THE ERUPTION OF ETHA. 
455 
by any means always issue from tbe great summit crater {a) 
itself, but as commonly and^ indeed^ even more frequently, 
from tbe base and slopes of the upper quarter; so tbat around 
tbe main central cone are numbers of monticules (Fig. 2, 
black spots), tbat bave at some time or other formed tbe 
orifices for lava-floods. 
In a letter I received from Catania, dated 1st June, Mr. Jeans, 
tbe British Consul there, informs me tbat tbe eruption still 
continues. His remarks are very correct and most interesting. 
He says : — 
As you are no doubt aware, the eruption broke out on the night of the 
31st January during a thunderstorm. The weather for some weeks pre- 
viously had been unusually warm for the season, and on the night of the 
31st December we had a monitory symptom in the shape of a slight shock of 
earthquake. The exact locality of the eruption is a short distance to the- 
eastward of Monte Frumento, and v/hen I last visited the spot, about six: 
weeks back, there were four distinct craters, forming a long ridge, running iiiL 
an easterly direction, and composed of lava and scorise. The highest portion , 
of this ridge. Lord Somers, who was with me, and who has some experience - 
in observations of the kind, calculated at 1,000 feet. During the first few 
weeks of the eruption, the different streams of lava proceeding from these 
craters, and running to the south of Monte Crisimo and Monte Stornello,. 
threatened the villages of Piedimonte and Annunziata to the eastward, and! 
subsequently other streams passing to the north of Monte Crisimo, took the 
direction of Linguagrossa. To the eastward, after flowing for some weeks, 
very slowly, the lava reached the old lava-bed known as the “ Lave di 
Scorcia Vacca,” when its progress became arrested, probably owing to the 
loss of fluidity from cooling. The nature of the ground was also unfavourable 
to its further progress. The northerly streams are running, although very 
slowly, at the present moment, and the eruption is still going on. It is' , 
difficult to say how many lava-streams there are altogether, owing to the fact: , 
of their intersectino; each other, and formino- a sort of delta. On the occasion 
of my first visit to the scene of the eruption, on the 6th of February, when I 
viewed it from the summit of Monte Crisimo, there were five distinct craters ; , 
subsequently two of them coUapsed, or were blown into one ; and on tlie-r 
occasion of my second visit, when I viewed it from the edge of a pine forest; 
in the vicinity of Monte Barracca ("or as near as it was possible to get with 
any degree of safety), there were four craters, one of which, that, nearest to 
Monte Frumento, appeared to be almost exhausted, and emitted smoke only, 
whereas the other three sent forth almost incessantly showers of enormous 
blocks of scoriae, amid the most appalling roaring. At present, the lava 
proceeding from the craters appears to be piling itself up and accumulating 
round the base of the cone. During the first few days of the eruption, the 
smoke was charged with black sand, which fell at a very great distance ; for 
instance, on the decks of vessels off Syracuse — a matter of eighty or ninety 
miles from the craters. On one day this sand fell thickly in the streets of 
Catania, and presented the appearance of gunpowder. For some time past 
