nioutitaui, but only adding considerably to the height of 

 the old one ; till at last tlie lava, rising near the summit, 

 bursts the side of the crater, and the eruption is declared. 

 This has been the case with two eruptions lately ; but 

 JBtna is upon a much larger scale, and one crater is not 

 enough to give vent to such oceans of liquid fire. 



A Sicilian gentleman saw in an eruption of that 

 mountain, large rocks of fire discharged to the height of 

 some thousand feet, with a noise more terrible than that 

 of thunder. He measured from the time of their great- 

 est elevation, till they reached the ground, and found 

 they took twenty-one seconds to descend, which (the 

 spaces being as the squares of the times) amounting to 

 upwards of 7000 feet. 



After contemplating these objects for some time, says 

 a late traveller, we set off, and soon after arrived at the 

 foot of the great crater of ^Etna. This is of an exact co- 

 nical figure, and rises equally on all sides. It is compo- 

 sed solely of ashes, and other burnt material dischar- 

 ed from the mouth of the volcano, which is in its cen- 

 tre. This conical mountain is of a very large size : its 

 circumference cannot be less than ten miles. Here we 

 took a second rest, as the greatest part of our fatigue 

 still remained. The mercury had fallen to 20 4|. We 

 found this mountain excessively steep ; and although it 

 had appeared black, yet it was likewise covered with 

 snow, but the surface (luckily for us) was spread over 

 with a pretty thick layer of ashes, thrown from the cra- 

 ter. Had it not been for this, we never should have 

 been able to get to the top. 



The circumference of this zone or great circle on 

 JEtna is not less than seventy or eighty miles. It is 

 every where succeeded by the vineyards, orchards, and 

 corn-fields, that compose the Regione Culta, or the Fer- 

 tile Region. The last zone is much broader than the 

 others, and extends on all sides to the foot of the moun- 

 tain. Its whole circumference, is 1 83 miles. 



The present crater of this immense volcano is a circle 

 of about three miles and a half in circumference. It 

 goes shelving down on each side, and forms a regular 



