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

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JEtna.
of flame. The immenfe elevation of the fummitoi -^Et¬
na made it catch the firft rays of the fun’s light, whofe
vaft fplendour, while it dazzled the eyes, diffufed a moft
cherilliing and enlivening heat, reviving the fpints,
and diffufing a pleafant fenfation throughout the foul.
But though the heavens were thus enlightened, the
fea ftill retained its dark azure, and the fields and fo-
refts did not yet refleft the rays of the fun. The gra¬
dual rifing of this luminary, however, foon ‘hffijfed
his li^ht over the hills which lie below the peak of/Et-
&This laft Hood like an ifland in the midft of the
^Etna.
na.
ocean, with luminous points every moment multiplying
around, and fpreading over a wider extent with the
greateft rapidity. It was as if the univerfe had been
obferved fuddenly fpringing from the night of non-
exiftence. The tall forefts, the lofty hills, and exten-
five plains of iEtna, now prefented themfelves to view.
Its bafe, the vaft trafts of level ground which lie adja¬
cent, the cities of Sicily, its parched ftiores, wdth the
dafhing waves and vaft expanfe of the ocean, gradual¬
ly prefented themfelves, while feme fleeting vapours,
which moved Iwiftly before the wind, fometimes veikd
part of this vaft and magnificent profpeft.” In a ftiort
time every thing was displayed fo diftin<ftly, that they
could plainly recognize all thofe places with which they
were before acquainted. On the fouth were feen the
hills of Camerata and I rapani ; on the north, the
mounts Pelegrino and Thermini, with the celebrated
Enna once crowned with the temples of Ceres and
Proferpine. Among thefe mountains were feen a gr^a-
many rivers running down, and appearing like as. many
lines of glittering lilver winding through a variety of
rich and fertile fields, walking the walls of 28. cities,
while their banks were otherwife filled with villages,
hamlets, &c. rifing among the ruins of the moft illu-
ftrious republics of antiquity. On the foutli and north
were obferved the rivers which bound by their couife
the vaft bafe of Mount ./Etna, and afford a delightful
profpeft to the eye j while at a much greater diilaiice
were feen the ifles of Lipari, Alicudi, Felicocide, Pa-
rinacia, and Stromboli. .
Having enjoyed for fome time the beauty of this
magnificent profpeff, our author fet about making a
draught of the place from which the view was taken j
and at length accomplilhed it, notwithftanding the
great impediments he met with from the wind. A-
mong the obje£Is which he delineated on this occafion,
the Philofophers Tower was one. It feems, he fays,
PJll°f°' not to be very ancient; neither the materials of which
cr deferr* it confifts, nor the mode of architefture, bearing any
bed. refemblance to thofe of the Greeks and Romans. 1 he
furrounding plain feems to confift entirely of a black
fand intermixed with pieces of fcoria, which have been
formerly thrown out by the volcano. Beyond that
plain, which rifes gently, appears a cone, the fummit
Defcrintion 'vhich is the volcanic crater. When viewed from
of the great the fouth fide, on which they flood, this crater feems
crater. to confift of a number of fmall hills. Into thefe it was
broken by the emiffion of the boiling torrent in the
year 1755. When difeharged from the crater, thefe
waters fpread tow’ards the right, and at the diftance
of a mile eaftward fell in a cafcade from a prodigious
height.
The violence of the wind beginning now to abate a
little, the travellers fet out for the very fummit, in or¬
der to take a view of the great crater ; in which journey
(our author fays) it would be difficult to make people,
who have never engaged in fuch enterprifes, compre¬
hend all the obftacles they had to encounter. This
cone (the little mountain mentioned by Sir William
Hamilton) is compofed of afhes, fand, and poz.zolana,
thrown up at different times by the volcano. 1 he ma¬
terials are fo loofe, that the adventurous traveller finks
about mid-leg at every ftep, and is in conftant terror
of being fwallowed up. At laft, when the fummit is
reached, the fulphureous exhalations, which are con¬
tinually emitted from the pores of the mountain, threat¬
en fuffocation, and irritate the fauces and lungs in fuch
a manner as to produce a very troublefome and incef-
fant cough. The loofenefs of the foil, which gives
way under the feet, obliges the traveller, every now
and then, to throw himfelf flat on his belly, that fo he
may be in lefs danger of finking. In this pofture our
author viewed the wide unfathomable gulf in the
middle of the crater ; but could difeover nothing ex¬
cept a cloud of fmoke, w hich iffued from a number of
fmall apertures fcattered all around, and accompanied
with a kind of noife. Another and more dreadful Horrid
found, however, iffues from the bow’els of the volcano,
and which, according to our author, “ ftrikes the hearrt burning
with terror, fo that all the ftrength of reafon is necef-gUif,
fary to prevent the obferver from flying with preci¬
pitation from fuch a dreadful place.” Several travel¬
lers who had vifited this cone before him, were fo ter¬
rified by thefe dreadful founds, that they fled with
the utmoft hafte till they arrived at the foot of the
mountain.
Our author compares thefe founds to a difeharge of
cannon in the wide abyfs*, the noife of which is re¬
bellowed throughout all the caverns, and produces a
found perhaps the moft alarming that can be imagined;
and during the Ihort fpace in which he liftened, feveral
of thefe difeharges were heard to follow one another
almoft uninterruptedly.
This dreadful noife, our author, with very great pro¬
bability, fuppofes to be occafioned by the explofions
of the internal fire, or, as he calls it, the focus of the
volcano : which, ftriking againft the fides of thefe ira-
menfe caverns, the founds produced are re-echoed
through their cavities, and probably multiplied in an
extraordinary manner ; fo that what would be only a
flight explofion in the open air, occafions a found more
tremendous than the loudeft thunder, lo fuch as are
convinced of this, and have fufficient courage to refift
the firft impreflions which thefe founds muft unavoidably
occafion, they will in a ftiort time not only appear ex¬
ceedingly fublime, but, by their variety, even fomewh^t
agreeable. “ They enable us (fays our author) to form
fome conception of the fpace through which they muft
pafs before they reach the ear, and of the vaft extent
and width of the hollow's of the mountain.”
Having for fome time contemplated this awful fpec-Impoffible
tacle, our author wilhed to meafure the crater by walk-t0 w:jlk
ing round it, but found this impoflible. On the north1C
fide the furface is hard and fmooth, the allies having
been fo far diffolved by the moifture depofited by the
fmoke as to cement into one uniform mafs. 1 his is
fometimes diffolved even into a fluid ftate, in fuch a
H h 2 manner