62 
FOREST AND STREAM: 
tJULY 25, 1903. 
Climbing Mount Aetna. 
.We print herewith the third letter descriptive of Mount TEUm, 
from the pen of Maj. Albert Woodcock, then United States 
Consul, Catania, Sicily. Letters descriptive of earlier ascents 
were published in our issues of May ao and June 27. These 
accounts are all the more valued and interesting because possess- 
ing ilie qualities of familiar correspondence. 
This is your birthday. In remembrance I will write 
you about my last ascent of Mount JEtnz. At 3 o'clock 
A. M. of August 14 last (1886), a large carriage,_ drawn 
by two stout horses, with a company of excursionists, 
left Catania to make the ascent of the volcano and the 
descent into Val del Bove. The party consisted of 
Mr. Wallace S. Jones, U. S. Consul of Messina, and 
his sister. Miss Jones; Mr. Peter Aelig and Mr. Rit- 
ter, Swiss gentlemen (merchants of Catania); Mr. 
Charles R. Worthington, an English gentleman, and 
the writer. 
A hammock beneath the carriage and a boot at the 
rear contained blankets, rugs, overcoats and rations 
for a two days' campaign. The parly was a merry one. 
They were enthusiastic and elated at the thought of 
climbing into the heavens above the cloudc. The horses 
seemed to catch the spirit of the party and ascended 
the slope rapidl}'. We were soon looking down upon 
Catania with its thousands of lights, and Upon the 
beautiful sea. 
The moon was at its full. Its silvery light flashed 
and sparkled upon the sea. It flooded the valleys. It 
made more beautiful the orange groves. It robbed the 
great rocks and lava ridges by the wayside of their 
hideousness and gave them pleasing and romantic 
forms. As we ascended the air grew fresher and more 
bracing. It was uncomfortablj' warm in Catania when 
we left. We were ascending through a highly culti- 
vated region. Orchards of orange, lemon, almond and 
fig and vineyards of grape grow luxuriantly upon the 
slopes. The Fichi d' India (prickly pear), like grim 
sentinels, stood out upon the rocks and cliffs. Beauti- 
ful villas of the Catanese nobility nestled upon the 
hillsides. The whole landscape, subdued and softened 
by the light of the full moon, presented a scene of in- 
expressible loveliness. In an hottr and a half we had 
ascended to Gravina, an unimportant village of low, 
lava-constructed houses. Two miles higher up we 
reached the quaint old town of Mascalucia. Perched 
high up on the side of Mount yEtna, it commands fitic 
views of the sea and landscape below. One of its old 
churches, San Antonio, was erected in 1300. 
There twilight commenced to steal upon us, attd the 
morning star that had glowed with unusual brilliancy 
above the Calabrian peaks, began to pale. Still higher 
up we reached the lava village of Torredi Grifo. We 
were now above the orange belt. In this high altitude 
in winter are heavy frosts and frequent snows. The 
vine, however, flourishes luxuriantly. We now entered 
upon a barren waste of lava bed, which tnarks the 
eruption of 1527. A tough wiry shrub of a bright 
green color was scattered over the dreary waste. It 
is called broom (Genista etenensis). It "is rich in 
carbon and produces an intense heat when burned. 
We arrived at Nicolosi, 2,265 ^^et above the sea, at 
6 o'clock A. M. The eastern sky was flecked with gold, 
and the mountains seemed islands in a golden sea, as 
the sun showed his radiant face above their peaks. 
Nicolosi is an earthquake-riven town, and has several 
times been shaken to the ground. The lava flood of 
May last approached within a thousand feet of it. It 
there stands a black, hideous mass, still hot and send- 
ing off sulphurous vapors. We rested at Nicolosi for 
an hour, refreshing ourselves with cold coffee, bread 
and cheese. 
Signori Orazio Silvestri, professor of chemistry, 
geology and mineralogy of the Royal University of 
Catania, is a ripe scholar, and has won an honorable 
name among scientists. He has made ^tna a study, 
and has given to the world his scientific researches of 
this wonderful volcano and its eruptions in several 
valuable works. Andrea, the servant of Professor 
Silvestri, had preceded us the day before, and had 
made all arrangements for our cavalcade. Casa Inglese 
(English House), at the foot of the great cone, the 
resting place of excursionists, had lately been injured 
by an earthquake, and was undergoing repairs, so that 
it could not be occupied. The professor courteously 
tendered us the use of the observatory, and also his 
servant Andrea, an athletic, intelligent, young Sicilian. 
