40 DOMAIN I. S1DEROUS. 



to extend to one hundred and thirty miles 5 yet, 

 among the numerous hills which surround this 

 sublime volcano, there is none capped with ba^ 

 saltic columns ; and its lavas, after such nu- 

 merous ejections, do not seem even accidentally 

 to have assumed those elegant and precise forms*. 

 Dolomieu, and other prejudiced Volcanists, have 

 indeed observed instances of the lava divided into 

 rude prisms; but where is the representation 

 of any Giants' Causey in Sicily ? Where the 

 base of Etna reaches the sea on the east the 

 shore is volcanic, or at least supposed to be so, 

 for the space of twenty-three miles ; and for the 

 first seven or eight miles after leaving Catania, 

 Spallanzani indeed observed some prisms, more 

 or less characterised ; but the two other thirds of 

 this shore, though equally consisting of lava, 

 only present irregular fissures. It is presumed 

 that even the former bear but a slight resem- 

 blance to the beautiful articulated columns of 

 Staffa, or the Giants' Causey, especially as 

 figured by Da Costa and Pictet. It is also to be 

 questioned whether these columns of Etna be 



* Von Troll has observed, that basaltic columns are common in 

 Iceland ; but the people suppose their ranges the work of giants, 

 while, if they originated from the volcanoes, the circumstance 

 would strike the most common observer. They sometimes appear 

 among lava, sometimes among tufa ; that is, they are preexistent 

 to either. 



