THE COASTS OF SICILY. 77 



almost every point from the surrounding plain. 

 Above these heights, which mark the actual limits 

 of the volcano, an arched plateau rises on all sides 

 towards the mountain by an insensible inclination of 

 two or three degrees. This kind of pedestal sup- 

 ports an elliptical cone, which forms the lateral 

 declivities of Etna, and which has a tolerably regular 

 inclination of seven or eight degrees. These lateral 

 slopes abut on the central elevation the Mongibello 

 of the Sicilians, whose highest part is terminated by 

 a small inclined plane, called the Piano del Lago, 

 which is itself surmounted by the terminal cone in 

 which lies the great crater. From the Piano del Lago, 

 there detach themselves, to the east, two narrow and 

 almost abrupt craters, which form a part of the 

 central elevation, and enclose with two arms, as it 

 were, a great valley known under the name of the 

 Val del Bove* The internal walls of this valley are 

 often perpendicular, while the external walls present 

 an inclination of about thirty-two degrees. 



Such are the different parts into which modern 

 writers have divided this great mountainous mass; 

 but there is another division, which has long been 

 recognised, and which, as it adapts itself better to the 

 recital of the journey, we shall consequently follow. 

 According to this mode of description there are 

 three zones or concentric regions, which it is very 

 easy to distinguish. The first comprises the level 

 ground; this is the fertile region regione colta, regione 

 piemontese, which is celebrated for the fertility of the 

 soil, the clearness of the atmosphere, and the salu- 

 brity of the climate. From the earliest historic 