Andrea had made many excursions to Mt. ^tna with 
the professor, and was well posted. He soon paraded 
laefore us our steeds and guides. These consisted of 
nine mules, two guides and three muleteers. In the 
chief guide, Atitonio Mazzalia, I recognized my old 
guide of 1884. On that excursion I was ascending in 
the night. Antonio approached too_ close to the rear 
of my mule, who kicked viciously with both hind feet, 
striking him in the breast and laying him out upon the 
sharp lava rocks. You will remember that I wrote you 
at the time that his head was badly cut and bled pro- 
fusely; that he was picked up partially insensible; that 
we were obliged to leave him at Casa del Bosco, where 
on our return we found him able to ride back to Nico- 
losi. He said 'that II Diavolo had been disgraced by 
being condemned to hard labor in the lava quarries, 
but that he was glad to state that the mule was not 
dead. I was sorry, for barring his vicious qualities, II 
Diavolo was a noble animal. Antonio, a splendid and 
most faithful guide, is stalwart in frame, a little over 
six feet high, and knows much about Mt. ^tna, to 
which he seems devotedly attached. Vincenzo Car- 
bonaro, his assistant, is also faithful, reliable and an 
intelligent guide. Our rations and duffle were packed 
on three mules. The other six were formed in line be- 
fore us. The order was given: 
"Prepare to mount! Mount!" and we mounted and 
away we went on a trot, Miss Jones leading. The 
populace about us were calling on the saints to bless 
the signori and signorina, and the dogs Joined in with 
a barking chorus. The direct road of ascent is covered 
by the lava flood of May last from twenty to a hun- 
dred feet deep. We were obliged to make a detour 
around this hideous field of black desolation. We 
flanked Mont Rossi (the Red mountains) on the south. 
These are twin inountains that were thrown up by the 
eruption of 1669. From them came the great river of 
lava that flooded the country, destroyed 14 villages, and 
rolled into the sea by the Catania Lighthouse, destroy- 
ing a portion of that city. It covered a surface of 
forty square miles. The Monti Rossi have altitude of 
3,110 feet above the sea. A large number of cones 
are clustered about upon the slopes of the great vol- 
cano. This is a wonderful and interesting feature of 
Mount JEtna, Nearly all of these cones are the ex- 
tinct volcanic craters of the past ages, and range in 
altitude from 200 to 899 feet above their base. Their 
number is estimated at 300. We counted 30 of them 
between us, and the great cone of the volcano. 
Soon after leaving the Red Mountains, we came to 
a spur of the lava bed of May last. It was insuffer- 
ably hot. Our mules quickened their pace in crossing 
it. We had left the cultivated region at Nicolosi and 
were now entering the wooded belt. The trees were 
mostly of a young growth of chestnuts. Wood being 
in great demand, the trees are cut before they reach 
the ordinary size. In this same wooded region, how- 
ever, on the west side of Mount ^tna, there are sev- 
eral monarchs of the forest that have escaped the wood- 
man's ax. They are said to be the oldest trees living, 
and are without doubt 1,000 years old. They are 
named respectively, II Castagno di cento Cavalli (the 
chestnut of 100 horses), La Nave (The ship), L' Im- 
perio (The einpirc), and II Castagno della Galea (the 
chestnut of Galea). The first mentioned derives its 
name from the incident that one of the queens of Arra- 
gon, with her troop of 100 horsemen, found shelter be- 
neath its branches from an ^Etna storm. The accu- 
mulated soil of centuries has submerged its trunk, its 
branches above the surface, each being a large tree. 
In 1884 myself and six others found shelter from a 
rain storm in the hollow of one of these branches. 
A road passes through them. The trunk of II Castag- 
no di cento Cavalli is said to be 180 feet in circumfer- 
ence, and the diameter over 50 feet. The circumfer- 
ence of the others averages about 75 feet. They are 
gnarled, ragged and gray and begin to show signs of 
approaching dissolution. The Government protects 
them. 
Our ascent was very sIoav and tiresome to the mules. 
