NOME V. PUMICE. 437 



that the person who walks on it sinks into it to 

 a greater or less depth : and the same inconve- 

 nience is experienced from the pumice, which in 

 many parts of Canlpo Bianco is reduced to a 

 powder several feet deep, and, when the wind 

 blows on it, sinks in on one side, and is heaped 

 up on the other. All these difficulties and ob- 

 stacles I however surmounted, animated by that 

 ardour which inspires the philosophical traveller, 

 and enables him to brave the greatest dangers, . 

 and such as can only be known and appreciated 

 by those who have engaged in similar under- 

 takings. I can affirm, therefore, with great sa- 

 tisfaction, that with the assistance and guidance 

 of the two Liparese, there was no corner of the 

 mountain that I did not visit 3 and when I 

 reached the summit, and saw that it joined an- 

 other mountain, the foot of which was in the sea, 

 and which was in like manner composed of pu- 

 mice, I extended my researches to that likewise, 

 and examined the different species of pumice it 

 afforded, or rather which compose a very consi- 

 derable part of it. I shall proceed to describe 

 them severally, with as much brevity as pos- 

 sible. 



" I shall first mention those which constitute Varieties 

 a branch of commerce at Lipari, and are applied 

 to various purposes. One of these has already 



