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fuffered much ; and the neighbouring caftk.-, and more 

 than 500 houfea were dcllroycd by the ravages of the river, 

 aT\d trees were torn up by vioUnt Walls ot wind. vEtna 

 •was convulfed and rent in fcvcral places, and poured forth 

 torrents of hn-a, which dcftroyed the vineyards and gardens 

 al the nionallery of St. Nkholus iTJrfna, and proceeded on- 

 wards to N'uolofi, burnt jMuHp.-lHerl and F,i/li<ii, and did 

 great injur)- wherever it fpread. Tlie commotions of 

 JEUvi were fo great, that the fiunmit fell in wiili a trcmen- 

 Jduj noifc, and the flioeks of the earlliquake that attended 

 liu-ra were felt through the whole ifland. The inhabitants 

 were fo much ahinntd and diilrcli'cd, that they appeared in 

 muuniing, and continued in this Hate for a conliderable 

 part of the year. In 1567 and 1579, the ravages of TEtna 

 were renewed ; aiul from 1603 to 1636 its eruptions were 

 occafionally repeated, and torrent;! of lava flowed fjom it, 

 vliich dcftroyed the woods and \incyards in thole parts to 

 which they reached. In 1650, as Oldenburg informs us, 

 from Kircher's Muiulus SiiLlfrnimiu, the mountain burnt 

 en the north fule, and produced great devaftation. Carrera 

 was witnefs of a dreadful conflagration in 1664, which lull- 

 ed till the end of May 1678. But the eruption of 1669 

 vas the moll formidable and moil dellruttivc. Borelli, 

 who was an eye witnefs of this catadrophe, and fome Eng- 

 lifh merchants who were alfo upon the fpct and who exa- 

 mined its effefts, of whofe report we have a detailed ac- 

 count, in the Phil. Tranf. (No. 51. abr. vol. ii. p. 387.) 

 liave minutely defcrihed the accefs, and progrefs, and ruin- 

 ous confequences of this eruption. It was preceded, for 

 eighteen days, with a dark fky, thunder and lightning, and 

 frequent concufTions of the earth, which dellroyed many 

 houfes in the village of Nkolofi, and difperfed its inhabit- 

 ants. The old crater on the fummit of jEtna raged for 

 two or three months before this event, in an unufual man- 

 ner ; and this was alio the cafe with Volcano and Stromboli, 

 4.VV0 burning iflands to the weft of it. In the evening of 

 the iith of March, at the dillance of about twenty miles 

 from the old mouth, and ten miles from Catania, a chafm was 

 opened in the call fide of the mountain ; which is faid to 

 have been feveral miles ( Borelli fays twelve) in length, and 

 five or fix feet wide. This was not far from the place 

 where Monte Rojfo afterwards arofe, and extended in the 

 direftion of the grand crater of jEtna. See PI. i. Nat. 

 Hill. Jig. 2. V. V. V. On the night following, in the 

 place where this mountain now (lands, another large cleft 

 opened, and feveral other chafms were formed in different 

 parts of the mountalm; and there iflued from all of them 

 huge volumes of fn-ioke, accompanied with the ufual ph<e- 

 Bomcna of thunder and earthquake. From the principal 

 thafm there ilTued the fame night a ftream of lava, which 

 direfted its coutfe to a lake, c;^l!ed la Hardia, alaout fix 

 miles from J\lor;J>e//uri, and in its way dcftroyed many dwell- 

 ing-houfes and other buildings in tlie adjacent villages. The 

 next day it moved towards a tracl of country called Mai 

 Pajo, inhabited by about 8co people, which, in the fpace 

 of twenty hours, waj entirely depopidated and kid walle ; 

 the lava then changed its direilion, and deftroyed fome 

 otlier villages. Mor.pdlicri, and its inhabitants, were alfo 

 deftroyed. On the 23d of March the ftream of lava was 

 in fome places two miles broad, and extended itfelf to the 

 Tillage of Ma%%alucia. On this day a new gulf was opened, 

 from which were difcharged fond and afties, which formed 

 a lull with two fummits, two miles in circumference, and 

 150 paces high; thcfe confifted of ftones of different co- 

 lours. The new mountain of Nicohfi continued to dif- 

 charge aftics for three months, in fuch quantity as to cover 

 the adjoining trait of country for 15 miks, ficme of 



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thefe allies were conveyed by the winds as far as Mcflina 

