yUTK A. 
C3T 
“ The circumference of tlie visible horizon on the top of ^'Etna 
cannot be less than 2000 miles. At Malta, which is near 200 miles 
distant, they perceive all the eruptions from the second region, and 
that island is often discovered from about one half the elevation of 
the mountain ; so that at the whole elevation the horizon must extend to 
near double that distance, or 400 miles, which makes 800 miles for 
the diameter of the circle, and 2400 for the circumference. But this 
is by much too vast for our senses, not intended to grasp so boundless a 
scene. But the most beautiful part of the scene is certainly the moun- 
tain itself, the island of Sicily, and the numerous islands lying round 
it. AH. these, by a kind of magic in vision that I am at a loss to 
account for, seem as if they were brought close round the skirts of 
jEtna; the distances appearing reduced to nothing. Perhaps this 
singular effect is produced by the rays of light passing from a rarer 
medium into a denser, which, from a well-known law in optics, to an 
observer in the rare medium appears to lift up objects that are at 
the bottom of the dense one, as a piece of money placed in a bason 
appears lifted up as soon as the bason is filled with water. 
“ The Regione Deserta, or the frigid zone of jEtna, is the first 
object that calls your attention. It is marked out by a circle of snow 
and ice, which extends on all sides to the distance of about eight 
miles. In the centre of this circle, the great crater of the mountain 
rears its burning head, and the regions of intense cold and intense 
heat seem for ever to be united in the same point- The Regione' 
Deserta is immediately succeeded by the Sylvosa, or the woody 
region, which forms a circle or girdle of the most beautiful green, 
which surrounds the mountain on all sides, and is certainly one of 
the most delightful spots on earth. This presents a remarkable 
contrast with the desert region. It is not smooth and even like the 
greatest part of the latter, but is finely variegated by an infinite num- 
ber of those beautiful little mountains that have been formed by the 
different eruptions of Altna. All these have now acquired a wonder- 
ful degree of fertility, except newly formed. We looked down into 
the craters of these, and attempted, but in vain, to number them. 
“ The zone is every where succeeded by the vineyards, orchards^ 
and corn-fields, that compose the Regione Culta, or the fertile region. 
This zone makes a delightful contrast with the other regions. If is 
bounded by the sea to the south and south-east, and on all its other 
sides by the rivers Semetusand Alcantara, which run almost roupd it. 
The whole course of these rivers is seen at once, and all their beautiful 
windings through these fertile valleys, looked upon as the favourite 
possession of Ceres herself, and the very scene of the rape of her 
daughter Proserpine. 
“ Cast your eyes a little further, and you embrace the whole island, 
all its cities, rivers, and mountains, delineated in the great chart of 
nature; all the adjacent islands, the whole coast of Italy, as far as 
your eye can reach ; for it is no where bounded, but every where 
lost in space. On the sun’s first rising, the shadow of the moun-^ 
tain extends across the whole island, and makes a large track visible 
even in the sea and in the air. By degrees this is shortened, and in 
a little time is confined only to the neighbourhood of ^tna.” 
