NOME II. VESICULAR LAVA. 367 



of the sea is probably somewhat less than nine- 

 teen hundred poles*. Hence we understand 

 why respiration, in many persons, is not incom- 

 moded, while the contrary happens to others, 

 according to the different strength and habit of 

 body of different individuals. 



<f After having, for two hours, indulged my view from 



eyes with a view of the interior of the crater, 



that is, in the contemplation of a spectacle 



which in its kind, and in the present age, is 



without a parallel in the world; I turned them 



to another scene, which is likewise unequalled 



for the multiplicity, the beauty, and the variety 



of the objects it presents. In fact, there is, 



i perhaps, no elevated region on the whole globe 



I which offers, at one view, so ample an extent of 



sea and land as the summit of Etna. The first 



i :>f the sublime objects which it presents, is the 



mmense mass of its own colossal body. When 



n the country below it, near Catania, we raise 



)ur eyes to this sovereign of the mountains, we 



certainly survey it with admiration, as it rises 



najestically, and lifts its lofty head above the 



clouds j and with a kind of geometric glance we 



stimate its height from the base to the summit; 



The height of Etna is generally estimated at 11,000 feet above 

 le sea. Ferrara seems to estimate it at little more than 9000: 

 610 tese (p. 141), Does he mean the French toise? P. 



