of the most zealous defenders of Arianism, was born at Antioch in Cœle-Syria, and flourished about the year 336. Being left fatherless, and in poverty, he became a slave, and was afterwards a goldsmith, and also practised physic. After being servant to a grammarian, of whom he learned grammar and logic, he was ordained deacon at Antioch, and at length bishop, by Eudoxius, patriarch of Constantinople. Aetius was banished into Pisidia on account of his religious opinions; but was recalled from exile on the accession of Julian, and was much esteemed by that emperor. He died, it is supposed, at Constantinople, about the year 366. St Epiphanius has noticed 70 of his propositions against the Trinity. His followers were called Aetians.
famous physician, born at Amida in Mesopotamia, and the author of a work entitled Tetrabiblos, which is a collection from the writings of those physicians who went before him. He lived, according to Dr Freind, in the end of the fifth or the beginning of the sixth century.
Aetius, governor of Gallia Narbonensis in the reign of Valentinian III., forced the Franks who were passing into Gaul to repass the Rhine. He defeated the Goths, and routed Attila, king of the Huns, who invaded Gaul with an army of 700,000 men. But the emperor, jealous of the merit of this great man, killed him in 454, with his own hand, under the pretence that he had permitted the invasion of the Huns, after Attila's defeat.
Etna, in the Itineraries Ethana, supposed from ætna, to burn; according to Bochart, from athuna, a furnace, or ætna, darkness), now Monte Gibello; a volcano or burning mountain of Sicily, situated in Long. 15. E. Lat. 38. N.
This mountain, famous from the remotest antiquity, both for its bulk and terrible eruptions, stands in the eastern part of the island, in a very extensive plain, called Val di Demona, from the notion of its being inhabited by devils, who torment the spirits of the damned in the bowels of this volcano.
The base of Etna is well defined by the sea, and by Magnisi the rivers Giaretta and Alcantara; and is about eighty-tude and seven miles in circumference, with its greatest diameter extending from east to west. The following measurements, taken by Captain Smyth, we have adopted as the most accurate hitherto published:
- The Summit...........................................10874 feet. - Foot of the Cone.......................................9760 - The English House.................................9592 - Philosopher's Tower...............................9467 - Bishop's Snow Stoves.............................7410 - Highest part of the Woody Region...............6279 - The Goats' Cavern.................................5362 - Angelo the Herdsman's Cottage..................4203 - Nicolosi Convent....................................2449 - Lingua-Grossa......................................1725 - Caltabiano Station.................................371 - Catania Station.....................................47
The products and general appearance of this volcano General have been described by many travellers. The journey appear from Catania to its summit has been described by M. D'Orville, Mr Brydone, Sir William Hamilton, M. Houel, the abbé Spallanzani, Smyth, &c. They all agree that this single mountain affords an epitome of the different climates throughout the whole world. Towards the foot it is extremely hot; farther up, more temperate; and grows gradually more and more cold the higher we ascend. At the very top it is perpetually covered with snow: from thence the whole island is supplied with that article, so necessary in a hot climate, and without which, the natives say, Sicily could not be inhabited. So great is the demand for this commodity, that the bishop's revenues, which are considerable, arise from the sale of Mount Etna's snow; and he is said to draw L1000 a year from one small portion lying on the north side of the mountain. Great quantities of snow and ice are likewise exported to Malta and Italy, making a considerable branch of commerce. The snow of Etna, says Captain Smyth, is not only consumed in vast quantities all over the island, but forms an extensive article of commerce with Malta and Italy, to which places it is sent in such profusion as to be sold from a penny to threepence the pound, a rate which renders it accessible to the lower orders.
In the middle of the snowy region stands the great crater, or mouth of Etna. Sir William Hamilton describes the crater as a little mountain, about a quarter of a mile perpendicular, and very steep, situated in the middle of a gently inclining plain, of about nine miles in circumference. It is entirely formed of stones and ashes; and, as he was informed by several people of Catania, had been thrown up about 25 or 30 years before the time (1769) he visited Mount Etna. Before this mountain was thrown up, there was only a prodigiously large chasm or gulf in the middle of the above-mentioned plain; and it has been remarked, that about once in 100 years the top of Etna falls in; which undoubtedly must be the case at certain periods, otherwise the mountain would continually increase in height. As this little mountain, though emitting smoke from every pore, appeared solid and firm, Sir William Hamilton and his companions went up to the very top. In the middle is a hollow, about two miles and a half in circumference, according to Sir William Hamilton; three miles and a half, according to Mr Brydone; and three or four, according to M. D'Orville. The inside is crusted over with salts and sulphur of different colours. It goes shelving down from the top, like an inverted cone; the depth, in Sir William Hamilton's opinion, nearly corresponding to the height of the little mountain. From many places of this space issue volumes of sulphurous smoke, which being much heavier than the circumambient air, instead of ascending in it, roll down the side of the mountain, till, coming to a more dense atmosphere, it shoots off horizontally, and forms a large track in the air, according to the direction of the wind; which, happily for our travellers, carried it exactly to the side opposite to that on which they stood. In the middle of this tunnel is the tremendous and unfathomable gulf, so much celebrated in all ages, both as the terror of this life and the place of punishment in the next. From this gulf continually issue terrible and confused noises, which in eruptions are increased to such a degree as to be heard at a prodigious distance. Its diameter is probably very different at different times; for Sir William Hamilton observed, by the wind clearing away the smoke from time to time, that the inverted hollow cone was contracted almost to a point; while M. D'Orville and Mr Brydone found the opening very large. Both Mr Brydone and Sir William Hamilton found the crater too hot to descend into it; but M. D'Orville was bolder; and accordingly, he and his fellow-traveller, fastened to ropes which two or three men held at a distance for fear of accidents, descended as near as possible to the brink of the gulf; but the small flames and smoke which issued from it on every side, and a greenish sulphur, and pumice stones, quite black, which covered the margin, would not permit them to come so near as to have a full view. They only saw distinctly, in the middle, a mass of matter which rose in the shape of a cone, to the height of above 60 feet, and which towards the base, as far as their sight could reach, might be 600 or 800 feet. While they were observing this substance, some motion was perceived on the north side, opposite to that whereon they stood; and immediately the mountain began to send forth smoke and ashes. This eruption was preceded by a sensible increase of its internal roarings; which, however, did not continue, but, after a moment's dilatation, as if to give it vent, the volcano resumed its former tranquillity; but as it was by no means proper to make a long stay in such a place, our travellers immediately returned to their attendants.
