plagioclastic felspar showing twin lamellation and faint zonal +markings, and with numerous irregular dark-brown inclosures of glass, +probably containing magnetite dust and matter similar to that of the +groundmass of the rock which consists of felspar microliths, granules of +olivine, and augite crystals, grains of magnetite, and apparently a +little interstitial glass. A crystal of augite is shown near the bottom +of the drawing. + +Fig. 2. Lava of A.D. 1689. On the right hand side part of a plagioclase +crystal with inclosures similar to that in the preceding figure. In the +centre a small crystal of plagioclase. Groundmass similar to that of +Fig. 1, but showing a somewhat definite arrangement of the small felspar +crystals, indicative of fluxion. + +[23] "Mikroskopische Beschaffenheit der Mineralien und Gesteine." +Leipzig, 1873; p. 480. + +The augite in these lavas sometimes occurs in well-formed crystals of a +green or brown colour, and often shows the characteristic cleavage very +well, especially in the augite crystals of the lava of the Boccarelle +del Fuoco, erupted in 1535. A small crystal of green augite is +represented at the bottom of Fig. 1. Augite, however, appears to be more +plentiful in the rocks in the form of small roundish grains. + +Olivine is of very common occurrence in the Etna lavas, mostly in round +or irregularly shaped grains, but also in crystals which usually exhibit +rounded angles. + +A specimen of lava from Salto di Pulichello, erupted in 1603, gave +well-developed examples of the presence of olivine, and also of +plagioclase. The ground mass was found to consist of felspar microliths, +and grains of olivine, augite, and magnetite, with some interstitial +glass. + +Magnetite is present in all of the lavas here described. It occurs both +in octahedral crystals and in the form of irregular grains and fine +dust. To the presence of this substance much of the opacity of thin +sections of the Etna lavas is due. + +Titaniferous iron may also be present. One small crystal in the lava of +1535 appeared to show a somewhat characteristic form, but although much +of the black opaque matter has undergone decomposition, I have failed to +detect any of the white or greyish alteration product which +characterises titaniferous iron, and in the absence of this, of definite +crystalline form, and of chemical analysis, it seems better to speak of +this mineral with reserve, although titanium is very probably present, +since much magnetite is known to be titaniferous. + +The vitreous matter which occurs in these lavas is principally present +in the form of inclosures in the felspar, and, sometimes, the augite and +olivine crystals previously described. Its occurrence in the groundmass +of these rocks has also been alluded to. In this interstitial condition +its amount is usually very small--a fact already pointed out by Zirkel. + +I have unfortunately had no opportunity of examining the volcanic sands +and ashes of Etna, but Zirkel's description of them seems to indicate +their close mineralogical relation to lavas erupted in this district, +with one exception, as pointed out by Rosenbusch,[24] namely, that he +makes no mention of the occurrence of olivine in these ejectamenta. + +[24] "Mikroskopische Physiographie der Massigen Gesteine. Stuttgart, +1877; p. 547. + +Reference to the Figures 1 and 2 will suffice to show how close a +relationship in mineral constitution exists between