720 
SIE  CHAELES  LTELL  TKE  STErCTIJEE  OF  LAVAS 
effected.  One  branch  of  the  lava,  flowing  from  the  Val  del  Bove,  had  entered  and  filled 
up  the  bed  of  a torrent  which  passed  by  Milo,  and  the  displaced  waters  have  ever  since 
been  seeking  a new  channel.  Just  before  our  arrival  (October  1857)  they  had  under- 
mined several  houses  in  the  village,  and  had  excavated  in  a street  through  which  we 
rode,  a gulley  26  feet  deep,  displaying  a section  of  alluvium  of  that  depth,  made  up  of 
rolled  pebbles  of  various  volcanic  rocks.  This  evidence  of  toiTential  action  at  the  height 
of  2136  French  feet  above  the  sea  (the  height  of  Milo  as  measured  by  S.  v.  '\Yalters- 
hausen),  is  not  without  its  bearing  on  questions  hereafter  to  be  discussed. 
Zafarana,  to  which  we  next  proceeded,  is  1748  feet  high.  lYe  found  the  country 
between  it  and  Milo  adorned  with  woods  and  vineyards,  and  furrowed  by  parallel  ravines, 
reminding  me  of  the  barrancos  of  Madeira  or  the  Canary  Islands ; but  those  of  Etna  are 
only  incipient  barrancos,  the  erosion  of  deep  chasms  by  running  water  being  checked,  as 
we  have  seen,  by  the  occasional  filling  up  of  water-courses  by  lavas  and  by  the  absorption 
of  rain,  by  their  porous  crusts,  and  by  loose  volcanic  sand  showered  do’nm  far  and  wide 
over  the  mountain. 
At  Zafarana  we  spent  five  days  (October  26  to  30, 1867),  making  daily  excursions  into 
the  Y al  del  Bove  and  returning  at  night.  Between  the  early  dawn  and  2 o’clock  in  the 
afternoon  the  sky  was  usually  clear,  and  the  sunshine  bright,  although  there  were  occa- 
sionally clouds  and  even  rain  in  the  region  of  woods  and  \ineyards  below.  As  the  mists 
ascended  and  enveloped  us  two  or  three  hours  before  sunset,  it  was  necessary  to  seciu'e 
time  for  observation  by  mounting  our  mules  before  daybreak.  I had  visited  Zafarana 
and  the  Val  del  Bove  in  1828,  and  retained  in  my  mind  a VAd  recollection  of  the  leading 
geographical  features  of  its  grand  scenery.  I was  therefore  surprised  and  somewhat 
disappointed  at  the  prodigious  revolution  which  had  taken  place  in  the  mteiwal  of 
twenty- nine  years,  a revolution  caused  entirely  by  the  eruption  of  1852-53.  one 
of  unusual  magnitude,  the  violence  of  which  does  not  seem  to  have  been  generally 
appreciated  in  Europe,  because  the  destruction  of  human  habitations  was  small.  The 
lavas  poured  forth  at  that  period  are  regarded  by  Dr.  Giuseppe  Gemmell.veo  as  having 
been  perhaps  the  most  voluminous  of  any  that  have  ever  been  Awtiiessed,  or  at  any  rate 
recorded,  by  man,  with  two  exceptions,  namely, — 1st,  that  which  overwhelmed  so  many 
villages  and  part  of  the  city  of  Catania  in  1669,  flowing  from  Nicolosi  to  the  sea;  and. 
2ndly,  the  lava-current  of  Mojo,  supposed  by  some  to  have  occurred  in  the  year’  396 
before  our  era,  but  the  date  of  which  is,  according  to  S.  v.  Walteesiiausex,  very  uncer- 
tain, though  its  high  antiquity  is  proved  by  the  amount  of  subsequent  fluGatile  denu- 
dation which  has  made  wide  gaps  in  its  massive  current. 
Narrative  of  the  Erwptiori  of  1852-53. — As  I shall  have  occasion  to  allude  repeatedly 
to  the  consolidation  at  high  angles  of  this  lava  of  1852,  I shall  begm  by  giGng  some 
account  of  the  eruption  obtained  from  contemporaneous  narratives  of  the  event, 
or  from  conversations  with  eye-witnesses  [and  among  others,  the  priest  of  the  parish 
of  Zafarana,  Signor  G.  Sciuto,  who  in  1858  kindly  placed  his  diary  at  my  dis- 
posal]. 
