[ 8 ] 
and deeper than we chofe to venture, the cold there 
being excedive, and a violent wind frequently ex- 
tinguifhing fome of our torches. Thefe caverns 
undoubtedly contained the lava that iflued forth and 
extended, as I faid before, quite to Catania. There are 
many of thefe fubterraneous cavities known, on other 
parts of Etna ; fuch as that, called by the peafants, 
La Baracca Vecchia, another La Spelonca della Pa- 
lomba (from the wild pidgeons building their neds 
therein), and the cavern Thalia, mentioned by Boc- 
caccio. Some of them are made ufe of as magazines 
for fnow ; the whole bland of Sicily and Malta be- 
ing fupplied with this efiential article (in a hot 
climate) froih mount Etna ; many more would be 
found, I dare fay, if fearched for, particularly near 
and under the craters from whence great lavas have 
iflued, as the immenfe quantities of fuch matter we 
fee above ground mull neceffarily fuppofe very great 
hollows underneath. 
After having pafl'ed the morning of the 25 th in 
thele obfervations, we proceeded through the fecond, 
or middle region of Etna, called La Selvofa, the 
woody, than which nothing can be more beauti- 
ful. On every fide are mountains, or fragments of 
mountains, that have been thrown up by various 
ancient explofions ; there are fome near as high as 
mount Vefuvius, one in particular, (as the canon our 
guide allured me, having meafured it) is little lefs 
than one mile in perpendicular heightb, and five in 
circumference at its bafis. They are all more or lefs 
covered, even within their craters, as well as the rich 
valleys between them, with the larged oak, chefnut* 
and firr trees, I every faw any where ; and indeed 
it 