The top of Etna being above the common region of vapours, the heavens appear with exceeding great splendour. Mr Brydone and his company observed, as they ascended in the night, that the number of stars seemed to be indefinitely increased, and the light of each of them appeared brighter than usual; the whiteness of the milky way was like a pure flame which shot across the heavens; and with the naked eye they could observe clusters of stars that were invisible from below. Had Jupiter been visible, he is of opinion that some of his satellites might have been discovered with the naked eye, or at least with a very small pocket-glass. He likewise took notice of several of those meteors called falling stars, which appeared as much elevated as when viewed from the plain; a proof, according to Mr Brydone, that "these bodies move in regions much beyond the bounds that some philosophers have assigned to our atmosphere."
To have a full and clear prospect from the summit of Mount Etna, it is necessary to be there before sunrise, as the vapours raised by the sun in the daytime will obscure every object. Accordingly, our travellers took care to arrive there early enough; and all agree, that the beauty of the prospect from thence cannot be described. Here Mr Brydone and Sir William Hamilton had a view of Calabria in Italy, with the sea beyond it; the Lipari islands, and Stromboli, a volcano at about 70 miles distance, appeared just under their feet; the whole island of Sicily, with its rivers, towns, harbours, &c. appeared distinct, as if seen on a map. Massa, a Sicilian author, affirms, that the African coast, as well as that of Naples, with many of its islands, has been discovered from the top of Etna. The visible horizon here is no less than 800 or 900 miles in diameter. The pyramidal shadow of the mountain reaches across the whole island, and far into the sea on the other side, forming a visible track in the air, which, as the sun rises above the horizon, is shortened, and at last confined to the neighbourhood of Etna. The most beautiful part of the scene, however, in Mr Brydone's opinion, is the mountain itself, the island of Sicily, and the numerous islands lying round it. These last seem to be close to the skirts of Etna, the distances appearing reduced to nothing.
M. Houel gives the following description of the view he enjoyed from the summit of the mountain. Here, being sheltered from the wind, and the day advancing, they began to enjoy the glorious prospect, which every moment became more extensive. At the rising of the sun, the horizon was serene, without a single cloud. "The coast of Calabria," says our author, "was as yet undistinguishable from the adjoining sea; but in a short time a fiery radiance began to appear from behind the Italian hills which bounded the eastern part of the prospect." The fleecy clouds, which generally appear early in the morning, were tinged with purple; the atmosphere became strongly illuminated, and, reflecting the rays of the rising sun, appeared filled with a bright effulgence of flame. The immense elevation of the summit of Ætna made it catch the first rays of the sun's light, whose vast splendour, while it dazzled the eyes, diffused a most cherishing and enlivening heat, reviving the spirits, and diffusing a pleasant sensation throughout the soul. But though the heavens were thus enlightened, the sea still retained its dark azure, and the fields and forests did not yet reflect the rays of the sun. The gradual rising of this luminary, however, soon diffused his light over the hills which lie below the peak of Ætna. This last stood like an island in the midst of the ocean, with luminous points every moment multiplying around, and spreading over a wider extent with the greatest rapidity. It was as if the universe had been observed suddenly springing from the night of non-existence. The tall forests, the lofty hills, and extensive plains of Ætna, now presented themselves to view. Its base, the vast tracts of level ground which lie adjacent, the cities of Sicily, its parched shores, with the dashing waves and vast expanse of the ocean, gradually presented themselves; while some fleeting vapours, which moved swiftly before the wind, sometimes veiled part of this vast and magnificent prospect." In a short time every thing was displayed so distinctly that they could plainly recognise all those places with which they were before acquainted. On the south were seen the hills of Camerata and Trapani; on the north, the mounts Pelegrino and Termini, with the celebrated Enna once crowned with the temples of Ceres and Proserpine. Among these mountains were seen a great many rivers running down, and appearing like as many lines of glittering silver winding through a variety of rich and fertile fields, washing the walls of 28 cities, while their banks were otherwise filled with villages, hamlets, &c. rising among the ruins of the most illustrious republics of antiquity. On the south and north were observed the rivers which bound by their course the vast base of Mount Ætna, and afford a delightful prospect to the eye; while at a much greater distance were seen the isles of Lipari, Alicudi, Felicocide, Parinacia, and Stromboli.
This mountain is divided into three parts or zones, which are distinguished by the names of the Regione Culta, the fertile or cultivated region; the Regione Sylvosa, the woody or temperate region; and the Regione Deserta, the frigid or desert zone or region. All these are plainly distinguished from the summit.
The desert region is a dreary waste of black lava, scoria, and ashes, in the centre of which, in a desolate plain, rises the cone, to the height of eleven hundred feet. Immediately under the cone is an edifice, erected at the expense of the British officers who during the late war were stationed in Sicily, containing rooms and stabling; a great convenience to those travellers who resort to it in the proper season, but during the greater part of the year a single snow storm is sufficient to overwhelm it. Not far from this house are the vestiges of a brick building, called the Philosopher's Tower, from the supposition of its having been the dwelling of Empedocles. M. Houel, however, says, "it seems not to be very ancient, neither the materials of which it consists, nor the mode of architecture, bearing any resemblance to those of the Greeks or Romans."
Immediately below the desert region is the woody region, which is an extensive forest of about six or seven miles in length, encircling the mountain, and affording pasturage to the numerous flocks and herds that are fed there. The woods are irregularly distributed, according to the ravages of the lava, and the senseless destruction of them by the natives. The neighbourhood of Maletto is richly clothed with fine oaks, pines, and poplars; above Nicolosi and Milo are produced stunted oaks, with fir, beech, cork, hawthorn, and bramble; and in the districts of Mascali and Piraino there are groves of cork, and luxuriant chestnut trees. The vicinity of Bronte abounds with pines of great magnitude; but the Carpinetto boasts that father of the forest, the venerable Castagno di cento caralli, or chestnut of the hundred horses, supposed to be one of the oldest known trees, and, as far as is known, the largest tree in Europe. Some travellers describe it as a single tree; others, and with more plausibility, as produced by the inoculation of several young chestnut trees. It appears to consist of five large and two smaller trees. The largest trunk Captain Smyth found to measure 38 feet in circumference, and the circuit of the whole five, measured just above the ground, is 163 feet. It still bears rich foliage, and much small fruit, though the heart of the trunk is decayed, and a public road leads through them. Besides this, there is abundance of other trees in the neighbourhood, very remarkable for their size. One is mentioned as being upwards of 70 feet in circumference. Many parts of this region are remarkably picturesque, and even romantic; and its cool temperature is extremely grateful when contrasted with the heat of the lower region.
