Ch. VII.] 



ETNA. 



83 



INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF THE CONE OF ETNA. 

 In our first volume we merely described that part of Etna 

 which has been formed during the historical era; an insigni- 

 ficant portion of the whole mass. Nearly all the remainder 

 may be referred to the tertiary period immediately antecedent 

 to the recent epoch. We before stated, that the great cone is, 

 in general, of a very symmetrical form, but is broken, on its 

 eastern side, by a deep valley, called the Val del Bove*, which, 



No. 17. 



Great valley on the east side of Etna. 



a, highest cone, b, Montagnuola. c, Head of Val del Bove. d, d, Serre del 

 Solfizio. e, Zaffarana. /, One of the lateral cones, g, Monti Rossi. 



commencing near the summit of the mountain,, descends into 

 the woody region, and is then continued, on one side, by a 

 second and narrower valley, called the Val cli Calanna. Below 

 the latter another, named the Val di St. Giacomo, begins, a 

 long narrow ravine, which is prolonged to the neighbourhood 

 of Zaffarana (e, No. 17), on the confines of the fertile region. 

 These natural incisions, into the side of the volcano, are of such 



* In the provincial dialect of the peasants called ' Val del Bue,' for here 

 the herdsman 



' in reducta valle mugienlium 



Prospectat errantes gvegcs. ' 



Dr. Buckland was, I believe, the first English geologist who examined this valley 

 with attention, and I am indebted to him for having described it to me, before 

 my visit to Sicily, as move worthy of attention than any single spot in that island, 

 or perhaps in Europe. I have already stated, that the view of this valley, which 

 I have given in the frontispiece of the second volume, dees not pretend to convey 

 any idea of the grandeur of the scene. 



G 2 



