for months, and overwhelmed the country between the mount and Catania with destruction, which extended to thousands of houses in the city, many of which were literally swallowed up in the fiery gulf, and the wrecks of others are still to be seen. It may be added, that many of the habitations in the neighbourhood, which are built of lava, are deserted of their inhabitants from being altogether undermined, and several elegant buildings in the city are supported by props or large logs of wood, their stability having been affected, and are cracked and rent in different parts from the shaking or concussion to which the mountain is subjected at different periods. At one end of the town, indeed, the desolation and ravages I witnessed, were most heart-rending and appalling from the torrent of lava, which poured down like a mighty stream in its liquid state, and I have always been led to believe that a similar fate awaits at some future period the whole of Catania.

There is a university and Benedictine convent, which may be considered as unrivalled in the whole island, nay, perhaps, in Europe. The monks are descended from nobility, whose apartments are elegant, and it contains a gallery three hundred feet in length. The church is very magnificent, with an organ, which is supposed to be even superior to that of Haerlem, and so powerful and ingeniously constructed as to imitate almost all kinds of instruments One of the monks performed a piece of music with great taste.

There was one exhibition in this city which proved exceedingly disgusting to me. On the day following my arrival, which was on Sunday, a procession or pageant took place, on occasion of some festival in honour of the Virgin Mary, when the people were absolutely frantic. On the shades of night setting in, the houses were illuminated; squibs, rockets, and all sorts of fire-works were thrown off, from which the whole place appeared as enveloped in a blaze. The streets, but particularly the great square, were crowded with the inhabitants, who had turned out, and were joined by many people from the country. About nine o'clock the procession was set in motion, when the grand

object of attraction was a representation or full-length effigy of the Virgin Mary, with the infant Jesus in her arms, decked and splendidly illuminated with variegated lamps and representations of flowers. This was placed on a kind of car, or broad platform of wood, and carried on the shoulders of several men, at a slow pace, preceded by a number of priests, with their heads uncovered, books in their hands, and a vocal choir, followed by the multitude. During the time this inanimate object, or blasphemous piece of mockery, passed, the people fell prostrate on the ground, taking off their hats, making the sign of the cross on their breast, and then clasped their hands. On this occasion some were weeping, others praying, and many shouting. This mummery continued almost the whole night, the procession passing every street and lane. It was altogether unaccountable to perceive the superstition and conviction of this people, who think they are pleasing God by offering up such a religious mockery to an idol of their own workmanship, which neither saw or heard.

CHAP. XLI.

VISIT TO MOUNT ETNA. REGIONS.

SERVATIONS.

DEVASTATIONS. OB

ARRIVAL AT FOOT OF THE CONE. -ASCENT

OF IT BY MIDNIGHT. EFFECTS PRODUCED ON AUTHOR BY SULPHUREOUS VAPOUR AND THE AIR. -EXTREME DIFFICULTY IN ASCENDING. ARRIVAL AT SUMMIT. -HORRORS DESCRIBED. REFLECTIONS. HINTS TO TRAVELLERS. LAST ERUPTION. - EMBARKATION FOR PALERMO.

HAVING agreed with the gentlemen I met with at Catania to visit Etna, supposed to be about thirty miles on an ascent from the city, we accordingly set out about midday, on the 19th of October; but notwithstanding the advanced state of the season, fortunately the mountain had not been touched by snow.* In this journey we were on mules, attended by our servants and a guide, carrying provisions, and materials for lighting a fire. Nature appears to have divided this most stupendous mountain into three different parts. These may be described by regions, which have been denominated the fertile, woody, and desert. We first ascended a long sharp road of lava, similar to rock, and afterwards through these different departments. It was most extraordinary to see in some parts crops yielded from the vine, which had been cultivated among masses of lava, and where the grounds are black as if the ashes of coal had been scattered over it. We halted during the night at Nicolosa, about twelve miles distant from Catania, and next morning proceeded to scale the mountain. In one direction the earth is spread over with black ashes, where not a particle of vegetation was

* The snow is understood to lodge on Etna about the end of this month, and dissolve the end of June.

to be discovered, and in another these are jumbled and tossed in the wildest manner, as if some terrible convulsion of nature had rent and torn out of the very bowels of the earth most enormous masses of lava, similar in appearance to mighty rocks. The imagination of a human being can hardly figure a spot which has been marked with such woeful desolation, and more strikingly calculated to fill the human mind with wonder. During this journey the scene became more awful, grand, and sublime, from that conspiracy, if it may be so termed, of the elements, which impeded our progress, by storms of rain and hail, with vivid lightning and awful rolling of thunder, threatening to dart in thunderbolts on our heads. Overpowered with fatigue, and drenched with rain, we landed at a small house of lava, at the base of the cone, for the accommodation of travellers, the keys of which we brought from Nicolasa, and built by the British army, with an inscription to that purpose over the entrance. This consists of a couple of apartments, with a stable adjoining, and some travellers prefer, on account of the extreme cold, to repose during night in the manger. We lighted a fire in the chimney, and after taking refreshments, agreed to set out by midnight, and ascend the cone, so as to reach the summit in time to witness the glorious luminary of day rising from the chambers in the east, and as a giant rejoicing to run his course.

The dead silence that reigns in this devoted spot, which is, as it were, totally shut out from the world, and the terrific devastation all around, where not an insect or bird of the air is to be seen, are calculated to strike deep on the mind sentiments of profound awe and veneration. At this time the apartment was so totally enveloped in smoke that we could not distinguish one from the other, and were almost in a state of suffocation, but the cause we could not possibly account for.

After muffling ourselves up and taking stones in our hand, we set out with the guide, who carried a lighted lanthorn. The general, however, after proceeding a short way, apprehensive of danger from stepping among the masses of lava, and having nearly broken his leg, aban

doned the enterprise and returned to the house, intending to undertake it next day, leaving us to go forward. In the course of proceeding we stumbled among enormous blocks of lava, which I can only compare to prodigious masses of ice, hurled on each other in terrible confusion, in large gullies. Although we proceeded with cautious steps, yet we fell down at almost every other moment, afraid we should break our legs. In about two hours we got to the immediate base of the perpendicular height of the cone, which we began to ascend, when a slight glimmering of the light of day began to appear. Of all the tasks I had ever undertaken at any one period in ascending mountains, this was the most arduous and laborious. The difficulty chiefly arose from being unable to obtain a solid footing, to press the body forward, in consequence of the ashes being loose, since frequently, at acquiring a step, we slid down, and lost more ground than we had gained. At this time the pure air in one part affected the lungs, and prevented free respiration; and at another the sulphureous vapour, which obscured the eye-sight as if exposed to smoke, occasioned sickness and violent vomiting. Having reached half way up the cone, I was obliged to lay down in a complete state of exhaustion. I perceived below a spark of light moving quickly along, and not unlike the torch of a lamplighter in full speed. This ignus fatuus is presumed by some to be occasioned by swarms of flying glow-worms or luminous insects, although others are disposed to think them meteors, or a species of natural phosphorus. On proceeding I found the loose ashes still continuing, and after scrambling up and rolling down, thank God, we reached the top, and threw ourselves on the ground for some time, completely worn out by our exertions. At this very critical moment the sun began to rise, and with a glory altogether indescribable. Most fortunately at this season there was no snow on the cone, otherwise our attempt to gain its summit would have been perfectly impracticable. It is remarkable, that the snow on this mountain yields a revenue to the Bishop of Catania.