2 RAMBLES OF A NATUKALIST. 



who, from their perfect knowledge of the coasts, 

 might have served as pilots, expressed strong doubts 

 as to the utility of an exploration of the west coast, 

 where, as they told us, we should find nothing but 

 pestilential marshes, or shingle and sand. On con- 

 sulting our maps, and considering the geological 

 conformation of the district, we found that their 

 statements were well grounded. Indeed, Sicily 

 everywhere bears traces of those violent forces, 

 which, by their action on the solid crust of our 

 globe, have elevated this island above the waves. 

 Amid the thousand irregularities which mark the 

 contour of the land, and are the inevitable result 

 of this mode of formation, we could perceive how 

 differently these forces had acted at different points. 

 To the west, east, and south-east, the low chains 

 of mountains gradually slope towards the sea, and 

 either terminate in undulating hills or merge into 

 extended plains and low tracts of shore covered with 

 salt marshes. A few isolated peaks, which, in some 

 cases, are of an entirely volcanic origin, like Monte- 

 Bosso, rise above the others, although few attain 

 a height of more than 2000 feet ; Monte-Caramata 

 is, indeed, an exception to this rule, for its calcareous 

 rocks, which command the town of Orte, rise to an 

 elevation of 4000 feet. In the centre of the island 

 the mountains are higher, and several of them have 

 an altitude of more than 3000 feet ; still, the true 

 mountainous region of Sicily lies in the north and 

 north-east of the island. Here the subterranean 

 forces, acting with their whole intensity, have pro- 

 truded huge masses of gneiss and granite through 



