THE COASTS OF SICILY. 85 



and under the direction of Doctor Mario Gemellaro 

 a substantial house was soon erected, which has 

 hitherto been spared by the volcano. 



Nevertheless the perseverance of the brothers 

 Gemellaro was doomed to suffer many other trials. 

 As soon as the house was completed, they supplied 

 it with furniture and an adequate provision of fire- 

 wood. Attracted by these treasures, the herdsmen 

 of Mount Etna broke open the door, and carried 

 away all the furniture, and this damage which was 

 soon repaired, was more than once repeated. At 

 length, in 1820, at the period of the Austrian occu- 

 pation, some of the officers who were garrisoned at 

 Catania, resolved to visit the volcano. As natives 

 of the north, they thought they might dispense with 

 every precaution, and therefore did not condescend 

 to ask for the keys of the Casa Gemellaro. On 

 reaching the summit of the mountain, however, they 

 began to suffer from the intensity of the cold, and 

 breaking open the doors of the house, burnt the 

 furniture as firewood. After this, the brothers 

 yielded to their destiny, and remaining satisfied with 

 having secured a shelter for travellers, they pro- 

 vided the casa with furniture not likely to tempt 

 the cupidity of the mountaineers, and whose low 

 price would enable them to replace it in case of future 

 accidents. 



We have designated this house under the name 

 of the Casa Gemellaro, which we think it only an act 

 of simple justice to bestow upon it. It is very 

 generally known, however, under the name of the 

 English house, La Casa Inglese* The following 



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