these two lavas, +separated in the dates of their eruption by an interval of over two +thousand years. + + * * * * * + +_New Maps of Etna._--After these pages had received their final revision +in type, I met with two new maps of Etna in the Paris Exhibition. The +literature of our subject will obviously be incomplete without some +notice of them, although this belongs properly to the first chapter +rather than to the last. The one is a map in relief constructed by +Captain Francesco Pistoja for the _Istituto Topografico Militare_ of +Florence. The vertical scale is 1/25,000 and the horizontal is 1/50,000. +The surface is coloured geologically: the lavas erupted during each +century being differently coloured, while the course of each stream is +traced. This map, although by no means free from errors, is a vast +improvement on the relief map of M. Elie de Beaumont. One defect, which +might be easily remedied, is due to the fact that the lavas of three +consecutive centuries are coloured so much alike, that it is almost +impossible to distinguish them. The minor cones are well shown, the Val +del Bove fairly well, and the map is altogether a valuable addition to +our knowledge of the mountain. + +The other map is a _Carta Agronomica dell' Etna_, showing the surface +cultivation. Different colours denote different plants, pistachio nuts, +vines, olives, chestnuts, etc. It is beautifully drawn and coloured by +hand, and is the work of Signor L. Ardini, of Catania. + + + + +INDEX. + + + Abich, 22 + Acesines, River, 81 + Aci Reale, 72, 73 + Acis, River, 73 + Acque Grande, 73 + Aderno, 65 + Adranum, City of, 66 + AEschylus, 4 + Aetna, Town of, 64 + Ajo, Fountain of, 85 + Alcantara, Valley of, 69 + Amphinomus, 80 + Analcime, Analysis of, 128 + Analcite, 127 + Analysis of Augite, 126 + " " Labradorite, 125, 126 + " " Olivine, 127 + " " Titaniferous Iron, 127 + " " Analcime, 128 + " " Mineral Oil, 129 + " " Volcanic Ashes, 131 + " " Lava, 131, 132 + " " Sand, 131 + " " Scoriae, 131 + " Microscopic, of Lavas, 135-141 + " " Siderazote, 133, 134 + " " Sublimations, 132 + " " white friable substance, 133 + Anapias, 80 + Arethusa, Fountain of, 85 + Ascent, Fatigue of, 60 + Ashes, Volcanic, Analysis of, 131 + " " Specific Gravity of, 130 + Atlas des Aetna, 23 + Augite, Analysis of, 126 + Axis of Mongibello, 119, 122 + " " Trifoglietto, 119, 122 + + Baltzer, 24 + Basalt, Columnar, 75 + Base, Circumference of, 30 + Belpasso, 63 + Bembo, Cardinal, 10 + Biancavilla, 65 + Boccarelle del Fuoco, 36 + Bocche eruttive, 110 + " del Fuoco, 36 + Borelli, 90 + Bosco di Bronte, 99 + Botanical Regions, 40-42 + Boundaries of Etna, 29 + Brilliancy of Stars, 48, 49 + Bronte, 67, 68 + Brydone, 15 + + Campi Phlegraei, 14 + Campus Piorum, 80 + Cardinal Bembo, 10 + Carpinetto, Forest of, 39 + Carrera, 12 + Casa del Bosco, 48 + " Inglesi, 51, 52 + Castagno di Cento Cavalli, 39 + " della Galea, 39 + Catania, 76-78 + " Destruction of, 94-96 + Caverns of Etna, 37 + Cavern of Thalia, 37 + Centenario, 108 + Chestnuts, 39 + Circumference of base, 30 + Cisterna, 101 + Coltivata, Regione, 37, 38 + Cones, Minor, 34-36 + Crater of Elevation, 114 + " of Eruption, 114 + " The Great, 56-58 + Craters, Minor, 34-36 + Cultivated Region, 38 + Cyclops, Rocks of, 75 + + Decomposed Lava, Analysis of, 133 + Desert Region, 39, 40 + + Effects of Refraction, 59, 60 + Elevation, Crater of, 114 + Elie de Beaumont, 21 + Elie de Beaumont's Classification, 115, 