48 
A GIUA THROUGH SICILY. 
the required data. The extent of the rim of the upper crater 
must be about three miles and a half; the depth, as far 
down as the neck or narrowest part, perhaps three or four 
hundred yards. The nearest estimate we could make of the 
depth was by rolling down large pieces of lava, and listening 
to the reverberation made as they struck for the last time. 
We went down a short distance within the rim of the great 
crater to collect some volcanic specimens, but were soon driven 
back by the smoke. The sides are so precipitous that, to 
make any extended descent with safety, it would be necessary 
to be provided with ropes; and then it could only be don& in 
very calm weather, when there is but little smoke. I am 
not sure whether this feat has ever been accomplished ; but, 
so far as I could judge, there is no reason why it should not. 
The crater of Mount Vesuvius has been explored by several 
daring adventurers, and there does not seem to be any greater 
difficulty in effecting the descent into that of Mount Etna. 
For that matter, indeed, it requires neither ropes nor ladders 
to get down ; start at the top and you are sure to get to the 
bottom; but it might be found agreeable, after reaching the 
bottom, to have some means of getting up again. 
Standing on the ridge between the two craters, where there 
is barely a foothold, I could not help thinking how short a 
time it would take to reach an entirely new and unexplored 
region. A little step, just a foot, would give a sufficient start; 
and then what a sliding, and rolling, and skipping there would 
be ! what a whizzing through smoke and brimstone ! what 
visions of devils and fiery furnaces within the bowels of the 
earth ! The whole scene was worthy of Dante. It was ter¬ 
ribly infernal; indeed I may say it was infernally so. Even 
old Pedro, as he stood wrapt in his shaggy capote, looming 
through the smoke, and peering over into the seething abyss, 
looked diabolical; black and grim of visage he stood, as good 
a looking devil as ever walked upon brimstone. Now, I do 
not mean to speak lightly of a serious subject; but I do think 
no person can visit the crater of Mount Etna without enter¬ 
taining a much more vivid idea of the lower regions than he 
ever had before. For my own part, I dreamt of nothing but 
