WHICH  HAVE  CONSOLIDATED  ON  STEEP  SLOPES. 
about  600  feet  above  the  sea,  the  top  of  the  cliff  rising  still  higher,  especially  wlien  traced 
in  a north-easterly  direction  towards  Licatia  and  beyond  it. 
[Other  terraces  have  been  cut  in  the  gravel  of  the  tract  marked  a in  the  Map,  Plate 
XLIX.,  at  various  levels.  When  we  pass  from  a to  or  to  the  northern  portion  of  the 
same  allimal  region  heyond  Giarre  and  Kiposto,  we  find  the  transported  blocks  individu- 
ally smaller  than  on  the  coast  nearer  the  Val  del  Bove,  and  the  aggregate  volume  of  the 
accumulation  less  considerable.  On  arriving  at  the  river  Menessale,  still  further  north, 
w'e  enter  another  hydrographical  hasin,  where  the  pebbles  consist  in  part  only  of  Etnean 
lavas,  the  rest  being  of  sandstone  and  other  tertiary  or  secondary  rocks,  forming  a mass 
about  30  feet  thick,  on  the  steep  banks  of  the  Menessale,  where,  as  at  Giarre,  an  eleva- 
tion of  the  ancient  allmial  plain  has  probably  taken  place.] 
[Alluvium  of  the  northern,  south-western  and  southern  base  of  Etna. 
Leading  the  Menessale,  I made  a tour,  in  1858,  round  the  base  of  Etna  to  examine 
the  alluvium  on  all  sides,  going  first  along  the  northern  foot  of  the  mountain  by  Lingua- 
grossa,  Mojo,  and  Kandazzo,  where  I found  no  alluvial  terraces  resembling  those  of 
Giarre.  At  Eandazzo,  however,  I observed  some  indications  of  a change  of  level,  on 
the  right  bank  of  the  river  Alcantara,  where  a lava-current  of  unknown  date  and  of  rudely 
columnar  structure,  has  at  some  former  period  invaded  the  old  channel  of  the  river. 
That  channel  was  first  excavated  in  sandstone,  and  since  the  lava  filled  it,  the  Alcantara 
has  cut  out  a new  bed,  15  feet  below  the  old  one,  giving  us  now  on  the  right  bank  the 
following  section : first  and  lowest  of  all,  sandstone  in  regular  and  highly  inclined  strata*, 
forming  the  lower  part  of  the  bank  for  a height  of  15  feet ; 2ndly,  above  the  sandstone 
the  old  river  gravel,  with  well-rounded  pebbles ; 3rdly,  the  columnar  lava,  ending  up- 
wards in  a terrace,  having  a nearly  level  surface.  The  whole  scene  reminded  me  forcibly 
of  Auvergne,  where  torrents  have  been  displaced  by  lava-currents,  which  have  protected 
the  ancient  flu\iatile  gravel  from  destruction,  even  where  the  valleys  have  been  re-exca- 
vated beyond  their  original  depth.  The  isolated  cone  of  Mojo,  wdiich  rises  at  the 
northern  foot  of  Etna,  and  is  supposed  to  have  been  formed  about  four  centuries  before 
the  Christian  era,  but  which,  according  to  S.  vox  Walteeshausen,  is  of  uncertain  date, 
stands  in  the  river-plain  of  the  Alcantara,  just  as  the  cone  of  Tartaret  and  some  others 
in  Auvergne  occupy  the  allmial  plains  of  the  existing  rivers,  and,  like  them,  has  sent 
forth  its  stream  of  lava,  since  much  denuded  by  the  running  ’waters. 
Passing  from  Eandazzo  to  Maletto  and  Bronte  (see  Map,  Plate  XLIX.),  we  observe 
nothing  on  the  surface  of  the  western  flank  of  Etna  but  recent  lavas ; but  turning  to  the 
south-west,  and  travelling  by  Ademo,  BiancaGlla,  and  Licodia,  we  enter  the  ancient 
basin  of  the  Simeto,  once  evidently  more  extensive  than  now,  its  northern  margin  having 
been  elevated  many  hundred  feet  above  its  original  level.  That  margin,  at  a time  when 
* In  these  older  sandstones,  and  some  associated  conglomerates  and  marls,  whether  at  Eandazzo  or  on 
the  side  of  Bronte  and  Licodia,  I could  find  no  fossils.  Hoffmanx  has  given  to  them  the  general  name  of 
A Pennine  formations,  comprising  in  that  term  the  whole  cretaceous  and  eocene  series. 
