we again pushed forward, and soon found ourselves completely out of the Bosco, and entering upon the third region, or, "La regione deserta," as it is called, where the vegetation consists of the scantiest herbs and lichens, scattered here and there among the volcanic sand, and huge masses of lava that constitute the surface of this inhospitable region of the mountain. We had now seven miles to go before we reached the next resting place, the "Casa degli Inglesi," and had already left the late place of our bivouac a couple of miles behind us. Here our ascent terminated; for the priest jumped off his mule, and standing stock still, refused to proceed any further. It was in vain that the Frenchmen and myself expostulated with him; his only answer to all our arguments and remonstrances was, "non possible! non possible!" Finding that he was so resolute, we next endeavoured to prevail on the guide to conduct us to the summit, whilst the priest returned to the "Casa della Neve," under the care of the man who carried the lantern; but this did not succeed either. The guide, influenced no doubt by the fear of the priest, as well as by his own laziness, and knowing that he would receive the same remuneration whether he took us the whole or only half of the way up to the crater, was as obstinate as the priest; and although we offered him double the sum agreed upon for the other man to act in his place, yet he would not proceed himself, neither allow the other man to do so, alleging that he was not sufficiently acquainted with the mountain. There was, therefore, no alternative; go back we must, and after a long parley in French, English, and Italian, we reluctantly dismounted from our mules, and commenced descending the mountain. The guide was an obstinate fool, and though near seven feet high, he seemed to have no more courage or resolution than a child. So satisfied were my French companions of this' that we meditated undertaking the attempt to visit the crater by ourselves in the best way we could. But the mists lay heavy and thick along the sides of the mountain, and we soon lost our companions in the deep shadows, as they wound their way down the mountain's side on their return. We shouted and hallooed after them, and at last we were fortunate enough to regain the track we had lost, and soon rejoined them, greatly mortified at the ill success of our expedition. We found the descent in the dark, and on foot, for the space of seven or eight miles, to be any thing but pleasant. We were, however, fortunate enough to arrive at the "Casa della Neve," in the Bosco, without any serious accident, just as the first faint gleam of daylight was breaking in the eastern sky. Tired and weary, we entered the hut, and commenced forthwith devouring our cold turkeys, without the aid of either plate, knife and fork, or any thing that might have served to distinguish us from the Cyclops, who, with their claws, devoured their prey in the caves of Etna. A furious altercation arose between the Frenchmen and the poor priest, and I began to fear that a serious affray would be the result. The guide, in broad Sicilian sentences, was endeavouring to exculpate himself from blame, holding out his clenched fists R all the time; a custom which I found is frequent with the peasantry, when engaged in earnest or passionate disputes. Sometimes the attitude is altered; the arms being stretched out, and the hands brought close together, as though the person were holding them out to receive something, whilst all the while the arms are moved up and down, beating time with the voice in a very curious manner. I have repeatedly witnessed this action, and as it appeared singular to me, I have thought it not unworthy of notice. Descending through the Bosco, I observed the cyclamen and the purple crocus in blossom among the fern, and the sweet breath of the morning filled the air with a pleasant freshness in this exalted region. At ten o'clock we reached Nicolosi, and to our infinite regret, we saw the clouds chasing each other away from the upper region of the mountain, whilst the warm rays of the sun fell brightly over the snug little village at the foot of Monte Rossi. We found our friend, Dr. Gemmellaro, in his museum, and consoled ourselves by examining the fine specimens of lava and sulphur which he had at various times collected from the crater. He took great pains in showing us his museum, and his collection of drawings of the mountain, and requested us all to insert our names in a book which he keeps for that purpose. He visits the crater twice or three times during the summer months, and keeps the "Casa degli Inglese" in repair, of which he has the key; this he lends to strangers on their ascent, who call for it at his house on their way up the