"These majestic forests of Ætna," says Houel, "afford a singular spectacle, and bear no resemblance to those of other countries. Their verdure is more lively, and the trees of which they consist are of a greater height. These advantages they owe to the soil whereon they grow; for the soil produced by volcanoes is particularly favourable to vegetation, and every species of plants grows here with great luxuriance. In several places, where we can view their interior parts, the most enchanting prospects are displayed. The hawthorn trees are of an immense size. Our author saw several of them of a regular form, and which he was almost tempted to take for large orange trees cut artificially into the figures they represented. The beeches appear like as many ramified pillars, and the tufted branches of the oak like close bushes impenetrable to the rays of the sun. The appearance of the woods in general is exceedingly picturesque, both by reason of the great number and variety of the trees, and the inequality of the ground, which makes them rise like the seats in an amphitheatre, one row above another; disposing them also in groups and glades, so that their appearance changes to the eye at every step; and this variety is augmented by accidental circumstances, as the situation of young trees among others venerable for their antiquity; the effects of storms, which have often overturned large trees, while stems shooting up from their roots, like the Lernæan hydra, show a number of heads newly sprung to make up that which was cut off."
Several extensive caverns occur in this region, among which, one is well known by the name of the Goats' Cave or Grotto, because it is frequented by those animals, which take refuge there in bad weather. Formerly travellers on their ascent rested here, but since the erection of the more convenient shelter higher up the mountain, called the English House, it has been abandoned.
The fertile district or region comprises the delightful Regione country round the skirts of the mountain, and is very Culta unequal in its dimensions, being in many parts from six to nine miles broad, and above Catania nearly eleven; while on the northern side, where the woods encroach, it is little more than half a mile broad. The whole is more or less covered with towns, villages, and monasteries, and is well peopled notwithstanding the danger of such a situation. The soil is made up of decomposed lava and tuffa. It is easily worked and very productive, yielding the finest corn, oil, wine, fruit, and aromatic shrubs, in Sicily. The inhabitants, however, of many of these districts, as Smyth remarks, from the numerous minute particles of volcanic dust that fly about, severely injuring and disfiguring their eyes, and soiling their persons, their furniture, and their houses, have a squalid, slovenly, and dejected appearance. These circumstances, with the want of water, and the numerous and arid patches of lava amidst the surrounding vegetation, leave such a paradise little to be envied. In addition to these inconveniences, the constant danger of losing both landed and movable property by an eruption must be borne in mind; a disaster compared with which, earthquakes, hurricanes, plagues, and other visitations are light, as these may be counteracted in a few years, while the other destroys for ages. The terrible eruption of 1699 burst forth in this region.
In this region the river Acis, so much celebrated by the poets, in the fable of Acis and Galatea, takes its rise. It bursts out of the earth at once in a large stream, runs with great rapidity, and about a mile from the source throws itself into the sea.
The most desirable season, according to Smyth, for ascending the mountain, is during the full moons that occur between the middle of June and the first autumnal rains. The latter appear in the form of snow on the summit; and the peasants below attentively observe whether the east or west side is covered earliest, because in the former case they expect a wet season, and in the latter a dry one. After the equinox the weather again becomes settled, and the journey is practicable and easy until the middle of October. The ascent from Catania, through Nicolosi, to the English house, is effected on mules with the greatest ease, or even in a Lettiga; but from thence to the top of the cone the journey is very fatiguing. The obstacles are numerous: the surface, towards the summit, is frequently so hot as to make even resting inconvenient, and the materials, being only scoria, pazzolana, and triturated ashes, occasion the foot to sink and recede more or less at every step.
This mighty mountain, which rises suddenly from the surrounding low country, is mostly composed of porphyritic lavas, which in every instance possess such characters as show that in all probability they have been ejected above the surface of the seaters, and not under pressure. It rises out of a basaltic crater of elevation, hence its lower part is of a basaltic nature. The products of the eruptions of this mountain, in point of magnitude, form a striking contrast with those of Vesuvius; for even the greatest bodies of lava erupted from the Neapolitan mountain almost sink into insignificance when compared with those of Etna, some of the streams or coulées of Etna being four or five miles in breadth, 15 in length, and from 50 to 100 feet in thickness.
The elevation of Etna, too, is so great that the lava frequently finds less resistance in piercing the flanks of the mountain than in rising to its summit; and has in this manner formed a number of minor cones, many of which possess their respective craters, and have given rise to considerable streams of lava. The most striking and original feature in the physiognomy of Etna, says Dr Daubeny, is the zone of subordinate volcanic hills with which it is encompassed, and which look like a court of subaltern princes waiting upon their sovereign. Of these, some are covered with vegetation, others are bare and arid, their relative antiquity being probably denoted by the progress vegetation has made upon their surface; and the great difference which exists in this respect seems to indicate, that the mountain, to which they owe their origin, must have been in a state of activity, if not at a period antecedent to the commencement of the present order of things, at least at a distance of time exceedingly remote. It must be remarked, however, continues Daubeny, that the time which it takes to bring a volcanic mountain or stream of lava into cultivation is very variable; and that the progress is generally more rapid in a cone composed of finely comminuted cinders, than in a stream of lava, which consists of a hard glossy substance, that yields but slowly to the causes of decomposition. There is nothing in the nature of lava, chemically considered, prejudicial to vegetation; but mechanically, the hard surface is inimical, as it gives no support to the tender shoots, and from its vesicularity often carries off all the moisture that falls on its surface. From these causes, the surface of a stream of lava must always require a long time to bring it into cultivation. This being the case, we naturally feel desirous of verifying an observation reported by Brydone, on the authority of the canon Recupero, which might render us doubtful as to the correctness of our received chronologies. This writer, says Dr Daubeny, after giving an instance of a lava, the date of which goes back to the time of the second Punic war, proceeds to state, that at Aci Reale we see seven such beds superimposed one on the other, each of which has its surface thoroughly decomposed and converted into rich vegetable mould. Now, if a single bed of lava has continued for more than 2000 years without experiencing any alteration, what a lapse of time must it have required to reduce seven successive beds of the same material into a state of such decomposition.
