WHICH  HAVE  CONSOLIDATED  ON  STEEP  SLOPES. 
727 
between  which  and  the  hill  of  Zoccolaro  occurs  the  great  precipice,  more  than  400  feet 
high,  before  mentioned,  called  the  Salto  della  Giumenta,  over  which  the  recent  lava 
twice  cascaded,  in  1852-53,  as  already  stated,  p.  723. 
In  1828,  I had  seen  the  beautiful  valley  of  Calanna  covered  with  verdant  pastures, 
and  bounded  by  heights  adorned  with  forest  trees,  so  that  it  formed  a blooming  portal 
leading  up  to  the  wilder  scenery  of  the  more  elevated  Val  del  Bove.  Now,  the  once 
fertile  plain  was  black  and  desolate,  buried  under  a flood  of  slaggy  lava ; and  when  we 
ascended  from  Calanna  to  the  upper  platform,  I missed  still  more  the  picturesque  con- 
trast of  woodland  fuU  of  old  forest  trees  by  the  side  of  dark  strips  of  sterile  scoriae.  The 
whole  region  had  now  become  one  great  monotonous  desert,  without  any  rehef  to  the 
eye  except  on  a clear  day,  when  the  lofty  precipices  forming  the  head  of  the  magniflcent 
amphitheatre,  and  crowned  with  the  highest  cone  of  Etna,  with  its  banner  of  fleecy 
clouds,  were  full  in  sight.  The  points  of  highest  geological  interest,  formerly  accessible 
by  mules,  are  now  only  to  be  reached  on  foot  by  a tedious  and  circuitous  route.  There 
are  no  longer  any  cattle  in  the  valley,  nothing  to  justify  its  original  name,  scarcely  a 
living  creature  to  be  seen  for  days,  though  a few  goats  are  still  driven  up  to  browse  on 
some  shrubby  knolls  which  have  escaped  the  general  devastation ; and  now  and  then 
the  footprints  of  a wolf  on  the  sands  made  us  wonder  that  their  prey  had  not  yet  wholly 
failed  them. 
Aided  by  an  experienced  guide.  Signor  G.  G.  Gemmellaeo  and  I crossed  a part  of 
this  new  lava-field  in  as  straight  a line  as  we  could  follow,  from  a point  northwards  of 
the  hill  of  Calanna  to  the  rock  called  Finocchio  Inferiore  in  the  great  map  of  S.  voif 
Waltekshausex.  There  was  as  yet  no  footpath,  not  even  a goat  having  passed  that  way. 
We  found  the  black  scoriaceous  crust  bent  into  exceedingly  sharp,  longitudinal  ridges, 
separated  by  narrow  interspaces,  from  20  to  40  feet  deep,  the  sides  of  each  ridge  sloping 
at  angles  of  from  20°  to  40°,  but  seeming  at  some  points  to  be  absolutely  vertical.  On 
the  crests  of  each  ridge  were  fragments  of  scoriform  lava,  sometimes  tabular,  and  sticking 
up  edgeways,  like  sheets  of  broken  ice  on  a Canadian  river,  where  an  obstruction  or 
“ jam  ” has  stopped  the  floating  masses.  More  frequently  the  projecting  portions  of  the 
superficial  crust  assumed  the  forms  of  gigantic  madrepores,  or  of  various  animals,  such 
as  dogs  and  deer,  or  still  oftener  the  heads  of  elks,  with  branching  horns.  The  surface 
often  resembled,  in  all  but  colour,  the  descriptions  given  of  coral  reefs ; and  at  one 
moment,  when  my  foot  slipped,  I had  an  opportunity  of  knowing  that  the  stony  asperi- 
ties could  tear  the  flesh  of  my  hands  as  readily  as  real  corals.  The  stones  on  the  top 
and  sides  of  most  of  the  ridges  were  so  loose,  that  no  sooner  was  one  of  them  set 
a-roUing,  than  it  started  a number  of  others,  until  a continuous  avalanche  poured  down 
into  the  trough  below ; but  as  we  had  to  zigzag  our  way  up  each  steep  ascent,  there  was 
little  danger  of  one  of  us  being  just  under  his  companion  when  the  torrent  came  down. 
Now  and  then  our  direct  march  was  arrested  by  a ridge,  rendered  impassable  by  its 
steepness  or  the  incoherence  of  the  stony  fragments  forming  its  crust,  which  obliged  us 
to  make  a long  circuit,  often  with  our  backs  turned  towards  our  goal,  the  hill  of  Finoc- 
MDCCCLVIII.  5 c 
