390 



DOMAIN XII. VOLCANIC. 



Crater. 



the 18th, the subterranean noise was almost un- 

 interrupted; at five in the evening, clouds of 

 white smoke, streaked with black, sprang forth 

 in rapid succession, the one cloud driving for- 

 ward the other ; they covered the mountain and 

 spread over Catania, excluding the light of day 

 during eight hours ; the clouds showered down, 

 almost perpetually, a rain of very shining black 

 sand; the atmosphere at first was loaded with 

 vapours of a reddish yellow colour, which were 

 perceptible the space of an hour, and diffused 

 on all sides a smell of sulphur, that continued 

 for several hours. 



" While these vapours infected the atmosphere 

 the thermometer of Reaumur rose from 241 to 

 28$ (71? to 831 of Fahrenheit) ; which proves 

 that the temperature of the air was increased by 

 the heat of the sand. 



" In the course of the first three hours this 

 rain of ashes formed a bed two- thirds of a line in 

 thickness ; in the five succeeding hours, the 

 quantity that fell was the third of a line. 



6< The crater, at sun-set, presented a wonder- 

 ful spectacle, easier for the painter than the 

 writer to describe : the flames rose to a height 

 greater than ever was known before ; they were 

 distinctly seen divided into three large columns, 

 which rose either at once, or at separate inter- 