"Although I have no reason," says Dr Daubeny, "to doubt that Brydone received from Recupero the observa-
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1 "This will appear from the following statement of the condition of a few of the lavas of Vesuvius, which I examined with reference to this question in 1823:
Lava of 1551.—Fossa di Gaetano. Much decomposed; heaths grow upon it, and vines begin to be planted.
1737.—But little decomposed; moss alone grows on it.
1760.—Near the hill of the Camalduli. Still unfit for vegetation; surface, however, whitened and crumbly, owing to decomposition, which has proceeded farther than in that of 1737.
1771.—Colour grey; moss grows upon it, but no heath.
1785.—Fossa di Sventurato. Lava still quite hard and rough.
1794.—Fossa di Cucuzzello. Surface much decomposed; moss grows upon it, and a few heaths, but no trees or shrubs. It is also observed, that even the latter are met with on the surface of the crater from which this lava flowed, and which was formed by heaps of scoriae ejected at the same time; a proof of what I have asserted in the text with respect to the more rapid decomposition of loose ashes than of a bed of lava.
1805.—Fossa del Nese. Colour very white; no moss appears to grow upon it; but, being covered with the loose scoriae of later eruptions, it has trees growing upon it in a few parts.
1810.—Colour grey; surface rough, though somewhat decomposed; moss grows upon it, but no heaths or trees are seen, except in one part where it is covered with cinders.
1822.—Colour black; surface very rough and irregular; no moss as yet to be seen.
It will be seen that many of these lavas are in a more forward state than that of Ischia, which flowed in 1302, more than 200 years before." (Daubeny's Volcanoes, p. 204.) tion on which he grounds his inferences; I think it most probable that the conclusion itself was his own, though he perhaps thought it would sound more *piquant* if put into the mouth of the Canon, whose scientific knowledge he seems willing to exalt at the expense of his orthodoxy. In reality, however, this good priest appears to have enjoyed in both respects a reputation which he very little deserved. The reports of Dolomieu and other really scientific travellers make him out to have been a man of but slender philosophical attainments, but as one who at least was free from all imputation of scepticism. It is curious, nevertheless, that another foreigner has stated, as an instance of the intolerant spirit prevailing in the country in which he lived, that the poor Abbé was thrown into prison for his religious opinions, although the truth appears to have been, that the reports circulated in his favour by Brydone, Borch, and others, induced the Neapolitan government to grant him a pension on the score of his scientific deserts. Indeed, the only annoyance, it is said, he ever experienced in consequence of his imagined discovery, was the being informed that certain foreigners, to whom he communicated his observation, not content with wresting it to a purpose of which he had never dreamt, had given him credit for the inferences which they had chosen to deduce from it themselves.
"The fact, nevertheless, reported by Brydone, obtained a currency proportionate to the popularity which his work enjoyed; and the heterodox conclusion excited at the time no slight degree of consternation among divines. It was generally combated, by remarking the great variability as to the period which a bed of lava will take to undergo decomposition; and even Spallanzani, though he visited Sicily, seems to have contented himself with pointing out instances in which newer beds of lava have taken the start of older ones in their progress towards cultivation.
"I was therefore not a little surprised, when, on visiting the celebrated spot of the Abbé's observation, I found that the beds of vegetable mould, which proved, according to Brydone, the degree to which the decomposition of the lava had extended, were in reality nothing more nor less than beds of a ferruginous tuffa, formed probably at the very period of the flowing of the lava, and originating perhaps from a shower of ashes that immediately succeeded its eruption. It is true that the cliff, which exhibits a section of these lava beds with interposed tuffa, shows also the greater facility with which the latter has yielded to the action of the elements, as the bare and mural precipices presented by the lava are in contrast with the gentler slope of the beds of tuffa, which afford a soil sufficient for the hardy cactus, and in some places even for the vine. Still there is not the slightest evidence that the decomposition exists internally, or that it had taken place in any one instance before the superincumbent bed of lava was deposited.
"Even had the tuffa in question been in reality *vegetable mould*, the validity of Mr Brydone's conclusion might very easily be disputed, for I think it cannot be shown that any one of the beds, of which the cliff of Aci Reale exposes a section, are of postalluvial origin. So abrupt and lofty a face of rock would hardly have been cut by processes now in operation, but may be attributed with more probability to the cause which last reduced our continents to their existing form.
"If we examine, too, the characters of these beds, we shall find them sufficiently distinguished by their greater compactness and stony aspect from modern lavas; whilst the general correspondence in mineralogical characters that exists between them all, affords a strong presumption of their having been produced about the same period.
"But it is useless to multiply proofs of the fallacy of Mr Brydone's statement; and the only circumstance that deserves surprise us is, that thirty years should have elapsed without any traveller having visited the spot with the view of ascertaining the correctness of the observation.
"Should the high antiquity I have assigned to this volcano be questioned, I may remark, that there are valleys on the slope of the mountain which appeared to me too considerable to be the result of torrents, and that among the diluvial matter at its foot, I have found rolled masses of cellular as well as compact lava; the presence of the former seeming to prove that the volcano was in activity at some period intermediate between the general retreat of the ocean and the event which formed the valleys, and reduced the fragments of rock detached to the rounded condition in which we observe them." (Daubeny's *Volcanoes*, p. 206.)
We shall close this article with an enumeration of all the different eruptions from Mount Ætna which are found upon record.
1. The first is that of which Diodorus Siculus speaks, but without fixing the period at which it happened. That eruption, says he, obliged the Sicani, who then inhabited Sicily, to forsake the eastern and retire to the southern part of the island. A long time after that, the Sicilians, a people of Italy, migrated into Sicily, and took up their abode in that part of the island which had been left deserted by the Sicani.
