1822.] Anglo-, S«.i 
of a more aneieiit edifice, and which 
was primitively constructed for the phi¬ 
losopher Empedocles of Agrigentuin, 
who wishing to retire from the world 
and .give himself up to reflection, esta¬ 
blished himself there. He might have 
chosen, it appears, a place less exposed 
to the wind, for it was on the fop of one 
ot these papillae, so young in compari¬ 
son with the mountain,but which have 
notwithstanding, seen so many genera¬ 
tions pass away. It is said,- that wish¬ 
ing to have it believed that he had been 
carried away by the gods, he precipi¬ 
tated himself into the crater, and that 
the latter, an unfaithful depository of 
the remains of this madman, vomited 
his brass sandals, which were found on 
the borders of the crater. Strabo does 
not believe in this story; he also re¬ 
lates something very extraordinary, 
which would seem to prove that the 
ancients knew less of Etna than we do. 
He says that two travellers wishing to 
approach the crater, were driven back 
by the smoke, and were unable to 
see it. - 
In a little time we arrived in the 
temperate region ; we found some ver¬ 
dure, and saw the goats which are 
brought to drink ot the water flowing 
from a heap of snow, which is preserv¬ 
ed by being covered with ashes. It is 
from thence that the people draw the 
water which they carry away and sell 
at Catania. The road became difficult, I 
toiled, and the fatigue became over¬ 
whelming for my beast and for myself. 
Having arrived at the forest, I set foot 
on the ground and walked, profiting by 
the shade of the foliage, for by this 
time the sun became troublesome. Near 
the middle of the forest is the cavern 
of goats ; it is a vacant space under an 
ancient torrent of lava; it is twenty 
feet wide but very few in depth. I 
don’t know why travellers have spoken 
so much about it; the names of a num¬ 
ber of the curious inscribed on the sur¬ 
rounding trees, is the only remarkable 
thing which I saw there; I added my 
own : the proverb only bears^ I believe, 
against those who write on the walls. 
This forest which belongs to Prince 
* * * *, contains oaks from twenty to 
thirty feet round, but their exportation 
is very difficult; I should have even 
thought it impossible if I had not met 
with a square piece which was tran¬ 
sported on rollers, gliding on two raf¬ 
ters, successively placed on the lava. 
We afterwards entered into the vast 
on .— Platina. £1\ 
torrent of lava which flowed from Monte 
Posse ; the heat became insupportable. 
Having reached the convent, I dined 
there with a good appetite, but having 
been charged somewhat exorbitantly, I 
took my leave rather discontented. I 
entered into the torrid zone, and again 
put on my summer clothing. This Etna 
is truly an image of the earth ; it may 
be compared to one of the two hemi¬ 
spheres, of the north or of the south ; 
its icy summit resembles the pole, and 
is not susceptible of culture ; its tem¬ 
perate zone, on the contrary, presents 
the finest vegetation. The superb forest 
which surrounds it like a covering of 
verdure, and its base, where the tor¬ 
rents ot lava finding less declivity ex¬ 
tend the more, resemble the coun¬ 
tries situated between the two tropics; 
some plants are even found there, such 
as the date tree, which are peculiar to 
them. ! f I were to remain longer in 
Sicily, I should conduct you into the 
immense valley of Bova, and should 
exhibit to you the famous chesuut-tree 
ot a hundred horses, which no longer 
satisfies the curious, because it is sepa¬ 
rated into five different trunks, which 
it is said are joined at their roots. 
I am about to set out for Syracuse, 
a description of which I shall give you 
in my next letter. Adieu ! 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine . 
SIR, 
HE Anglo-Saxon is, I believe, ge¬ 
nerally acknowledged as the pa¬ 
rent stock from which the majority of 
English words are derived. Conse¬ 
quently a knowledge of that language 
is altogether necessary to every person 
who is desirous of a thorough know¬ 
ledge of the English, and cannot fail to 
interest the etymologist. If any of 
your correspondents would therefore 
give directions for the study of it, and 
point out what books are necessary, he 
would, I imagine, confer a benefit on 
other philological students, besides J* 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine » 
SIR, 
I SHOULD feel obliged if you, orauy 
of your numerous readers, could in¬ 
form me through the medium of your 
useful Magazine, where the ore of pla- 
tina comes from in the greatest com¬ 
mercial abundance, and who imports it 
into this country, and could furnish a 
constant supply of it. A. B. 
To 
