iE T N 



;e T N 



tered no fewer iban 77 cilics, towns, and villages ; and allow- 

 ing liOO or J jco poifons to cacli of tlicfc, the whok iniiiiber 

 of die inhabitants of Mount jEtna, vill be 92,400 or 

 115,500. 



Ill our farther dtfcription of this mountain, and of its 

 volcanic prodiiflioiis and appearances, we fiiall avail oiu- 

 fclvcs of the accounts tliat nave been given by thofe who 

 havo vifitcd it ; fcleaing from each thole circiniillances that 

 are mott defcrving of notice,- and combining them together 

 fo as to form a conneAed and continued narrative. The 

 Writers to v hofc oblcrvatious wc (hall principally refer are 

 BorcUi, Hill. Inccnd. JElux, An. 1669; M. Jac. d'Or\'il!c's 

 Sicula, Mr. lirydone's Tour tlirough Sicily, vol. i. Sir 

 \\'.lliam Hamilton's Canipi phlegrxi, and Phil. Tranf. 

 Riedcfel's Travels in Sicily, Svvinburne'sTravels in the Two 

 iSicilies, vol. iv. Abbe Spullan/ani's Travels in the Two 

 Sicllic»;&c. vol. i. M. Dolomieu, and M. Houel, Voyage 

 Pittorefque. 



The afcent of Mount /Etna is tedious, difficult, and pe- 

 rilous ; and few have had refolulion to undertake it. 

 From Catania, where the journey ufually commences, to 

 the fummit, the dillance is about 30 miles : and the tra- 

 veller, in the progrefs of his journey, pafics through three 

 diftinift climates, which might be juil!)' denoniinated, ou 

 account of the variety of their temperature, the torrid, the 

 temperate, and the fngid /ones. Accordingly the whole 

 mountain is divided into three diftincl regions, called La 

 Ke,^icnr Ctillii, or P'ledinnntej}, the fertile region ; // Regione 

 Sylvo/a, or Nemorofa, the woody region ; and // Regior.e 

 Dtft-rta, or ScoprrlLi, the barren region. Count Borch has 

 added a fourth, which he calls the region of fncw ; and he 

 has fubdivided thefe four regions into feveral diilricis. 



