MALTA AND SICILY. 
•237 
out on our expedition to the mountain was 
fine and clear, but very cold. We were ac¬ 
companied by four travellers, an English¬ 
man, an Irishman, a Scotchman, and an 
Italian, who were staying at the hotel, and 
we had our landlord Abbate for a guide. 
We were all mounted on shabby horses and 
mules. We first followed the high road to 
Messina for a mile or two, and then turned 
off through very rough narrow lanes to the 
miserable little town or village of Nicolosi, 
which is about ten miles from Catania. 
Close to the road was the crater of an extinct 
volcano. We threw some large stones into 
it, and could hear them rattling down for many 
seconds afterwards. Though the country 
around Catania appears green and pleasant 
from a distance, upon a closer view it has 
but few attractions, for it is composed en¬ 
tirely of lava, either in a decomposed or 
