THE COASTS OF SICILY. 97 



slope, where we might breathe more at our ease, 

 and then resting on our staffs, sprang to the edge of 

 the declivity which was solely composed of move- 

 able debris, and in five minutes we had reached the 

 base of the cone, which it had cost us more than an 

 hour to ascend. 



Our mules were waiting for us at the casa, and 

 no sooner had they received their light load of 

 wrappers, and cloaks, baskets and panniers, than they 

 descended by the straight and nearest track, while 

 we diverged to the left in order to obtain a view of 

 the Val del Bove. This excursion was perhaps the 

 most arduous part of our whole journey. The wind 

 was blowing from the north-east, and in a few 

 minutes it had grown into a perfect hurricane. Its 

 icy breath raised clouds of sand and gravel which 

 pricked and stung our faces and hands as if with 

 so many needles. We found considerable difficulty 

 in reaching the Torre del Filosopho, a small and 

 ancient monument which is now in ruins, but which 

 according to Sicilian legends was the habitation of 

 Empedocles. The probability is, however, that this 

 was once a tomb, most likely dating from a period not 

 earlier than the time of the Roman Emperors. The 

 Torre del Filosopho nearly touches the escarpment 

 of Serre del Solfizio, which bounds the Val del 

 Bove on the side nearest the volcano. Standing 

 upon these perpendicular rocks, we admired this 

 immense circuit, which measures more than six 

 miles in length and more than three miles in 

 breadth, and whose walls, which are almost every- 

 where perpendicular, and formed of masses of lava 



VOL. II. H 



