94 RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. 



actions which were incessantly occurring in this for- 

 midable laboratory.* By following the narrow ridge, 

 which borders the crater to the south, we reached 

 the highest point which is situated on its eastern 

 extremity. Here an indescribable spectacle presented 

 itself to our gaze. The sky was perfectly pure, the 

 air was exquisitely transparent, while the horizon, 

 which from the shortness of the twilight was now 

 brightly illumined, appeared to have no other limits 

 than that which resulted from the curvature of the 

 earth's surface. From our lofty pedestal, we looked 

 down a depth of four or five thousand feet upon the 

 highest summits of the Pelorian and Madonian moun- 

 tains, while the whole of Sicily lay spread before us 

 as on a map. 



To the west the eye wandered along the summits 

 of Mount Corleone, half hidden by the vapour which 

 concealed Mount Eryx from our view. Beyond this 

 limit, the sea spread far and wide on every side, 

 serving as the frame to this glorious picture of nature. 

 And here we could trace the route we had followed 

 for more than four months in circumnavigating the 

 island in the Santa Rosalia. To the north we saw 

 the mountains of Palermo, and still more clearly 

 Milazzo, the islands of Vulcan, and the black and 

 regular pyramid of Stromboli ; while we could even 

 distinguish every undulation of the soil, and trace 

 every indentation of the coast-line along the straits 

 of Messina on the rocky shores of Calabria. Nearer 

 still, the massive form of Etna presented its three con- 



* These salts are, according to M. Elie de Beaumont, principally 

 sulphates. 



