HISTORY OF MAURITIUS. 
death of Pliny the Naturalist, and the destruction of the cities of Herculaneum and 
Pompeii. Some authors however pretend, that this mountain had experienced 
seven eruptions previous to the reign of Augustus Caesar. 
According to a discourse of Silius Italicus, who lived before the time of Titus, 
it was very evident to ocular examination, that it had discharged volcanic matter 
previous to that period, though there was no tradition of such an event. 
From the first known eruption to that which took place in the year 1754, there 
have been twenty-four; there have also been several since the latter period. That 
of April in 1694, was one of the most considerable. The mountain then vomited 
forth flames during the greater part of the month, and the lava ran from the upper 
part of the volcano like a river, to the distance of three miles, destroying every 
thing which obstructed its passage. 
In 1707, while the Neapolitans were occupied in making rejoicings for the suc¬ 
cess of the Imperial forces, they were interrupted by a terrible eruption of Mount 
Vesuvius. The sky was entirely obscured in the middle of the day, by the quantity 
of cinders which issued from the volcano. 
In the intervals of these eruptions the inhabitants are often alarmed by earthquakes, 
which, however, do not prevent them from cultivating and inhabiting the sides of 
this dangerous mountain.* 
Mount j£tna is situated fifty miles south-west of Messina, and ten miles west of 
Catania, whose vicinity is filled with other towns, villages, vineyards, and plantations, 
which, as in the environs of Vesuvius, spring out of an abundant soil, that has been 
fertilized by the volcano. The mountain itself is enriched with trees almost to its 
summit, which is surrounded with a circle of snow. 
The grand crater of Mount ALtna is six miles in circumference. The base of 
the mountain occupies a circuit of twenty leagues, and its elevation rises to two 
thousand fathom. 
On the eruption of this volcano,in 1693, the town of Catania was destroyed in a 
moment, and eighteen thousand persons perished in its ruins. 
A learned and distinct description of Mount ALtna,is to be found in a work entitled 
La Fyrologie de Bottoni de Leontini: that intrepid naturalist had the courage to 
ascend the summit of the mountain three different times, in 1540, 1545, and 1553. 
* See Sir William Hamilton on the eruptions of Mount Vesuvius. 