2. The second eruption known to have issued from this volcano is the first of the three mentioned by Thucydides; of none of which he fixes the date, mentioning only in general, that from the arrival of the first Greek colonies that settled in Sicily (which was in the 11th Olympiad, and corresponds to the 734th year before the Christian era), to the 88th Olympiad, or the year 425 before Christ, Ætna at three different times discharged torrents of fire. This second eruption happened, according to Eusebius, in the days of Phalaris, in the 565th year before the Christian era. The assertion of Eusebius is confirmed by a letter from that tyrant to the citizens of Catania, and by the answer of the Catanians (if, after Bentley's Dissertations against their authenticity, any credit be due to the Epistles of Phalaris). But Diodorus gives both these pieces.
3. The third, which is the second of the three mentioned by Thucydides, happened in the 65th Olympiad, in the 477th year before the Christian era, when Xantippus was archon at Athens. It was in this year that the Athenians gained their boasted victory over Xerxes's general Mardonius near Platæa. Both the eruption of the volcano and the victory of the Athenians are commemorated in an ancient inscription on a marble table, which still remains. An ancient medal exhibits a representation of an astonishing deed to which that eruption gave occasion. Two heroic youths boldly ventured into the midst of the flames to save their parents: their names, which well deserve to be transmitted to future ages, were Amphion and Anapius. The citizens of Catania rewarded so noble a deed with a temple and divine honours. Seneca, Silius Italicus, Valerius Maximus, and other ancient authors, mention the heroism of the youths with just applause.
4. The fourth eruption, the third and last of those mentioned by Thucydides, broke out in the 88th Olympiad, in the 425th year before the Christian era. It laid waste the territory of Catania.
5. The fifth is mentioned by Julius Obsequens and Orosius, who date it in the consulship of Sergius Fulvius Flaccus and Quintus Calpurnius Piso, nearly 133 years before the Christian era. It was considerable; but no peculiar facts are related concerning it. 6. In the consulship of Lucius Æmilius Lepidus and Lucius Aurelius Orestes, in the 125th year before the Christian era, Sicily suffered by a violent earthquake. Such a deluge of fire streamed from Ætna as to render the adjoining sea into which it poured, absolutely hot. Orosius says, that a prodigious quantity of fishes were destroyed by it. Julius Obsequens relates, that the inhabitants of the Isles of Lipari ate such a number of those fishes as to suffer, in consequence of it, by a distemper which proved very generally mortal.
7. Four years after the last mentioned, the city of Catania was desolated by another eruption, not less violent. Orosius relates, that the roofs of the houses were broken down by the burning ashes which fell upon them. It was so dreadfully ravaged, that the Romans found it necessary to grant the inhabitants an exemption from all taxes for the space of ten years, to enable them to repair it.
8. A short time before the death of Caesar, in the 43rd year before Jesus Christ, there was an eruption from Mount Ætna. Livy mentions it. Rhegium suffered during this eruption. It was afterwards considered as an omen of the death of Caesar.
9. Suetonius, in the life of Caligula, mentions an eruption from Mount Ætna which happened in the 40th year after the Christian era. The emperor fled on the very night on which it happened, from Messina, where he at that time happened to be.
10. Carrera relates, that in the year 253 there was an eruption from Mount Ætna.
11. He speaks of another in the year 420, which is also mentioned by Photius.
12. In the reign of Charlemagne, in the year 812, there was an eruption from Ætna. Charlemagne, who witnessed it, was much alarmed.
13. In the year 1169, on the 4th February, about daybreak, there was an earthquake in Sicily, which was felt as far as Reggio, on the opposite side of the strait. Catania was reduced by it to ruins; and in that city more than 15,000 souls perished. The bishop, with 44 monks of the order of St Benedict, was buried under the ruins of the roof of the church of St Agatha. Many castles in the territories of Catania and Syracuse were overturned; new rivers burst forth, and ancient rivers disappeared. The ridge of the mountain was observed to sink in on the side next Taormino. The spring of Arethusa, so famous for the purity and sweetness of its waters, then became muddy and brackish. The fountain of Ajo, which rises from the village of Saracenì, ceased to flow for two hours, at the end of which the water gushed out more copiously than before. Its waters assumed a blood colour, and retained it for about an hour. At Messina, the sea, without any considerable agitation, retired a good way beyond its ordinary limits; but soon after returning, it rose beyond them, advanced to the walls of the city, and entered the streets through the gates. A number of people who had fled to the shore for safety were swallowed up by the waves. Ludovico Aurelio relates, that the vines, corn, and trees of all sorts were burnt up, and the fields covered over with such a quantity of stones as rendered them unfit for cultivation. At this time a great part of Syria was wasted by an earthquake.
14. Twelve years after this, in the year 1181, a dreadful eruption issued from Ætna, on the east side. Streams of fire ran down the declivity of the mountain, and encircled the church of St Stephen, but without burning it. Nicholas Speciale, who relates, though he did not see, this event, was witness to another conflagration on Ætna 48 years after this, in the year 1329, on the 23d of June, of which he has given a description.
15. On that day, says he, about the hour of vespers, Ætna was strongly convulsed, and uttered dreadful noises; not only the inhabitants of the mountain, but all Sicily, were struck with consternation and alarm. On a sudden, a terrible blaze of fire issued from the southern summit, and spread over the rocks of Mazzara, which are always covered with snow. Together with the fire, there appeared a great deal of smoke. After sunset, the flames, and the stones that issued out with them, were seen to touch the clouds. The fire making way for itself with the most furious impetuosity, burnt up or reduced to ruins all those structures which the piety of former times had consecrated to the Deity. The earth yawning, swallowed up a great many springs and rivulets. Many of the rocks on the shore of Mascali were shaken and dashed into the sea. A succession of these calamities continued till the 15th of July, when the bowels of Ætna were again heard to rebel. The configuration of Mazzara still went on unextinguished. The earth opened near the church of St John, called R Paparinecca; on the south side fire issued from the gap with great violence. To add to the horrors of the day, the sun was obscured from morning to evening with clouds of smoke and ashes, as entirely as in an eclipse. Nicholas Speciale went towards the new opened crater, to observe the fire and the burning stones which were issuing from the volcano. The earth rebelled and tottered under his feet; and he saw red-hot stones issue four times successively in a very short space from the crater with a thundering noise, the like of which, he says, he had never before heard.