mountain. Finding that the mosquitoes had been attacking us, he very kindly favoured us with some ointment that he makes from a herb of Etna, and which I found afterwards to be an infallible cure against their venomous bites. He further consoled us by remarking, "that when intelligent persons wish to ascend the mountain the weather is generally bad, but when beasts (as he termed them) attempted it, the weather proved favourable." This we of course regarded as a polite compliment, and thanking our friend for his attention, we proceeded to the albergo, where we rested ourselves after our fatigue, and feasted upon grapes and the delicious figs of Mount Etna. Monte Rossi forms a fine object in the landscape when viewed from Nicolosi, and seems like two conical mountains rising up from one base. In the crater of this latter volcano, there are found small black crystals of lava in some abundance, which resemble good sized garnets. I was presented with some of these by Dr. Gemmellaro, in a box, which he gave me, containing several beautiful specimens of the minerals of Etna. I regretted much that I was not permitted to enjoy a further acquaintance with this amiable man, as his learning and general information would render him a most delightful companion. Bidding adieu to Nicolosi, we returned by the same horses and carriage to Catania, where I arrived at three o'clock, resolving that I would not leave Sicily until I had stood on the highest peak of the crater of the mighty Montegibello. CHAPTER XXVIII. ROUTE FROM CAΤΑΝΙΑ ΤO MESSINA. "ULYSSES.- What land is this, and who inhabit it? SILENUS.-Etna, the loftiest peak in Sicily. Is his own flesh ULYSSES.-What! do they eat men's flesh? ABBATE, our landlord, regretted exceedingly that we were not able to accomplish the ascent of the mountain; and he even went so far as to say, that had his hotel not been so full of the visitors who were at Catania, on account of the arrival of the king and queen in that city, he would himself have acted as our conductor. The guides of Nicolosi, though generally preferred to those of Catania, are, in my humble opinion, not always to be trusted; as they are lazy, indolent, and difficult to manage. Abbate has, at various times, accompanied parties visiting the mountain, and his attentions have invariably been highly spoken of. I had now no alternative but to return immediately to Messina, where the schooner in which I was to sail for England was shipping her cargo of lemons. Only two days remained before the proposed departure of the vessel. Writing was useless, as the posts in Sicily are very slow and uncertain. No other course was open than going myself to Messina, and although I abandoned for the present undertaking the ascent of Etna, I nevertheless cherished the hope that sufficient time might still be available before the schooner was ready for sea, for me to return to Catania to accomplish my desired object. Not one moment was, therefore, to be lost, and my next step was to hasten on to Messina (a distance of seventy miles) by the first conveyance that proceeded to that city. Most fortunately for my future plans, Abbate informed me on our return from Nicolosi, that a "diligence" or coach as he termed it, was to start in an hour's time from the square of the Elephant; it would travel that night as far as Giarra, and on the following night arrive at Messina. I immediately embraced this very opportune offer, and hastily swallowing my dinner, I settled my account with my landlord (who, by-the-by, was an extremely civil and obliging fellow) and arranging matters with the Frenchmen, who had acted as pursers on our mountain expedition, I bade them all good day, not forgetting our unfortunate companion the priest, who despite the affair in the "Casa della Neve," gave me a very kind invitation to visit him at Senglea, in the island of Malta. Having secured my luggage as well as I was able, I awaited the arrival of the diligence at the door of the albergo. It soon came up, and I looked for Abbate to act as my interpreter to the coachman, who had the appearance of a smart sailor, but Abbate was nowhere to be found. My luggage was immediately seized by half-a-dozen different people, and I fully expected to lose some portion of it, for they commenced carrying it off in all directions. However, my alarm was groundless, as I found all my packages safely deposited in the coach, and in another minute we were driving furiously along the Corso in the direction of the new road that leads to Messina. The vehicle into which I had thus been so unceremoniously packed, resembled very nearly one of the third-class-train coaches on the Great Western Railway. It was divided into two parts, each holding four persons; the roof was flat, and supported by