77 



.ETNA. 





were thrown to a great height, as well as masses of clay, moist and 

 soft. On the 26th another mouth opened in the same direction, and 

 vomited a stream of lava which fell into the valley of Trifoglietto, and 

 soon after all the old lava cliffs above tumbled down, and nearly filled 

 the valley. On the 1st of June a large mouth opened itself half-way 

 up the southern side of the cone of the mountain, on the heights called 

 Del Solfizio, facing Catania, and from it a huge torrent of lava issued 

 forth, ran down the immediate slope beneath, then, turning eastward, 

 rushed against the base of Mount Arcimisa, one of the numerous conical 

 hills which rise round .Etna. The stream was then forced round into 

 a valley 400 feet deep which had been formed by the waters, and which 

 sloped down to the eastward into the cultivated plain and the vine- 

 yards. The lava soon filled up the valley, where it began to harden ; 

 but the liquid stream from the heights still pouring in pressed against 

 it, so that now and then an enormous mass of half-hardened lava would 

 detach itself, and, having slidden some distance down the declivity, 

 would break up with a tremendous crash into a thousand fragments, 

 and cover a fresh extent of ground. The lava-stream covered, in this 

 manner, the vineyards of Zaifarana, and approached the village of that 

 name, when it fortunately stopped close to the houses from whence 

 the inhabitants were all ready to fly." The sight is described by Ferrara 

 as extremely awful and grand, especially by night. The eruption con- 

 tinued for a whole year, till May, 1 793. The stream of lava, in its fluid 

 state, was often 30 feet high. The lava that flowed first cooled, and 

 became condensed at a certain distance, and thus formed a dyke against 

 the current of fresh lava which swelled up and overflowed its own 

 bed, increasing in height at every fresh overflowing. 



Thus, in many places, strata of lava have been formed more than 300 

 feet high. The stream of lava sweeps the ground on which it flows, 

 carrying along with it the earth, stones, trees, and other substances 

 which it finds in its passage. At a short distance from the mouth 

 the lava becomes covered with a crust of scoria:, which increases in 

 thickness progressively, the lower part of the stream continuing to flow 

 underneath like a liquid paste. The scoriae sometimes form bridges 

 over the fiery stream sufficiently strong to bear a person. 



In 1 8 1 9 three large mouths or caverns opened very near those formed 

 in an eruption eight years before, from which flames, red-hot cinders, 

 and sand were thrown up, with loud explosions. A few minutes after- 

 wards another mouth opened below, from which flames and smoke 

 U-mixl ; and, finally, a fifth, lower still, from whence a current of lava 

 flowed, which spread itself with great velocity over the Val di Bove. 

 The three original mouths at length united into one large crater, and 

 sent forth lava, as did the inferior apertures, so that an enormous 

 torrent poured down the great valley. When it arrived at a vast and 

 almost perpendicular precipice, at the head of the valley of Calaunn, 

 it poured over in a cascade, and, being hardened in its descent, made 

 a tremendous crash as it was dashed against the bottom. So immense 

 was the column of dust raised by the abrasion of the tufaceous hill over 

 which the hardened mass descended, that the C'atanians were in great 

 alarm, supposing a new eruption to have burst forth in the woody 

 region exceeding in violence that near the summit of .Etna. 



The following account of the eruption in the beginning of November, 

 1832, is by Professor Qemmellaro, of Catania, whose letter is dated 

 tin) 1 5th of November : " On the 31st of October, at half-past two 

 in the afternoon, several tremblings of the earth, accompanied with 

 fearful subterranean noises in the woody region of .Etna, announced 

 an eruption ; but as the mountain was enveloped in clouds, the place 

 could not be exactly ascertained. In the middle of the night, how- 

 ever, it appeared very evident that the volcano had broken out in two 

 places, one of which was at the foot of the highest cone towards the 

 ,S.\V., at a height of 9300 feet. From several small orifices of the 

 crater, ashes, sand, and cinders were thrown out ; and one of them 

 poured forth an inconsiderable stream of lava, in the direction of the 

 Casa Qemmellaro ; but the old lava-stream of 1787 served as a dyke, 

 and caused it to change its direction. The lava now flowed into the 

 valley of Trifoglietto, towards the cone San Simone (eruption of 1811), 

 the distance it had travelled from its source being about 2 miles. 

 But these appearances were of minor importance, in comparison with 

 an eruption which took place in the neighbourhood of Monte Lepre, 

 north-west of the crater, 8 miles distant from Bronte, and at an 

 elevation of 6200 feet in the upper part of the woody region, near where 

 it ends. Here four mouths of fire were opened, out of which, not only 

 when, sand, and cinders were projected to a vast height, but also 

 enormous red-hot masses : the earth shook during these catastrophes 

 without ceasing, and the subterranean noises were fearful. The 

 from the highest of the openings were very powerful, and 

 i oiitinued without intermission. A pillar of flame rose to the height 

 >f 120 feet, which, falling at some distance, formed an arch of fire ; 