116 + Empedokles, 10 + Errors in Maps, 24 + Eruption, Crater of, 114 + Eruptions, General Character of, 112 + " Number of, 113 + Etna, the Home of Early Myths, 9 + " a Submarine Volcano, 122 + Enceladus, 4 + + Fatigue of Ascent, 60 + Fazzello, 11 + Ferrara, 15, 16 + Filoteo, 11 + Flood of 1755, 98 + Forest of Carpinetto, 39 + Fratelli Pii, Cone of, 111 + Fumaroles, Sublimations of, 132 + Fuoco, Regione del, 37 + + Gemellaro, Giuseppe, 18 + " Mario, 19 + " Carlo, 19, 20 + General aspect of Etna, 34 + _Genista Etnensis_, 45 + Geological Maps of Etna, 117-18 + Gibel Uttamat, 3 + Gladstone's Account of Eruption, 58 + Gravity, Specific, of Ejectamenta, 130 + Great Crater, 57, 58 + Grotto of Polyphemus, 75 + " delle Palombe, 37 + Growth of a Volcano, 123 + Gurrita, Lake, 68 + + Hamilton, 14 + Height of Etna, 26, 27 + Hephaistos, Forge of, 4 + Himilco, 81 + Hoffmann, 22 + Homer, 4 + Houel, 14 + Hybla Major, 63 + + Increase of Population, 33 + Inessa, City of, 64 + Inglesi, Casa, 51, 52 + Inns, Sicilian, 65, 67, 69 + Iron, Nitride of, 134 + " Perchloride of, 132 + Iron, Titaniferous, 127 + Isola d'Aci, 75 + + Katana, 76, 77 + Kircher, 12 + + Labradorite, Analysis of, 125, 126 + La Cisterna, 101 + Latitude of Crater, 2 + La Scaletta, 75 + Lava, Analysis of, 131, 132 + " Specific Gravity of, 130 + " Decomposed, Analysis of, 133 + Lavas, Microscopic Analysis of, 135-141 + Lavas of Etna, 125-141 + Linguaglossa, 70 + Longitude of Crater, 2 + Lucilius Junior, 7-9 + Lucretius, 6 + Lyell, 23 + Lyell's Researches, 118-122 + + Magnetite, 139 + Maletto, 68 + Maps, Geological, of Etna, 117, 118 + " of Etna, 13, 16, 21-24 + Mascali, 71 + Microscopic Analysis of Lavas, 135-141 + Milo, 108 + Mineral Oil in Lava, 129 + Minor Cones, 34-36 + Mongibello, 3 + " Axis of, 122 + Monte Calanna, 107 + " Capreolo, 118 + " di Mojo, 36,81 + " Minardo, 34 + " Ste. Sofia, 36 + " Fusara, 37 + " Grigio, 111 + " Lepre, 85 + " Nocilla, 118 + " Rosso, 99 + " Spagnuolo, 69 + " Ste. Sofia, 95 + Monti Rossi, 35, 91 + Mules, 47 + + Name of Etna, 3 + Natural Boundaries of Etna, 30 + Naxos, 81 + Newer Pliocene Strata, 120 + Nicolosi, 46 + Nitride of Iron, 134 + + Observatory on Etna, 50 + Oil, Mineral, in Lava, 129 + Olivine, 139 + " Analysis of, 127 + + Palombe, Grotto delle, 37 + Paterno, 63 + Pennisi, Baron, 71, 72 + Piano del Lago, 51 + " di S. Leo, 90 + Piedimontana, Regione, 37, 38 + Pii Fratres, 80, 81 + Pindar, 4 + Polarized Light, applied to Analysis of Lavas, 136-139 + Polyphemus, Grotto of, 75 + Population, 31-33 + Position of Etna, 2 + Presl's _Flora Sicula_, 41, 42 + + Radius of Vision, 28 + Randazzo, 68, 69 + Recupero, 17 + Recupero's Account of Eruption, 99 + Refraction, Effects of, 59, 60 + Regions of Etna, 37-42 + Regione del Fuoco, 37 + River, Acis, 73 + Road around Etna, 29 + Rocca di Musarra, 98 + Rocks of Cyclops, 75 + Rutley's, Mr. Frank, Analysis of Lavas, 135-141 + + St. Agatha, Veil of, 83 + " Maria di Licodia, 64 + S. Niccola, Monastery of, 92 + S. Simone, 102 + Salto della Guimenta, 106 + Sand, Volcanic, Analysis of, 131 + " Specific Gravity of, 130 + Scogli di Ciclopi, 75 + Scoriae, Volcanic, Analysis of, 131 + " Specific Gravity of, 130 + Serra delle Concazze, 59 + " del Solfizio, 59 + " di Giannicola, 107 + Serrapizzuta, 89 + Sicilian Inns, 65, 67, 69 + Siderazote, 133, 134 + Silvestri, Researches of, 25 + Simeto, Valley of, 67 + Smyth, 18 + Smyth's Observations, 2 + Snow of Etna, 59 + Specific Gravity, Alteration of, 