MOUNT J3TNA. 17 



cold, that it is reckoned dangerous to drink it, it is said, however, to have 

 a poisonous quality, from being impregnated with vitriol, hi consequence 

 of which cattle have been killed by it. It never freezes, but is said often 

 to contract a greater degree of cold than ice. 



The majestic forests of JEtnz afford a singular spectacle, and bear no 

 resemblance to those of any other country ; their verdure is more lively, 

 and the trees of which they consist of a greater height. These 

 advantages they owe to the soil on which they grow ; for the soil 

 produced by volcanos is particularly favourable to vegetation, and every 

 species of plant grows here with great luxuriance. In several places, 

 when we can view their interior parts, the most enchanting prospects 

 are displayed. The hawthorn trees are of an immense size, and are cut 

 fantastically, so as to represent orange trees; the beeches appear like so 

 many ramified pillars, and the tufted branches of the oak like close 

 Lushes, impenetrable to the rays of the sun. ' The appearance of the 

 woods in general is exceedingly picturesque, by reason of the great 

 number and variety of the trees, and the inequality of the ground, 

 which jjnake them rise like seats in an amphitheatre, disposing them also 

 in groups and glades, so that their appearance changes to the eye at 

 every step; and this variety is augmented by accidental circumstances, 

 as the situation of young trees among others venerable for their 

 antiquity; the effects of storms, which have often overturned large trees; 

 while stems, shooting from their roots, like the Lerncean hydra, show a 

 number of heads, newly-sprung, to make up that which has been cut off. 



There have been nearly forty eruptions of ^Etna from the first which 

 Diodorus Siculus speaks of (but does not fix the period at which it 

 happened), until the last which occurred in November, 1832, the 

 descriptions of which differ only in the extent of damage done. 

 Having given one of these awful visitations in our account of Vesuvius, 

 we do not deem it necessary further to notice them here, as it is scarcely 

 more than a change of place and dates. 



All travellers agree, that even in the height of summer, the cold of 

 /Etna is the most piercing that they ever experienced, and a very recent 

 one says, "The cold was so great that the wine had become quite thick, 

 and on entering the stable, the guide found the mules trembling from 

 its effects, notwithstanding that they had plenty to eat during our absence." 