 iin'l, what was particularly remarkable, there was a dark blue stripe 

 which rose upwards to a great height, and was a constant accompani- 

 ment of the eruption for several days. The four other mouths were 

 not less active : a stream of lava burnt forth from the lowest of them, 

 which now threatens to be fearfully destructive : in five days it 

 extended to the distance of 4 miles ; it threatened first the woods 

 of Maretto, but turned afterwards to those of Bronte. In the course 

 of its rapid descent the lava soon began to spread itself over cultivated 

 . and did considerable damage : it is at this time only 3 miles 

 dirtant from Bronte, a town of 13,000 inhabitants, which it threatens 



-ETNA. 73 



with destruction. The terrified inhabitants see the most dreadful fate 

 awaiting them ; part have fled in the greatest despair, others have been 

 endeavouring, like the people of Catania at the time of the terrible explo- 

 sion of 1669, to make the lava-stream take another direction, but it is 

 impossible to approach it within a quarter of a mile. At the moment 

 I am closing this letter, I am told that the lava is within 2 miles of 

 Bronte, and that to-morrow night the fate of the unhappy town will 

 be decided ; for the stream has reached a point from which it must 

 either flow into a side valley, or inevitably overflow Bronte. On the 

 llth of this month, the five mouths united into one, the violence of 

 the eruption increased, and the quantity of ashes and cinders thrown 

 out was enormous ; the finest ashes have been carried as far as this 

 place. The lava is augitic, and contains very few crystals ; the cinders 

 are light, spongy, and half- vitrified." " On the 16th the alarm of 

 the inhabitants began to diminish. Nothing could be more terrific 

 than the first appearance. A stream of lava, dividing itself into two 

 branches, 18 miles long, including all its windings, a mile broad, and 

 30 feet high, threatened to overwhelm the defenceless land. There 

 was also a great alarm lest it should fall into the bed of the Simeto, and 

 cause a frightful inundation of the neighbouring countiy. The greater 

 part of the lava has poured into a large gulf previously opened, and 

 the earthquakes have ceased. A new cone has been thrown up, similar 

 to those around the flanks of .Etna, which attest its former eruptions. 

 The town of Bronte has been saved, no lives have been lost, and alto- 

 gether the damage done is less than was at first apprehended." 



In the autumn of 1852 -Etna was in a state of violent eruption for 

 several weeks. 



For more than half the year the upper part of the mountain is 

 covered with snow ; and it forms the great store from whence Sicily 

 and Malta are supplied in summer with that necessary of life in a hot 

 climate, yielding a considerable revenue to the bishop of the diocese, 

 and constituting a great article of commerce. A great mass of ice 

 preserved under layers of lava was discovered in 1828. It is related 

 by Mr. Lyell that when the great heat had melted the stores of snow 

 and ice laid up for that year, " the magistrates of Catania applied to 

 Signor M. Oemmellaro, in the hope that his local knowledge of .Etna 

 might enable him to point out some crevice or natural grotto on the 

 mountain where drift snow was still preserved. Nor were they 

 disappointed ; for he had long suspected that a mass of perennial ice 

 at the foot of the highest cone was part of a large and continuous 

 glacier covered by a lava-current. Having procured a large body of 

 workmen, he quarried into this ice, and proved the superposition 

 of the lava for several hundred yards, so as completely to satisfy 

 himself that nothing but the subsequent flowing of the lava over 

 the ice could account for the position of the glacier." 



Besides the three natural divisions of the mountain before noticed, 

 -Etna is divisible into seven botanical regions, distinguished from each 

 other by their temperature and by the plants which are characteristic 

 of each. 



The first, or what may be termed the sub-tropical region, does not 

 rise more than 100 feet above the level of the sea. Here grow the 

 palm-tree, the banana, the Indian fig, or prickly-pear, and the sugar- 

 cane ; and there maybe seen hi open gardens tree-cacaliao, and euphorbia;, 

 together with varieties of mimosa and acacia, which, in the northern 

 parts of Europe, are nursed in hot-houses and conservatories. The 

 second, or hilly region, extends to the height of about 2000 feet, where 

 the culture of the vine ceases. Here are found many plants of the 

 south of France, Spain, and Italy ; cotton and maize ; the orange, the 

 lemon, and the shaddock. From the great dryness of the atmosphere, 

 mosses and lichens are extremely rare, and fungi are met with only in 

 winter. The third, or woody zone, lies between the elevations of 

 2000 and 4000 feet ; it is the region of the cork-tree and other kinds 

 of oak, the maple, and, especially on the eastern side, of luxuriant 

 chestnut-trees, often of extraordinary size. The fourth region, which 

 lies betwoen the elevations of 4000 and 6000 feet, is characterised by 

 the presence of the beech, Scotch fir, birch, and, among small plants, 

 clover, sandwort, mouse-eared chickweed, dock, and plantain. The 

 fifth, or sub-alpine region, lies between the elevations of 6000 and 

 7500 feet, and produces the barberry, soap-wort, toad-flax, and juniper. 

 The sixth region lies between the elevations of 7500 and 9000 feet. 

 Almost all the plants of the fifth region are also found in this ; but 

 soap-wort, sorrel, and the fleshy and jagged groundsel are characteristic 

 of it. The seventh region is very narrow, its upper limit not rising 

 above 9200 feet, and it only produces a few lichens. Beyond that 

 elevation utter sterility prevails. 



We cannot allude, even thus briefly, to the vegetable productions of 

 .Etna, without noticing the gigantic chestnut-tree, one of the most 

 celebrated wonders of the island ; it occurs in the third region, and is 

 known by the name of the Castagno de' Cento Cavalli, because it is 

 said to be capable .of sheltering a hundred horses under its boughs. 

 It appears to consist of five large and two smaller trees, which, from 

 the circumstance of the barks and boughs being all outside, are con- 

 sidered to have been one trunk originally. The largest trunk is 38 

 feet in circumference, and the circuit of the whole five, measured 

 just above the ground, is 163 feet. It still bears rich foliage, and 

 much small fruit, though the heart of the trunk is decayed, and a public 

 road leads through it wide enough for two coaches to drive abreast. 

 In the middle cavity a hut is built for the accommodation of those 



