Ch. VII.] 
SCENERY OF THE VAL DEL BOVE. 
89 
sions, and appear almost isolated as seen from many points, yet 
the stern and severe grandeur of the scenery which they adorn 
is not such as would be selected by a poet for a vale of enchant- 
ment. The character of the scene would accord far better 
with Milton's picture of the infernal world ; and if we imagine 
ourselves to behold in motion, in the darkness of the night, one 
of those fiery currents, which have so often traversed the great 
valley, we may well recall 
' yon dreary plain, forlorn and wild; 
The seat of desolation, void of light 
Save what the glimmering of these vivid flames 
Cast pale and dreadful.' 
The face of the precipices already mentioned is broken in 
the most picturesque manner by the vertical walls of lava which 
traverse them. These masses usually stand out in relief, are 
exceedingly diversified in form, and often of immense altitude. 
In the autumn, their black outline may often be seen relieved 
by clouds of fleecy vapour which settle behind them, and do 
not disperse until midday, continuing to fill the valley while 
the sun is shining on every other part of Sicily, and on the 
higher regions of Etna. 
As soon as the vapours begin to rise, the changes of scene 
are varied in the highest degree, different rocks being unveiled 
and hidden by turns, and the summit of Etna often breaking 
through the clouds for a moment with its dazzling snows, and 
being then as suddenly withdrawn from the view. 
An unusual silence prevails, for there are no torrents dash- 
ing from the rocks, nor any movement of running water in 
this valley, such as may almost invariably be heard in moun- 
tainous regions. Every drop of water that falls from the 
heavens, or flows from the melting ice and snow, is instantly 
absorbed by the porous lava ; and such is the dearth of springs, 
that the herdsman is compelled to supply his flocks, during the 
hot season, from stores of snow laid up in hollows of the moun- 
tain during winter. 
The strips of green herbage and forest-land, which have 
