238 Earthquakes in Sicily. 



and ashes, which the wind drove among them. But only one 

 man was struck by the burning rocks hurled through the air 

 with immense violence. The scoria and ashes did much 

 damage to the cisterns of the island, and to the terraces which 

 serve as tiles over them. Torrents of black smoke, ashes, 

 and sand were often ejected and thrown to various distances. 

 The greatest shocks were sometimes followed by a thick dry 

 cloud, which filled the air of the whole island. 



The shock of the fifth of March was very strong at Strom- 

 boli, at Saline, formerly Didime, and at Lipari. The inhabi- 

 tants of Lipari did not doubt that their houses v ould this time 

 be reduced to ruins ; and they have not yet ceased giving 

 thanks to heaven and their protecting saints, for defending 

 them from utter destruction. They affirm that a moment after 

 the shock, all their thoughts were turned upon the disasters 

 which might happen to places on the neighbouring coast of 

 Sicily and at Palermo ; towards which the direction of the 

 motion seemed to be. Lipari lies between us and Stromboli. 

 Since April the parts of our island which were before agitated, 

 have been left in repose ; but. shocks are still frequent at 

 Stromboli, and keep the poor inhabitants there in continued 

 fear. The subterranean furnace seems to have lost much of 

 its power, as the elastic vapours generated there shake but 

 a very limited space, and the new apertures of the mountains, 

 emit now and then but a very small quantity of fine sand, 

 "which is always the last product of an expiring conflagration. 



From what I have laid down, it is just to conclude, that the 

 fires of Eolia are those which have for a long time been pre- 

 paring the event of last March ; that it was produced by mo- 

 tions generated in those mighty furnaces, and that those mo- 

 tions were propagated to great distances. If Sicily then is 

 so often shocked, the powers which agitate it must exist in 

 volcanoes that burn within its own bosom, and in the sur- 

 roundingsea. Situated in the midst of such grand operations 

 of nature, Sicily must be exposed to all the efi:ects which such 

 powerful causes are capable of producing. The chemical 

 subterranean operations require that the earth should every 

 where be traversed by vast cavities and canals, running in 

 various directions ; and the forces of the operations act on 

 the different parts of these cavities. But it is natural to be- 

 lieve, and many facts in this memoir demonstrate the truth of 

 it, that places in the vicinity of the three great volcanic out- 

 lets ordinarily feel the force with the greatest violence. In 



