VOLCANOES. 15 



other bituminous inflammable matter which afford 

 aliment to subterraneous fire. In Europe there are 

 three remarkable volcanoes, Mount Etna, in Sicily, 

 Mount Vesuvius, about six miles distant from Na- 

 ples, in Italy, and Mount Hecla, in Iceland. It is 

 said that Che inhabitants of the last country imagine 

 Mount Hecla to be the mouth of hell, and the roar- 

 ing of its eruption, to be the cries of the unhappy 

 wretches consigned to that place of torment. But 

 I shall not trouble you with tales of superstition 

 young as you are, I flatter myself that you are suffici- 

 ently instructed to laugh at such ridiculous notions ; 

 and to pity those uncultivated minds whom igno- 

 rance renders the dupes of such absurdity. This will 

 also shew the importance of the study of natural 

 history, since, if these illiterate people had more 

 knowledge of the works of nature, they would not 

 thus be under the influence of superstition. 



Mount Etna has burned from time immemorial : 

 its eruptions are sometimes tremendous beyond de- 

 scription, and its roaring louder than thunder. 

 Both this mountain and that of Vesuvius vomit forth, 

 torrents of smoke and flame with rivers of sulphur, 

 melted ..metal and other burning matter. Sometimes 

 they eject enormous rocks to the distance of several 

 miles. The combustion has been frequently so ter- 

 rible, and the quantity of melted matter, called lava, 

 so great that, it has overwhelmed cities, covered the 

 adjacent fields to the depth of more than an hundred 

 feet, and formed new hills by the accumulation of the 

 ejected substances. The explosions of the subter- 

 raneous fire have been so violent as to shake the earth, 

 and agitate the sea to a great distance. The same 

 phenomena have been produced by the eruptions of 

 Mount Hecla, and indeed the nature and effects of all 

 volcanoes are perfectly similar : the greater or less 

 frequency and violence of their explosions are deter- 

 mined only by the quantity of inflammable matter 

 contained in them, together with various concurrent 

 causes that may accelerate or retard its combustion. 

 The eruptions of Mount Etna have been so violent, 



