M0UKTAIN3. 9 
the crater ; but the inclination of the steepest part of ihe 
wne no where exceeds an angVe of forty-five degrees. 
This prodigious volcano may be likened to a forge, 
■W'bich, in proportion to the violence of the fire, to the 
nature of tlie fossil matters on which it acts, and or 
the gases which urge and set it in motion, produces, 
destroys, and reproduces, a variety of forms. 
The top of Etna being above the common region of 
vapours, the heavens, at this elevation, appear with an 
Unusual splendour. Brydone and his company observed, as 
tl'ey ascended in the night, that the number of the stars 
seemed to be infinitely increased, and the light of each 
Was brighter than usual. The whiteness of tlie milky 
way was like a pure flame which .spread across the heavens ; 
and, with the naked eye, they could observe clusters 
stars which were invisible from below. They like- 
wise noticed several of those meteors called falling stars, 
which appeared as much elevated here as when viewed from 
the plain beneath. 
Ihis single mountain contains an epitome of the different 
Climates throughout the world, pre.scnting at once all die 
seasons ot tlie year, and all the varieties of produce. It is 
accordingly divided into three distinct zones or region', 
which may be distinguished as the torrid, temperate, and 
*’^‘gid, but which are known by the names of the cultivated 
region, the woody or temperate region, and the frigid or 
esen region. The former of tliese extends through twelve 
dibbr °K towards the summit, and is almost iiicre- 
It i ■ .*tt pastm-es and fruit-trees of every discription. 
s covered with towns, villages, and monasteries ; and the 
tnhabitants ilistributed over its .surface is estimated 
20,000. In ascendinv to the woody or temperate region, 
the scene changes; ' ° * 
, it is a new climate, a new creation. 
fr*^ is suffocating ; hut here, the air is mild and 
1 - is covered wi til aromatic plants ; and tlie 
gu s, winch formerly ejected torrents of fire, are changed 
n o Woody vallies. Than this nothing can be more pic- 
^esque, the inequality of the soil displaying every mo- 
lent some variety of scene ; here, the ash and flowering 
lorns torm domes of verdure j and there, the chesnut-trees 
to a inost enormous size. The one called caslagno de 
« cavalLi, according to Brydone and Glover, has a circum- 
B 3 