In a few days after this, all the adjacent fields were burnt up by a shower of fire and sulphurous ashes; and both birds and quadrupeds, being thus left destitute of food, died in great numbers. A great quantity of fishes likewise died in the rivers and the contiguous parts of the sea. "I cannot think," says he, "that either Babylon or Sodom was destroyed with such awful severity."—The north winds, which blew at the time, carried the ashes as far as Malta. Many persons of both sexes died of terror.
16. Scarcely had four years elapsed after this terrible event, when Ætna made a new explosion, and discharged volleys of stones, causing the neighbouring fields to tremble. This happened in the year 1333.
17. Forty-eight years after this, on the 25th of August 1381, an eruption from Ætna spread its ravages over the confines of the territory of Catania, and burnt up the olive yards in the neighbourhood of that city.
18. In the year 1444, 63 years after the last eruption, a torrent of lava issued from Ætna, and ran towards Catania. The mountain shook; and the shocks were so violent, that several huge masses of rock were broken from its summit, and hurled into the abyss with a tremendous noise.
19. After this Ætna was scarcely at rest for 18 months or two years. On Sunday the 25th of September 1446, about an hour after sunset, an eruption issued from the place called La Pietra di Mazzara. This eruption was soon over.
20. In the following year, 1447, on the 21st of September, there was another, with a good deal of fire; but this eruption was likewise of short duration.
21. Ætna now ceased to emit fire, and that for a considerable time. The neighbouring inhabitants not only ascended to the summit of the mountain, but even, if we may credit accounts, went down into the fiery gulf, and believed the volcanic matter to be now exhausted. But on the 25th of April 1536, near a century from the slight eruption in 1447, a strong wind arose from the west, and a thick cloud, reddish in the middle, appeared over the summit of the mountain. At the very same instant a large body of fire issued from the abyss, and fell, with the noise and rapidity of a torrent, along the eastern side of the mountain, breaking down the rocks, and destroying the flocks and every other animal that was exposed to its fury. From the same crater, on the summit of the mountain, there issued at the same time a stream of fire more terrible than the other, and held its course towards the west. It ran over Bronte, Adranus, and Castelli. It consisted entirely of sulphur and bitumen. On the same day the church of St Leon, which stood in a wood, was first demolished by the shocks of the earthquake, and its ruins after that were consumed by the fire. Many chasms were opened in the sides of the mountain; and from these issued fire and burning stones, which darted up into the air with a noise like that produced by a smart discharge of artillery. Francis Negro de Piazza, a celebrated physician, who lived at Lentini, wishing to have a nearer view of the eruptions, and to make some observations which he thought might be of consequence, was carried off and burnt to ashes by a volley of the burning stones. This conflagration of Etna lasted some weeks.
22. In less than a year, on the 17th of April 1587, the river Simeto swelled so amazingly as to overflow the adjacent plains, and carry off the country people, and their cattle and other animals. At the same time, the country around Paterno, the neighbouring castles, and more than 500 houses, were destroyed by the ravages of the river; and most of the wood was torn up by the roots by violent blasts of wind. These ravages of the elements were followed by Etna, which on the 11th of the following month was rent in several places, disclosing fiery gulfs, and pouring out a deluge of fire in more terrible torrents than those of the preceding year. They directed their course towards the monastery of St Nicholas d' Arena; destroyed the gardens and vineyards; and proceeding onwards towards Nicolosi, burnt Montpellieri and Fallica, and destroyed the vineyards and most of the inhabitants. When the conflagration ceased, the summit of the mountain sunk inward with such a noise, that all the people in the island believed the last day arrived, and prepared for their end by extreme unction. These dreadful disturbances continued throughout the whole year, more especially in the months of July and August, during which all Sicily was in mourning. The smoke, the noise, and the shocks of the earthquake, affected the whole island; and if Filotes may be believed, who relates this event, many of the Sicilians were struck deaf by the noise. Many structures were demolished; and among others the castle of Corleone, though more than 25 leagues distant from the volcano.
23. During the succeeding 30 years there was no disturbance of this nature. At the end of that space, Sicily was alarmed by a new eruption from the mountain. Etna discharged new streams of fire, and covered the adjacent country with volcanic ashes, which entirely ruined the hopes of the husbandman.
24. In the year 1579 Etna renewed its ravages; but no particular account of the damage which it did upon this occasion has been transmitted to us.
25. Twenty-five years had elapsed, when Etna, in the month of June 1603, flamed with new fury. Peter Carrera affirms that it continued to emit flames for the space of 33 years, till 1636, without interruption, but not always with the same violence. In 1607 the streams of lava which flowed from it destroyed the woods and vineyards on the west side of the mountain. In 1609 they turned their course towards Aderno, and destroyed a part of the forest Del Pino, and a part of the wood called La Sciara, with many vineyards in the district Costerna. These torrents of lava continued to flow for three months. In the year 1614 a new effort of the subterraneous fire opened another crater, from which fire was discharged on Randazzo, in the district called Il Piro. The fire continued to flame for 10 or 12 years longer.
26. The same Peter Carrera relates, that a dreadful conflagration happened in the year 1664, of which he himself was witness. It happened on the 13th of December, and lasted without interruption, but with different degrees of violence, till the end of May 1678. But in 1669 the inhabitants of Nicolosi were obliged to forsake their houses, which tumbled down soon after they left them. The crater on the summit of Etna had not at this time a threatening aspect; and every thing there continued quiet till the 25th of March; but on the 8th of that month, an hour before night, the air was observed to become dark over the village La Pedara and all that neighbourhood; and the inhabitants of that country thought that an almost total eclipse was taking place. Soon after sunset, frequent shocks of earthquakes began to be felt; these were at first weak, but continued till day-break to become more and more terrible. Nicolosi was more affected than any other tract of country on that side of Etna. About noon every house was thrown to the ground; and the inhabitants fled in consternation, invoking the protection of heaven. On the 10th of March a chasm several miles in length, and five or six feet wide, opened in the side of the mountain; from which, about two hours before day, there arose a bright light, and a very strong sulphurous exhalation was diffused through the atmosphere.
