Encyclopaedia Britannica, or, a Dictionary of arts, sciences, and miscellaneous literature : enlarged and improved. Illustrated with nearly six hundred engravings > Volume 1, A-AME

JEtna.
v—v——<
Grotto of
the goats
defcribed.
Beautiful
appearance
of the fo-
refts of
iEtna.
Grotto of
the goats,
how form¬
ed.
A E T [ 242 ] A E T
ting out from this place three hours before day, our
traveller dire&ed his courfe towards the grotto of the
goats. In his way thither, he paffed over feveral
plains of lava, fome of them ancient and others more
modern : but the roads were extremely rough and
dangerous j or rather, as our author exprefles himfelf,
there was no track or path meriting the name of a
road. In two hours they reached the Regione Sylvofa,
"where an immenfe forelt lurrounds the mountain, and
which has undoubtedly been planted by the hand of
nature : for there the ground is fo high, fo full of
precipices, and fo entirely uninhabitable, that no hu¬
man being could ever think of making plantations on
it; nor is it to be fuppofed that the winds could take
up feeds from the plains to fow them on fuch a lofty
fituation.
Thefe majeftic forefts of -/Etna afford a fingular fpec-
tacle, and bear no refemblance to thofe of other coun¬
tries. Their verdure is more lively, and the trees of
which they confift are of a greater height. Thefe ad¬
vantages they owe to the foil whereon they grow ; for
the foil produced by volcanoes is particularly favour¬
able to vegetation, and every fpecies of plants grows
here with great luxuriance. In feveral places, where
we can view their interior parts, the moil enchanting
profpe&s are difplayed. The hawthorn trees are of an
immenfe fize. Our author faw feveral of them of a
regular form, and which he was almofl tempted to take
for large orange trees cut artificially into the figures
they reprefented. I he beeches appear like as many
ramified pillars, and the tufted branches of the oak
like clofe bufhes impenetrable to the rays of the fun.
The appearance of the woods in general is exceedingly
pifturefque, both by reafon of the great number and
variety of the trees, and the inequality of the ground,
which makes them rife like the feats in an amphitheatre,
one row above another $ difpofing them alfo in groups
and glades, fo that their appearance changes to the eye
at every ftep •, and this variety is augmented by acci¬
dental circumitances, as the fituation of young trees,
among others venerable for their antiquity ^ the effects
of ft or ms, which have often overturned large trees,
while items (hooting up from their roots, like the Ler-
nsean hydra, ihow a number of heads newly fprung to
make up that which'was cut off.
About three hours after the departure of our tra¬
vellers from St Nicholas, they reached the grotto of
the goats. It is formed by a bed of lava, which ha¬
ving flowed over a pile of fand and pozzolana while in
a fluid ftate, fettled and cooled in that fituation ; and
the fand or pozzolana being afterwards carried off by
the filtration of water through the lava, a void fpace
has been left, which the torrents have gradually en¬
larged to its prefent fize.
This grotto (lands about 5054 feet above the level
of the fea", according to the calculations of M. de
Sauffure. It affords a retreat for thofe travellers who
vifit the fummit of iEtna, who generally refrefli them-
felves by taking a repaft and making a fire at the en¬
try, for which there is plenty of dry wmod at hand ;
while the fand ferves for a bed to repofe on. Here our
author and his company fupped, and about midnight
fet off for the fummit. They had the advantage of
the moon-light *, and our author advifes all thofe who
intend to vifit the top of ./Etna, to take fuch a time for
their journey as may enable them to enjoy this advan-
tage. As they advanced beyond the grotto of the Atrou~j
goats, the trees became gradually thinner. In a (hortthe higheft
time they were fo thin, that they might readily be parts of
counted j and, proceeding dill farther, only a very few ^Etna.
were feen fcattered here and there, whofe beauty and
fize were diminiflied feemingly in proportion to their
numbers. A few clumps of trees and fome tufts of
odoriferous herbs were now only to be feen ; and in a
little time thefe alfo became thinner, affuming a wi¬
thered or ftunted appea/'mce. There they are nothing
but the languilhing remains of an abortive vegetation ;
and a few paces further even this difappeared, and the
eye was prefented only with barren fand.
Having now got above the region of the trees, they Snowy and
entered the third, which our author denominates the re-b^e^ere"
gion of fnow and fterility. The wind became more “
brilk and keen as they advanced, fo that they could
fcarce keep their hats upon their heads; and our au¬
thor loft his, though tied on with a handkerchief.
Here they were frequently obliged to crofs confider-
able dreams of water formed by the melting of the
fnow. In general the furface was fufficiently hard to
bear them •, but our author’s mule once funk up to her
belly, and was not extricated without great difficulty.
Having at laft overcome all difficulties, they arrived Plain on
at the large plain on the fummit of ./Etna, and in the the^£u‘Iim‘t
midft of which is the crater of the volcano. It is en-ot tna*
tirely compofed of lava, cinders, ice, and fnbw •, and
has been ftyled, ironically as our author thinks, Monte
Frumente. Here the wind continued to blow with Wind ex.
exceffive violence ; and our author informs us, that in^J^
order to have any notion of its keennefs, we mud beheje
accuftomed to feel it on fome very elevated ftation, as
it is impoffible to judge from what we feel at inferior
altitudes. They took (belter behind a lump of lava,
the only one which appeared in the whole plain, and,
which our author fays, would feem defigned exprefslv
fur the (belter of travellers. Here they lay, wrapped
up in their cloaks, for an hour : but as foon as it was
day, fo that they could diftinguifli the place where the
fun was to rife, they got up and advanced towards
the ruins of the building known by the name of the
PhilofopheFs Tower. The wind dill blew fo violently,
that after an effort of four minutes they fell down ex-
haufted : but the extreme cold obliging them again to
get up, they made a fecond attempt -, and after feveral
intermiffions of this kind, at laft accompliihed their de-
fign. They were furprifed, however, to find nothing
but the corner of a wall not more than two feet high,
confiding of two rows of unpoliftied (tones •, great part
of it having been probably buried by the fand and
other matters difcharged by the mountain. Here, be¬
ing (heltered from the wind, and the day advancing,
they began to enjoy the glorious profpeft which every
moment became more extenfive. At the riling of the
fun, the horizon was ferene, without a (ingle cloud.
“ The coaft of Calabria (fays our author) was as yet
undiftinguiffiable from the adjoining fea *, but in a (hort1
time a fiery radiance began to appear from behind the
Italian hills, which bounded the eaftern part of the pro-
fpe6l. The fleecy clouds, which generally appear early
in the morning, were tinged with purple j the atmofphere
became ftrongly illuminated, and, refledling the rays of
the riling fun, appeared filled with bright effulgence