The last May eruption had covered the ground with 
volcanic sand. The trees seemed to rise from a black 
sandy desert, there being no green thing visible but 
their ramage. We reached Casa del Bosco (House of 
the Woods) at 10 o'clock A. M., tired and voraciously 
hungry. We were now at an altitude of 4,216 feet above 
the sea. Casa del Bosco is the last resting place before 
the final climb to the summit. It is a low one-story 
building with two rooms, in one of which is a large, 
open fireplace. We had the deal table of the Casa set 
beneath the wide spreading boughs of a chestnut. Our 
seats had been constructed from the crotches of trees 
and were beautifully rustic. Our friends of the Alps 
(Aellig and Ritter), arid Worthington (my English 
chttm), set the table with fine taste and elegance, 
Chickens, boiled ham, tongue, eggs, cheese, bread, 
fruit, coffee, vino del bosco and ice to cool our drinks 
were before us. What a meal for an epicure! We set 
to with a will. Food never tasted better. Birds twit- 
tered in the trees above us. Zephyrs made music on 
their vEolian harps. The joke went around, and mirth 
prevailed. According to ancient writers, this region 
is the home of the Cyclops giants, and here the beau- 
tiful wood nymphs are wont to move with sprightly 
grace in the joyous dance in these sequestered bowers, 
while the god Pan pipes his pastoral lays. We, how- 
ever, saw no C3fclops, no Pan, no nymphs save the 
American one, who sat with us at the table. 
Our breakfast over, the mules having munched their 
grain and taken iti draught at the cistern, we mounted at 
12 o'clock, and were away again on the climb. In 
our winding way upward we passed many of the moun- 
tain craters, among which were San Iso, Rinazza^ 
Elici Concilio, Sona, Ardizza, Grasso, Capriolo and 
Nero. We were now at an altitude of 6,000 feet. The 
views of sea and landscape were indescribably grand. 
The rich valley of the Siraeto lay like a great chart 
outstretched at our feet. The valley, in the time of the 
Cffisars, was- the ■ granary of Imperial Rome. We 
looked down upon a vast number of villages that 
dotted the valley. Aderno, Paterno and Motta, with 
their old Norman castles, seemed unusually iiear. Cen- 
turipe (a town founded centuries before Christ), upon 
a high mountain crest beyond the valley, was sharply 
defined against the sky. We could see the river Simeto 
meandering on its way through the valley, a shining, 
silver thread from its source to its mouth. We looked 
down into the great black throat of the new crater 
Gemmellaro, that was thrown up in May last. The 
new lava fields lie below us, stretching away from 
Gemmellaro to Nicolosi. They presented a horrid 
scene of rough, blackened desolation about five miles 
in length. The superincumbent lava is from 20 to 100 
feet thick. This new crater, when in its most active 
eruption, vomited forth incandescent lava at the rate 
of 131 to 196 cubic feet per second. Near the crater 
the great stream of liquid lava flowed at the rate of 150 
to 200 feet each minute. 
The ascent now became steeper and more difficult. 
We wound around the east side of Mount Castello and 
ascended between Monti Agnuolo and Frumento. We 
were above the habitable zone. All appearances of 
vegetation had ceased. ' No bird^ fluttered by us, no 
cricket chirped. There were no signs of animal or in- 
sect life. All about us was black desolation. Sun-lit 
clouds were hanging upon the crests below us. Our 
way was over black volcariic sand and loose bowlders 
of lava. We were soon upon Piano del Lago (the 
plains of the lake). Piano del Lago was formerly a 
lake fed by the melting snows of the great cone. Lava 
floods have filled it, and it has ceased to be a lake. 
Our mules acted as if they wished to lie down, but 
thwak! thwak!! thwak!!! went the whips of the driv- 
ers. Poor mules! I felt sorry for them. They are 
certainly the most patient, the most enduring and the 
most abused of the horse kind. Casa Inglese seemed 
very near, but O how far away. We finally reached 
it at half past 3 P. M. Our mules were pufiing and 
panting, and we were tired enough. 
Casa Inglese is 9,652 feet above the sea. It is sit- 
uated at the base of the great cone. It was erected in 
f8ii by some officers of the British Army. The Eng- 
lish at that time occupied Sicily. Napoleon was in pos- 
session of Italy, and was in the height of his glory. 
It is a low, one-story building, constructed of lava 
rock. It stands east and west. In one of the three 
rooms is a fireplace. This building is the refuge of ex- 
cursionists to JEtna.. Its furniture consists of a deal 
table, a few chairs, and several rough board berths, 
sunilar to those in a ship. A little straw in each berth 
comprises the bed. Brydone, an Irish traveler, who 
visited .Etna 110 years ago, in his sprightly book, ex- 
claimed: 
"What a glorious situation for an observatory!" The 
observatory has become a reality. It is a low two- 
story building surmounted by a dome. It is built of 
lava rocks, the walls being of unusual thickness, to 
withstand the frequent shocks of earthquake. It is 
joined tc Casa Inglese, the latter being a lean-to on 
the south to the former, A telescope and all other in- 
struments requisite for making observations in astron- 
omy, meteorology, etc., have been purchased and will 
soon be mounted in the building. Owing to the kind- 
ness of Professor Silvestri (as before slated) we were 
in possession of the observatory. Here we found beds, 
bedding, table, chairs, etc., designed for the use of the 
scientists. These, for the time being, were ours, aitd 
we were supremely comfortable. 
