6 Ascent of Mt. Etna, February, 1832. 



edge of the soles of our boots, in order to make some footing ; this 

 was excessively painful, particularly to the ancle joints : in some pla- 

 ces on the other hand the snow was soft, and lifting the foot from its 

 deep bed to take another step was the most trying part of the labor j 

 it was a pain caused by this which had exhausted the Doctor. We 

 halted to rest our limbs and to enjoy the prospect which was increa- 

 sing in grandeur with every step. Several times, we threw ourselves 

 at full length on the snow and felt in all its luxury, that exquisite 

 sensation of pleasure which attends the rapid recovery of the body 

 from the fatigue of intense exertion. We rose above the level of 

 Mt. Agnola, which we left to the right, and at ten minutes before noon 

 reached the English house (" Casa degli Inglesi") which was so 

 buried in snow that we could not enter it, although we had obtained 

 the keys for that purpose from Sign. Gemmellaro. Travelers usu- 

 ally ride up to this place, and sleep and take refreshment before 

 mounting the cone, which occupies but an hour from the English 

 house. We were already worn out by six hours of most exhausting 

 exertion : as there was no time to lose, we proceeded to make our 

 first repast as well as we could, by taking our seats in the sun, under 

 the lee of the building and tearing to pieces with our fingers a cold 

 roast chicken. I had no appetite, ate very little and took no drink 

 except snow melted in my mouth. 



We here saw ourselves far above points, which, when we issued 

 from the Bosco, appeared but little below the summit. The side of 

 the mountain is covered with conical protuberances, whose hollow 

 tops prove them to be the craters or vents of some previous erup- 

 tions. The snow was broken, in some few places, by black jutting 

 rocks of lava. Our guides pointed out several wolf tracks and one 

 of a hare. At a quarter past twelve, we started to ascend the cone, 

 between which and the English house, was a space nearly level ; on 

 the other side of it, the snow which we had seen sprinkled with ash- 

 es sometime before, now became dirty, soon black, and after ascen- 

 ding the cone a little way, was succeeded by loose stones and cin- 

 ders; from these a hot, sulphureous, suffocating vapor was steaming, 

 our feet soon felt the change, and from being very cold became very 

 warm. The ascent was steep and peculiarly difficult from the loose 

 stones and cinders yielding under the feet : the vapor moreover was so 

 dense that we could see but a short distance. Lieut. S. falling behind 

 about three yards, we lost sight of him entirely, and knowing him to be 

 much exhausted, we were afraid he had halted some way below ; on 



