WHICH  HAVE  CONSOLIDATED  ON  STEEP  SLOPES. 
723 
Another  flood  of  lava,  after  passing  near  the  hill  called  Finocchio  Inferiore,  ap- 
proached the  suburbs  of  Milo,  while  another  ramification  reached  the  huts  designated 
Casale  on  the  Map  (Plate  L.). 
During  the  last  days  of  August  and  the  beginning  of  September,  the  960  inhabitants 
of  Zafarana  had  been  kept  in  a state  of  continual  terror.  On  the  2nd  of  September 
crowds  of  people  came  up  fi-om  Catania,  expecting  to  see  the  fiery  deluge  overwhelm 
that  place.  On  the  same  day  Dr.  Giuseppe  Gemmellaeo  went  up  from  Zafarana 
into  the  higher  region  of  the  Val  del  Bove,  and  obtained  a near  view  of  the  eruption 
from  the  summit  of  Monte  Finocchio  Superiore.  This  hill  rocked  so  violently  to  and  fro 
with  the  motion  caused  by  the  neighbouring  eruption,  that  his  two  companions  (a  guide 
and  muleteer)  experienced  a sensation  like  that  of  sea-sickness.  As  they  looked  down 
from  the  hill,  the  whole  Val  del  Bove  seemed  like  a sea  of  fire,  so  wide  was  the  expanse 
of  molten  matter.  For  miles  they  beheld  ridges  and  deep  hollows  streaked  with  fire, 
and  emitting  a wid  light  from  numerous  rents.  Everywhere  fragments  of  loose  scori- 
form  rocks  were  rolling  down  the  steep  slopes  of  the  ridges,  proving  that  large  portions 
of  the  mass  were  still  in  motion.  The  lower  cone.  No.  3,  Plate  L.,  and  c,  figs.  7 and  8, 
was  then  between  300  and  400  feet  high ; explosions  hke  those  of  artillery  were  un- 
ceasing, and  scoriae  were  cast  up  to  great  heights  from  the  crater. 
After  a short  lull,  the  intensity  of  the  eruption  was  again  renewed  on  the  4th  of  Sep- 
tember and  continued  to  the  7th,  the  column  of  vapour  and  sand  rising  to  a vast  height, 
and  fresh  lava  issuing  from  the  base  of  the  new  cone.  No.  3,  so  as  to  overflow  the  current 
which  had  before  taken  the  direction  of  the  Portella  di  Calamia.  The  highest  crater  of 
Etna  sympathized  with  this  new  outbreak,  sending  forth  dense  clouds  of  steam.  Heavy 
rain  fell  on  the  26th  of  September,  and  the  guides  of  some  travellers,  who  visited  the 
summit  of  the  mountain  on  that  day,  reported  that  the  crater  was  freshly  encrusted  with 
a white  muddy  substance.  [This  encrustation  still  continues,  October  1858,  and  has  the 
appearance  of  a covering  of  snow  at  a distance.] 
In  October  fresh  lava  flowed  towards  the  valley  of  Calanna,  and  reaching  the  head  of 
it,  cascaded  over  the  precipice  more  than  400  feet  high,  called  the  Salto  della  Giumenta. 
In  its  descent,  says  Dr.  G.  Gemmellaeo,  it  sounded  as  if  metallic  and  glassy  substances 
were  being  broken.  It  then  flowed  along  the  valley  below  the  Salto.  Dr.  G.  Gemmel- 
laeo remarks,  that  though  on  this  occasion  he  did  not  witness  the  phenomenon,  yet  at 
a former  period,  in  1819,  he  saw  the  lava  cascade  down  the  same  height,  and  observed 
that  after  it  had  reached  the  base,  and  was  creeping  over  the  nearly  level  ground  in  the 
valley  below,  it  did  not  seem  to  have  lost  any  of  its  heat  or  fluidity  by  the  descent. 
From  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  November  and  throughout  December,  the  eruption 
went  on,  fresh  lava  running  in  various  directions,  and  among  others,  along  the  base  of 
the  Serra  del  Solfizio  and  the  hill  called  Zoccolaro,  as  also  in  a north-eastern  direction 
towards  Finocchio  Inferiore,  passing  by  Monte  Caliato  towards  Milo.  On  the  21st  of 
November,  for  the  second  time,  lava  precipitated  itself  over  the  lofty  cliff  before  men- 
tioned, called  the  Salto  della  Giumenta,  and  spreading  over  the  fertile  plain  at  its  base, 