About 11 in the forenoon of the same day, after dreadful shocks of earthquake, a crater was opened in the hill called Des Noisettes, from which there issued huge volumes of smoke, not accompanied with fire, ashes, or stones, but with loud and frequent claps of thunder, displaying all the different phenomena with which thunder is at different times attended. And what was very remarkable, the chasma was formed on the south side, between the top and the bottom of the mountain. On the same day another chasma was formed two miles lower, from which issued a great deal of smoke, accompanied with a dreadful noise and earthquake. Towards the evening of the same day, four other chasms were opened towards the south, in the same direction, accompanied during their formation with the same phenomena, and extending all the way to the hill called La Pusa.
About twelve paces beyond that, another of the same kind was formed. On the succeeding night, a black smoke, involving a quantity of stones, issued from this last chasma; it discharged at the same time flakes of a dark-coloured spongy matter, which became hard after they fell. There issued from the same gulf a stream of lava, which held its course into a lake called La Hardia, six miles from Montpellieri, and on its way thither destroyed many dwelling-houses and other buildings in the neighbouring villages.
On the next day, March 12th, this stream of fire directed its course towards the tract of country called Malpasso, which is inhabited by 800 people; in the space of 20 hours it was entirely depopulated and laid waste. The lava then took a new direction, in which it destroyed some other villages.
The mount of Montpellieri was next destroyed, with all the inhabitants upon it.
On the 23d of the same month, the stream of fire was in some places two miles broad. It now attacked the large village of Mazzalucia; and on the same day a vast gulf was formed, from which were discharged sand or ashes, which produced a hill with two summits, two miles in circumference, and 150 paces high. It was observed to consist of yellow, white, black, grey, red, and green stones.
The new mount of Nicolosi continued to emit ashes for the space of three months; and the quantity discharged was so great as to cover all the adjoining tract of country for the space of 15 miles. Some of these ashes were conveyed by the winds as far as Messina and Calabria; and a north wind arising; covered all the southern country about Agosta, Lentini, and even beyond that, in the same manner.
While at that height on Nicolosi so many extraordinary appearances were passing, the highest crater on the summit of Ætna still preserved its usual tranquillity.
On the 25th of March, about one in the morning, the whole mountain, even to the most elevated peak, was agitated by a most violent earthquake. The highest crater of Ætna, which was one of the loftiest parts of the mountain, then sunk into the volcanic focus; and in the place which it had occupied, there now appeared nothing but a wide gulf more than a mile in extent, from which there issued enormous masses of smoke, ashes, and stones. At that period, according to the historian of this event, the famous block of lava on Mount Frumento was discharged from the volcanic focus.
In a short time after, the torrent of fire, which still continued to flow, directed its course towards Catania with redoubled noise, and accompanied with a much greater quantity of ashes and burning stones than before. For several months many most alarming shocks of earthquakes were felt, and the city was threatened with destruction by the torrent of fire. In vain they attempted to turn or divert its course; the lava rose over the walls, and entered by an angle near the Benedictine convent on the 11th of June following. This awful event is related by Francis Monaco, Charles Mancius, Vincent Auria, and Thomas Thedeschi.
A description of the lava issuing from Mount Ætna in 1669 was sent to the court of England by Lord Winchelsea, who at that time happened to be at Catania on his way home from an embassy to Constantinople. Sir W. Hamilton gives the following extract from it. "When it was night, I went upon two towers in divers places; and I could plainly see, at ten miles distance, as we judged, the fire begin to run from the mountain in a direct line, the flame to ascend as high and as big as one of the greatest steeples in your Majesty's kingdoms, and to throw up great stones into the air. I could discern the river of fire to descend the mountain, of a terrible fiery or red colour, and stones of a paler red to swim therein, and to be some as big as an ordinary table. We could see this fire to move in several other places, and all the country covered with fire, ascending with green flames in many places, smoking like a violent furnace of iron melted, making a noise with the great pieces that fell, especially those that fell into the sea. A cavalier of Malta, who lives there, and attended me, told me, that the river was as liquid, where it issues out of the mountain, as water, and comes out like a torrent with great violence, and is five or six fathom deep, and as broad, and that no stones sink therein."
The account given in the Philosophical Transactions is to the same purpose. We are there told, that the lava is "nothing else than divers kinds of metals and minerals, rendered liquid by the fierceness of the fire in the bowels of the earth, boiling up and gushing forth as the water doth at the head of some great river; and having run in a full body for a stone's cast or more, began to crust or curdle, becoming, when cold, those hard porous stones which the people call sciarri. These, though cold in comparison of what first issues from the mountain, yet retained so much heat as to resemble huge cakes of sea-coal strongly ignited, and came tumbling over one another, bearing down or burning whatever was in their way. In this manner the lava proceeded slowly on till it came to the sea, when a most extraordinary conflict ensued betwixt the two adverse elements. The noise was vastly more dreadful than the loudest thunder, being heard through the whole country to an immense distance; the water seemed to retire and diminish before the lava, while clouds of vapour darkened the sun. The whole fish on the coast were destroyed, the colour of the sea itself was changed, and the transparency of its waters lost for many months."
While this lava was issuing in such prodigious quantity, the merchants, whose account is recorded in the Philosophical Transactions, attempted to go up to the mouth itself, but durst not come nearer than a furlong, lest they should have been overwhelmed by a vast pillar of ashes, which to their apprehension exceeded twice the bigness of St Paul's steeple in London, and went up into the air to a far greater height. At the mouth itself was a continual noise, like the beating of great waves of the sea against rocks, or like distant thunder, which was sometimes so violent as to be heard 60, or even 100 miles off; to which distance also part of the ashes was carried. Some time after, having gone up, they found the mouth from whence this terrible deluge issued to be only a hole about 10 feet diameter. This is also confirmed by Mr Brydone; and is probably the same through which Sir William Hamilton descended into the subterranean caverns already mentioned.
27. Some years after this conflagration, a new burning gulf opened, in the month of December 1682, on the summit of the mountain, and spread its lava over the hill of Mazzara.
28. On the 24th of May 1686, about ten in the evening, a new eruption burst out from the summit of the mountain, on the side contiguous to the hill Del Buc. Such a quantity of inflamed matter was thrown out as consumed woods, vineyards, and crops of grain, for four leagues round. It stopped its course in a large valley near the castle of Mascali. Several people from the neighbourhood had ascended a hill between the wood of Catania and the confines of Cirrita, to observe the progress of the lava; but the hill on a sudden sunk inwards, and they were buried alive.
