220 
THE MEDITERRANEAN NATURALIST 
metres per hour, but its average rate was 64 metres 
per hour. 
A considerable amount of damage has been 
wrought in and around the seat of the outbreak. 
Farms, vineyards, olive groves, and chestnut 
plantations have been entirely overwhelmed 
either with lava or cinders, while many others that 
have escaped this fate, have been completely 
ruined by the scorching blasts that have swept 
across them during the last three weeks. To 
alleviate the distress of the “contadinb the Mi- 
nister of the Interior has caused several sums of 
money to be forwarded to the district committees 
at Catania and Messina for the purpose of pro- 
viding food and shelter for the unfortunate inha- 
bitants of Nicolosi and the neighbouring villages. 
Though the eruption is now abating, it is not 
expected that the mountain will be quiescent for 
some time to come. 
It was on the 16th and 17th ultimo that the 
outbreak was at its height, and its appearance was 
then most impressive. 
From Catania but little of the mountain, or of 
the seat of the eruption could be observed owing 
to the clouds of steam and smoke in which the 
Catanese slopes were enveloped by the north- 
westerly winds. But from Lentini or Augusta, 
towns that are situated about 15 to 20 miles farther 
south, the scene was sublime. 
From Lentini especially, the whole environ- 
ment was exceedingly rich and picturesque. 
The forty miles that intervened were abolished 
by distance, and the mountain appeared as 
though it arose directly from the purple waters of 
the surrounding Mediterranean. The sombre 
slopes in the immediate foreground stood forth in 
bold prominence, but as they receded upwards the 
opalescent clouds of steam in which they were 
swathed, and which rose in dense masses from 
the body of the mountain, seemed to soften the 
harshness of their more rugged features, and to 
shade them off by almost imperceptible grada- 
tions until the summits of Monte Rossi, Monte 
Albano,and the cones around them appeared almost 
to melt away in the intense, gentian blue of the 
Mediterranean sky. So numerous are the cones 
that take their origin in the venerable old moun- 
tain and that soar skyward that Etna may with 
Cybele boast its progeny as: — 
“Omnes ceeiicolas ornats supera aft<i tenentfs ' 
All of them have been formed by eruptions, 
and all of them have craters. 
From Monte Capriole, M. Gemmelaro, M. Mon- 
tanaro, M. Albano and nine other of lesser impor- 
tance, rolled a long, revolving column of smoke, 
extending as far as the eye could reach, and exhi- 
biting in the brilliant glare of the semitropical 
sun an almost endless variety of form and shade, 
the effect of which was still further heightened by 
the wraiths of silvery steam, the shimmering 
reflection from which imparted to the whole an 
exquisite charm of appearance. 
And when, later in the day. the rays :>i the sun 
fell aslant the purple slopes and snow cap] ed 
summits of the cones, and across the silvery gray 
sands which surrounded the base of the mountain 
and which formed a broad belt between it and the 
glorious plain of blue waters that spread around, 
the impressions that were then created were such 
as the spectator is never likely to forget. And as 
evening advanced the everchanging effects u: der 
the influence, of the waning light were, if possible, 
even more charming. The rich colourings ot the 
verdured districts between Catania and Nicolosi, 
and the russet brown of the cones and lava streams 
then softened in the misty distance, and the 
sheen of the sand-belt departed; and as the sun 
slowly disappeared behind the distant summit the 
snows shone golden, until on the horizon the 
farthest crests, and the gauze like streaks of steaui 
and cloud took a rich amber tint, shading off into 
a pink flush which suffused sea and sky ai.ke ami 
formed the closing chord to a colour symphony of 
the most exquisite harmony. 
But it was when night closed in that the nature 
and extent of the outbreak was seen to the 
best advantage. The burning craters and the 
seething lava streams, then made their presence 
known by the lurid reflections which they cast 
against the night sky, and against the steam 
clouds in which they were enveloped. The various 
recrudescenses in the immediate vicinity of the 
main vents then appeared as so many Hack, fanta- 
stically shaped monsters standing invulurable 
amid the hissing, seething masses of flames, while 
the courses of the lava streams themselves 
could he traced by the sinuous lines of living 
fire that radiated in all directions from the scat 
