( H3 ) 



one, put others in motion, till bird and 

 ftones fall, all together, headlong into thg 

 fea. 



in another place lavas are found, not of 

 one kind alone, but a confufed mixture of 

 feveral, piled in diforder one on another to 

 a prodigious height ; and in many of them 

 there is no part which does not threaten 

 immediate fall and ruin. 



Through the midft, however, of thele 

 mifliapen rocks and horrid precipices are 

 formed, I will not fay roads or paths, but 

 narrow winding gutters, by which we may 

 afcend to a certain height ; and throu;zhthefe 

 I took my way, when from time to time I 

 landed from my boat and went in fearch of 

 the lavas I have defcribcd, and examined 

 them on the fpor. I was obliged, however, 

 to advance with the greateft caution, as to 

 have made a fmgle falfe ftep would have 

 been to have faUen headlong down a pre- 

 cipice. I could not but recolle(ft the lines 

 of Dante, in which he defcribes the la- 

 borious 