iron rods, from which hung curtains, which might be let down at pleasure, to protect the traveller from the sun and dust, which at this season are very unpleasant in Sicily. I found this mode of travelling to be pretty comfortable, and could almost have fancied myself in a Devonshire jaunting car. The horses, which were harnessed three abreast, were full of spirit, and we galloped off towards Giarra in fine style. My compagnons de voyage were four in number, all of them Sicilians, and although I was able to converse but little with them, and that partly by signs and motions, they yet endeavoured to show me those small attentions and courtesies so pleasing to a stranger, owing to the kind motives from which they spring. I soon discovered that one of my companions could speak French, and through the medium of this third language we managed to understand each other very well. He pointed out to me every object worthy of notice by the way, and made himself as agreeable as possible. My companions offered me some cigars, and were quite surprised to find that I declined them, as in Sicily everybody smokes, from the miserable sulphur miner up to the noble at Ferdinand's own table. Cigars may here as in Malta be obtained for a mere nothing, eight or ten of them being purchased for five grana, which is about equivalent to an English penny. The road we were pursuing traversed that part of the country, called the port of Ulysses, which was overwhelmed by the lava of 1669. It is said that this precise spot was formerly a deep and capacious harbour, which Virgil describes as "The port capacious, and secure from wind." It is now entirely filled up, and the broken fragments of lava that strew the sands of this beautiful coast show but too plainly how dreadful must have been the catastrophe of that eventful and fatal eruption, perhaps the most dreadful of any that has burst from the bowels of the mountain which records have handed down to us. By the sea-shore a little farther on, stands the castle of Aci, built on a promontory of black lava and surrounded on three sides by the sea. The next objects of interest, are the Scopuli Cyclopum, or rocks of the Cyclops, at the village of Trizza. They consist of seven islands, a short distance from the shore, though only the three principal ones bear the name of Cyclops. The largest of these is basaltic, and has a kind of substratum of yellow chalk; in form they are abrupt and conical, and are supposed to be the rocks mentioned by Homer, which he describes as being situated near the cave of the cannibal Polyphemus, who devoured the unfortunate followers of Ulysses when they were driven on this inhospitable shore, then the favourite abode of the Etnean Cyclops. Between Trizza and Aci Reale we travelled through groves of orange and lemon trees, along a good road. I found this part of the country to be extremely rich and fertile, and the peculiar beauty of a Sicilian landscape was enhanced by the warm yellow glow that overspread it, mellowing the western hills where the setting sun lay cradled in a gorgeous mass of belted purple and golden clouds. It was at this point that we passed on the sea-shore the far-famed steps of Acis, or the Scali di Aci, but the ghost of the beautiful shepherd stole not along the balmy eve, nor did we see any thing of the nymph Galatea. These steps consist of eight or nine layers of lava, of different degrees of antiquity. As there is a layer of vegetable earth between each, a considerable time must have elapsed before a second eruption took place: which fact goes a great way to disprove the notion that all eruptions of the volcano have occurred since the time of Homer; prior to which period, some authors inform us, it was not known as a burning mountain. We reached Giarra shortly before eight o'clock, where we were all to take up our quarters for the night. We were ushered into one general apartment with a stone floor, and which corresponded to what we should, in a country village in England, call the "traveller's room," with this exception, however, that it was to form our dormitory also, the beds being supported on tressels around the apartment, which was, to say the least of it, very large and airy. We sat down to our supper in excellent spirits, and with a good appetite. Our waiter was a bare-footed woman, whom I took to be the mistress of the hotel. Our supper was in the true Sicilian fashion, and consisted of eggs, bread, salad, and wine, with a dessert of apples, grapes, and raw turnips. When these latter articles came on the table, I paused to observe how they were eaten, imagining for the moment that they might be some other vegetable used perhaps as a salad. But there was no mistaking the turnips, for there they stood facing me, tops and all! |