130 + " " of Ejectamenta, 130 + Strabo, 6 + Stars, Brilliancy of, 48, 49 + Stato Maggiore, Map of, 24 + Sulphur in Sublimations, 132 + Sublimations from Fumaroles, 132 + Summit of Cone, 53, 54 + Sunrise seen from Summit, 54, 55 + + Tacchini, 50 + Taormina, 71 + Tertiary Sandstone of Bronte, 67 + Thucydides, 5 + Titaniferous Iron, 127 + Torre del Filosofo, 10, 59 + Towns on Etna, 31 + Trezza, 75 + Trifoglietto, Axis of, 121 + Trunks of Large Chestnuts, 39 + + Val del Bove, 34, 71, 98, 100, 119-121 + " Serbo, 103 + Valley of Alcantara, 69 + Virgil, 5 + Vision, Radius of, 28 + Volcano, Growth of, 123 + Von Waltershausen, 23, 120 + Vulkanen Atlas, 116 + + Winchelsea, Lord, 12, 94, 95 + Woody Region, 38 + + _Zeolite dure_, 127 + Zones of Temperature, 38 + + * * * * * + +Transcribers Notes: + +OE ligatures have been written as two letters. The chemical formulae +in this text have subscripts written in curly brackets. For example, +water appears as H{2}O. + +Passages in italics indicated by _underscores_. Passages in Greek +indicated by ~tildes~. + +Printer's errors corrected and other transcription points as follows: + + Page Correction + --------------------------------------------------------------------- + - Some arcane spellings retained where verified as correct for + the time of publication or quote, such as 'musquitoes', + 'plaintain', 'mettals', 'felspar', etc. + - Italian quotations sometimes include phrases such as "sull' + Etna" or "dell' Asia". There should be no space after the + apostrophes but spaces are often present. This may have been + done to better space the text during justification. Such errors + have not been corrected. + - The document is inconsistent in the use of commas where quoting + numbers of over 1,000; sometimes they are used and sometimes + they are not used. These inconsistencies remain. + ix Added '.' at end of 'Silvestri' in text block to maintain + style of other entries. + x Added '.' at end of 'Eruptions' in text block to maintain + style of other entries. + x Added '.' after '1408' in text block to maintain style of + other entries. + xi Added '.' after 'microscope' in text block to maintain style + of other entries. + 4 Corrected 'ength' to 'length'. + 12 Corrected 't'jncedie' to 't'incedie'. 't'jncedie' and + 'treblement' both printed with tildes over the first + occurrence of e in each word. Tildes omitted in this version. + 17 Corrected 'Guiseppe' to 'Giuseppe'. + 27 Added end quotes after final word on page. + 29 Inserted full-stop after '(S.W.)', to end sentence. + 33 Corrected 'f' to 'of'. + 42 'of-course' corrected to 'of course'. + 44 Corrected 'unusally' to 'unusually'. + 59 Corrected 'subsequenly' to 'subsequently'. + 64 Corrected 'athough' to 'although'. + 79 Added '.' after '812' in text block to maintain style of + other entries. + 80 Anapias and Amphinomus printed with diacritic marks omitted + in this text (breves over first 'a' in 'anapias' and 'i' in + 'Amphinomus'). + 82 Numbered list runs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 7, 8... Second occurrence + of 5 amended to 6. + 85 'In the 1329' corrected to 'In the year 1329'. + 127 'the time analcite' corrected to 'the term analcite'. + 144 Corrected 'Guiseppe' to 'Giuseppe'. + 145 Corrected 'Miscroscope' to 'Microscope'. + 152 Corrected 'magnitite' to 'magnetite'. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Etna, by G. F. 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