The Jii^f} or loivejl region, extends through an interval of 

 afcent from 12 to 18 miles, according to the ftatemcnts of 

 different writers. Its whole circumference is eftimated by 

 Recupero at 183 miles, and its furface is fuppofed by 

 Buffon to exceed 220 fquare leagues. It is bounded by 

 the fea to the fuuth and fouth-eaft, and on all its other fides 

 by the rivers Semetus and Alcantara, which almoft run 

 round it. The city of Catania and feveral villages are fitu- 

 ated in this hrll zone ; and it abovinds in paftures, orchards, 

 and various kinds of fruit trees. The fertility of this region 

 has been recorded by Strabo, Fazello, Peter Bembo, and 

 rood of the travellers who have vifited ^tna ; and it is 

 juiUy afcribed to the decompofition of the lava, and of thofe 

 vegetables, which have been introduced by the arts of agri- 

 culture, and the exertions of human indullry. In fome 

 parts, however, the lava appears in craggy eminences above 

 the foil. Where the earth is fliallow, the roots of trees, 

 unable to penetrate the hard lava, extend themfclves hori- 

 zontally near tiie furface : but wliere tiiere is a greater 

 depth of earth, the foil is more fertile and produdlive. The 

 firil ftation in the aitent of the mountain is Nicohfi, (fee 

 PI. I. Nat. Hist, fig, 2. let. H.) wliich, according to Bry- 

 done's ftatement, is IZ miles up tlie mountain, and by 

 Houcl's account 2496 feet above tlie level of the fea. The 

 road from Catania to tiiis ftation lies over old lavas and the 

 mouths of extinguifhed volcanos, which are now converted 

 into corn fields, vineyards, and orchards. Tlie figs of tliis 

 region, and the fruit in general, are reckoned the fineft in 

 Sicily. W^ien the harvell was finiihed at Catania and tlie 

 heat extrtm.e, Mr. Biydone found the corn green at KicrJrJi, 

 , and the lieat moderate. The lava of this region flows from 

 a number of fnial! mountains, which are difperfed over the 

 immcnfe declivity of /Etna. Thefe mountains, which are 

 rf a conical or hcriifpherical figure, are formed by erup- 

 tions J and they arc generally about two or three miies in 



circuit, and about 300 or 400 feet high. They are covered 

 With a ricli verdure, and beautil'ul trees. Not far from A';- 

 co/o/i is MoiUe Rnjfo, which was formerly a plain ; but in 

 J 669 a new vertex was opened in it, and difciiarged a dread- 

 ful torrent of lava, which flowed as far as tj^e fea, and 

 formed a kind of promontoiy (as Y.) It is furrounded ta 

 the extent of two miles with a black fand, which wa« 

 thrown out in that eruption, and which then covered a 

 fpace of tj miles, to fuch a depth as to bur)' the vines and 

 flirubs that were fcaltcrcd over the foil. Some of the 

 finer particles of it were wafted by the wind as far as Cata- 

 bria. The fand is ven,' deep as you approach the mourt 

 tain ; and the mountain is forked at the vertex. By Bo- 

 rclli'j account its circumference at the bafe does not exceed 

 two miles, and its perpendicular h'"iglit is not more than 

 150 paces; whereas, Sir William Kamiiton cllimates its 

 heiglit at a mile, and its circuit at three miles. Spr.llr.n7aiu 

 prefers the former eliimate. Aniongll 100 or more moun- 

 tains, which rear their heads on the lides of Mount ^tna, 

 this is the onlv one with the hiilory of the formation of 

 which we are acquainted. The bafe of the lava of this 

 motuitain is horn-ilone, of a grey colour, rough to the 

 touch, and of a moderatelr line gi'ain. It gives fparks with 

 lleel, and founds wlien it is llruck. It ferves as a matrix 

 to a great number of felt-fpathoie or flioerlaceous cryftal- 

 lizations. The fcorix, of which tlie mountain is principally 

 compofed, have the fame kind of bafe, containing flioeris 

 and felt-fpars ; but they are more light and friable than the 

 lava, and have a kind of vitreous appearance. Thefe and 

 other differences are produced by the mutual colUfion and 

 pulverization of thele fcoris. The number of detached 

 fliocrls that are found on and near Monte Rojfo is very 

 great. Dolomieu thought, that they firft entered into the 

 body of the lava, and that they were feparated from it by 

 means of the fulphur, which had fcorified the lava, but had 

 not produced the fame effeft on the flioeris, becaufe of the 

 fmall quantity of iron which they contain ; and confequently 

 they remained free and detached. Spallanzani rejects this 

 hypothelis ; as upon experiments with the magnetic 

 needle he found that the martial principle was more abun- 

 dant in the Ihoerls than in their bafe ; and he therefore ac- 

 counts for their fepanition from the lava in another way. 

 The volcanic fire, which melted the lava, was incapable of 

 melting thefe fhoerls, which ai'e not only refrac\oi-y to the 

 fire, but of a different fpecific gravity from the lava. When 

 this was melted, elevated to a great height, and feparated 

 into fmall particles in the progrefs of the eruption, a num- 

 ber of flioeris were detached from it, and fell, ifolated, partly 

 within tlie crater, and partly around it. Accordingly he 

 found, that the ilioerls detached from the lava are infufible 

 in the furriace ; hut thofe which are incorporated with the 

 lava fuflain a perfect fufion. Thefe flioeris are not pecu- 

 liar to the lava of Monte RoJfo ; but they are found in many 

 other mountains of Altna. Spallanzani analyfed them, and 

 from ICO docimallic pounds, he obtained the following 

 refult : -x'/'z. 



Pounds 



Siles - - - 34,5 



Lime - - - iS,7 



Iron ... 7,6 



Alum ... 12,4 



Magnefia - - 1 1 , 



Sum - 84,2 



The mountain derives its name Monte Roffh, or red 

 raouutain, from the tinge 01 this colour which fome parts 



«f 



