[ '* ] ' 
fulphur, and the violence of the wind, which obliged 
us feveral times to throw ourlelves flat upon our faces 
to avoid being over-turned by it, made this latter 
part of our expedition rather inconvenient and dif- 
agreeable. Our guide, by way of comfort, aflured us 
that there was generally much more wind in the 
upper region at this time. 
Soon after we had feated curfelves on the higheft 
point of Etna, the fun arofe and difplayed a fcene that 
indeed pafles all defcription. The horizon lighting up 
by degrees, we difcovered the greateft part of Calabria, 
and the fea on the other fide of it j the Phare of Mef- 
fina, the Lipari Iflands, Stromboli with its fmoaking 
top, though at above feventy miles diftance, feemed 
to be juft under our feet j we faw the whole ifland 
of Sicily, its rivers, towns, harbours, &c. as if we had 
been looking on a map. The ifland of Malta is low 
ground, and there was a hazinefs in that part of the 
horizon, fo that we could not difcern it ; our guide 
aflured us he had feen it diftin&ly at other times, 
which I can believe, as in other parts of the horizon, 
that were not hazy, we faw to a much greater dif- 
tance ; befides, we had a clear view of Etna’s top 
from our fhip as we were going into the mouth of 
the harbour of Malta fome weeks before ; in fhort, 
as I have fince meafured on a good chart, we took in 
at one view a circle of above nine hundred Englifh 
miles. The pyramidal fhadow of the mountain 
reached acrofs the whole ifland and far into the fea 
on the other tide. I counted from hence fortv-four 
little mountains (little I call them in comparifon of 
their mother Etna, though they would appear great 
any where elfe) in the middle region on the Ca- 
tania 