 and Calabria ; and otliers I'pread over the foutliern country, 

 about Agofta, l.cntini, and remoter parts. On the 25th of 

 Marcii tlie whole mountain, even to its highcll fuinmit, 

 was agitated by a very violent earthquake. The highcft: 

 crater, or its loftiell eminence, then lunk into the volcanic 

 focus, and the fpot which it had occupied became a deep 

 gulf, more than a mile in extent, from which were thrown 

 up -■norinous malfes of fmoke, allies, ;':k1 ftones. At tliis 

 time it is faid, the famous block of lava on mount Frumen- 

 to was difcharged from tiie volcanic focus. The torrent of 

 lava, which llill continued to flow, diiefted its courfe to- 

 wards Catania ; it firll palfed under its walls for a confider- 

 able dillance into the fca, but afterwards accumulated and 

 palled over them in ieveral places. The gardens and 

 grounds belonging to the convent of the Ueuedictines were 

 overwlielmed by it ; and by its taking this direClion many 

 buildings in the town efcaped. From hence it divided into 

 feparate channels or ftreams, and flowed chiefly into the lea. 

 The Englilli merchants fay, that it had overwhelmed in the 

 upland countiy, 14 towns and villages, fome of which con- 

 tained 3 or 4000 inhabitants, and ftood in a fruitful coun- 

 trj', where the fire had not before this time made any deva- 

 ftation ; and they add, ".there is not now fo much as any 

 figii where tliefe towns ftood, except the church and lleeple 

 of one of them, which was iituated on an eminence." The 

 Earl of Winchelfea, who at this time happened to be there 

 on his way home from au embafly to Contlantinople, in his 

 account of this tremendous catalhophe, informs us, that the 

 inundation of fire, cinders, and burning ftones, advanced into 

 the fea 600 yards, and a mile in breadth : that it dellroyed 

 in 40 days the habitations of 27,000 perfons ; and of 20,oco 

 perfons, who inhabited Catania, 3000 only remained. He 

 adds, that the fiery deluge, in its progrefs, met with a lake 

 four miles in compafs, and not only filled it up, though it 

 was four fathoms deep, but raifed it into a mountain. He 

 obferves, according to an extraft, cited by Sir William Ha- 

 milton, that he could fee at ten miles diftance the fire begin 

 to run from the mountain in a direcl line, and the flame 

 to afcend in bulk and height equal to thofe of the loftieft: 

 lleeple in this kingdom, and to throw up large Hones into 

 the air. He difccrncd alfo the river of fire defcending the 

 mountain, exhibiting a terrible fiery or red colour, and 

 bearing ftones, which fwam upon it, as big as an ordinary 

 table. This fire was obferved to move in feveral other 

 places, emitting flames and fmoke refenibling thofe of a 

 furnace of melted iron, and oceafioning a loud noife tfpeci- 

 ally by means of the great pieces that fell into the fea. He 

 adds, upon the information of a cavalier of Malta, that the 

 river was as liquid, when it iffued from the mountain, as 

 water, and came out like a torrent with great violence ; and 

 that it was five or fix fathoms both in depth and breadth, 

 and that no ftones could fiiik in it. Borelli obferves, 

 that when they threw ftones into the chafm of the moun- 

 tain, they could not hear tliem ftrike the bottom. Burn- 

 ing rocks, he fays, 60 palms in length, were thrown to the 

 dillance of a mile, and ftones of a Jeftcr fize were carried 

 upwards of three miles, and the thunder and lightning from 

 the fmoke were not lefs terrible than the noife of the moun- 

 tain. After the moll violent ftruggles, and Ihaking of the 

 whole illand, when the lava got vent it fprang up into the 

 air to the height of 60 palms ; the lun, for many weeks, 

 did not appear, and the day feemed to be changed into 

 night ; and it was not till four months from the time when it 

 began to difcharge its contents, that thefe dreadful fymptoms 

 abated. This deluge of fire, after dellroying the fineil 

 vouptry in Sicily, and fweeping away churches, villages, and 



couventt 