After an hour's rest our company mustered for the 
ascent of the great cone. It towered into the heavens 
1,200 feet above us, its sides being very steep. 
"But jEtna with his voice of fear 
In weltering chaos thunders near; 
Now pitchy clouds he belches forth 
Of cinders red and vapors swarth; 
And from his caverns lifts on high 
Live balls of flame that lick the sky; 
Now with more dire convulsion flings 
Dispolded rocks, his heart's rent string. 
And lava torrents hurls to day 
A burning gulf of fiery spray." 
We crossed several great cracks or fissures in the 
ground, made by the late earthquake, that injured Casa 
Inglese. We climbed upward diagonally across the 
western slope of the crater, which is less steep. Our 
friends of the Alps and my chum Charley made a bold 
strike for the highest point of the crater, climbing up 
straightaway on all fours. This was too ignoble a 
position for American Consuls and an American lady 
to assume, so we parted company. An immense snow 
field was in the way, rendered dangerous by tnelting. 
This we flanked. Volcanic sand, scoria, ashes and 
loose bowlders made the ascent very difficult and weari- 
some. Every step we would slide back, losing a third 
or half of the step made. 
We finally reached the north rim of the crater. O! 
what a wonderful scene burst upon our vision! The 
grand old sea and the Calabrian peaks lie outstretched 
before us. Sun-lit clouds in great billows were float- 
ing below us. These, though wonderfully beautifulj 
dyed in the rich colors of the declining sun, shut off the 
greater portion of the island from our view. On my 
visit to ^tna in May, 1S84, the atmosphere was much 
clearer. We could see the greater part of the island. 
The entire east coast was outstretched below us. The 
billows of the sea breaking upon the rocky coast, gave 
it a silver edging. Two cities and a vast number of 
villages and hamlets incrusted the seashore, dotted the 
vallejis and nestled on the hillsides. The Sicilian moun- 
tain chains rose about us in great irregular ridges, 
crest peeping over crest. Stromboli to the north 
(seemingly but a stone's throw away), protruded his 
rocky head and shoulders above the sea. This little 
giant appeared to be striving to outdo his great mon- 
arch ^Etna, He was throwing a dense column of black 
smoke thousatids of feet into the heavens. Adjacent 
was the little island volcano throwing upward white 
puffs of clouds. Mount ^tna at the same time was 
shooting upward an immense column of sulphurous 
steam, rendering it impossible to see much of the in- 
terior of the crater. An inky black cloud hung below 
us at the west. From it came zig-zag chains of light- 
ning flashes and thunder peals. We looked down upon 
the storm. It was raining below us. We were in the 
sunshine above. 
When the heavens are free of clouds, from the rim 
of the crater the whole island with its innumerable 
mountain peaks is visible. With a glass the waves of 
the sea may be seen breaking in foam upon the_ rocky 
coast of the entire island. Malta is visible in the 
south, Stromboli and the Lipari Islands to the north, 
the ^gedian Islands to the west, and the three great 
seas of the Mediterranean, the Ionian, the African and 
the Tyrrhian. Brydon says: 
"Description must ever fall short, for no imagina- 
tion has dared to form an idea of so glorious, and so 
magnificent a scene. Neither is there upon the surface 
of this globe any one point that unites so many awful 
and most subliiiie objects." We threaded our way 
along the narrow rim, crossing several white bands 
consisting of ammonia salts. Sulphurous acid gas more 
or less impregnated the atmosphere. The crater is 
oval in form, its rim, as before stated,_ is about three 
miles in circumference. Since the eruption of last May 
the crater has been generally quiescent. No smoke 
was issuing from it. At certain points of the rim and 
interior sides, small jets of sulphurous steam were 
issuing. We crawled up to the edge of the rim, lie 
down and with heads extended over it gazed down into 
(what many of the superstitious people here believe to 
be) the mouth of hell. 
Upon the highest point of the rim to the west, were 
our friends beckoning to us. They looked like pig- 
mies. We sauntered back toward the west to see the 
sun set. The ground was warm to our feet. Mr. Jones 
took a seat upon a bowlder, and I upon another. He 
declared that his was red hot. Mine was uncomfort- 
ably warm. A little jet of steam issuing from a hole 