29. Ætna was now long quiet; for no less a space of time indeed than one half of the present age. In the year 1755 its eruptions were renewed. During these eruptions, there issued from the mountain a great torrent of boiling-hot salt water.
This water took its course down the west side of the Eruption mountain; and the channel which it cut for itself is still of water visible. The eruption of water from burning mountains is still much less frequent than that of lava or half-vitrified solid matters, ashes, &c., though that of water, and even mixed with the shells of marine animals (though we are not told whether it was salt or not), has sometimes been observed in other volcanoes, particularly Vesuvius. The eruption we now speak of happened in the month of February 1755. It was preceded by an exceedingly thick black smoke issuing from the crater, intermixed with flashes of fire. This smoke gradually became thicker, and the bursts of flame more frequent. Earthquakes and subterraneous thunder convulsed the mountain, and struck the inhabitants of the adjacent parts with the utmost terror. On Sunday the 2d of March, the mountain was seen to emit a huge column of smoke, exceedingly dense and black, with a dreadful noise in the bowels of the earth, accompanied also with violent flashes of lightning. From time to time there were loud cracks, like the explosions of cannon; the mountain appeared to shake from its foundations; the air on that side next Mascali became very dark, and loud peals of thunder were heard. These seemed to issue from two caverns, considerably below the summit, on the side of the mountain, and were accompanied with violent blasts of wind like a tempest.
These terrible phenomena continued and increased. Etna seemed ready to swallow up at once all those materials which it had been for so many years disgorging, or rather about to sink at once into the bowels of the earth, from whence it appeared to have been elevated. The prospect was far beyond any idea that can be given by description of this tremendous scene. The inhabitants were alarmed beyond measure; the sight of the flames driven by the winds against the sides of the mountain, the shocks of the earthquake, and the fall of rocks, struck the imagination with a horror not to be conceived. During this dreadful commotion, an immense torrent of water was emitted from the highest crater of the mountain. The whole summit of Etna was at that time covered with a thick coating of snow. Through this the boiling water directed its course eastward, and in its passage met with frightful precipices. Over these it dashed with the utmost violence, adding its tremendous roaring to the complicated horrors of this awful scene. The snow, melting instantaneously as the boiling torrent advanced, increased its destructive power by augmenting its quantity; while the mischievous effects of the heat were scarcely diminished, by reason of the immense quantity of boiling liquid which continued to pour from the summit of the mountain.
This boiling torrent having dashed its awful cataracts from one chain of rocks to another, at length reached the cultivated plains, which it overflowed for a number of miles. Here it divided itself into several branches, forming as many deep and rapid rivers, which, after several other subdivisions, discharged themselves into the sea.
Though the mountain continued to discharge water in this manner only for half an hour, the ravages of it were very terrible. Not only those of common inundations, such as tearing up trees, hurrying along rocks and large stones, took place here, but the still more dreadful effects of boiling water were felt. Every cultivated spot was laid waste, and every thing touched by it was destroyed. Even those who were placed beyond the reach of the torrent, beheld with inexpressible horror the destruction occasioned by it; and though the alarming noises which had so long issued from the mountain now ceased in a great measure, the shocks of earthquakes, and the violent smoke which continued to issue from the mountain, showed that the danger was not over. Two new openings were now observed, and two torrents of lava began to make their way through the snow.
On the 7th of March a dreadful noise was again heard in the bowels of the mountain, and a new column of very thick and black smoke began to issue from it. A horrid explosion of small stones succeeded, some of which were carried as far as the hills of Mascali, and great quantities of black sand to Messina, and even quite over the strait to Reggio in Calabria. On the shifting of the wind to the northward this sand reached as far as the plains of Agosta. Two days after, the mountain opened again, and a new torrent of lava was discharged; which, however, advanced very slowly towards the plain, moving only at the rate of a mile a day. It continued to flow in this manner for six days, when every thing appeared so quiet that the canon Recupero set out to view the changes which had taken place.
That gentleman's design was to trace the course of the dreadful torrent of water above mentioned. This he was very easily enabled to do by the ravages it had made; and, by following the channel it had cut all the way from the sea to the summit of the volcano, he found that this immense quantity of water had issued from the very bowels of the mountain. After issuing from the crater, and increasing its stream by passing through and melting the snow which lay immediately below the summit, it destroyed in an instant a fine and extensive forest of fir-trees. All of these were torn up by the violence of the current, though many were no less than from 24 to 30 inches in diameter. He observed that the great stream had in its descent divided itself into four branches; and these had again subdivided themselves into several smaller ones, easily distinguishable by the quantity of sand they had deposited. Afterwards re-uniting their streams, they formed many islands, and rivers 900 feet in breadth, and of a depth which could not easily be determined. Proceeding farther down, and still forcing its way among the beds of old lava, the channel of the waters was widened to 1500 feet, until it was again contracted in the valleys as before. Every object which stood in the way of this tremendous torrent was moved from its place. Enormous rocks were not only hurried down, but several of them moved to more elevated situations than those they formerly occupied. Whole hills of lava had been removed and broken to pieces, and their fragments scattered along the course of the river; and the valleys were filled up by vast quantities of sand which the waters had deposited. Our author observed, that even at the time he visited the mountain, about ten years after the eruption, the whole side of it still bore the marks of this deluge.
30. In the year 1763 there was an eruption, which continued three months, but with intervals. Etna was at first heard to rebehold. Flames and clouds of smoke were seen to issue out, sometimes silver-coloured, and at other times, when the rays of the sun fell upon them, of a purple radiance. At length they were carried off by the winds, and rained, as they were driven before them, a shower of fire all the way to Catania and beyond it. An eruption soon burst out; the principal torrent divided into two branches, one of which ran towards the east, and fell into a deep and extensive valley.
The flames which issued from this new crater afforded a noble spectacle. A pyramid of fire was seen to rise to a prodigious height in the air, like a beautiful artificial firework, with a constant and formidable battery, which shook the earth under those who were spectators of the scene. Torrents of melted matter, running down the sides of the mountain, diffused a light bright as day through the darkness of night.
At sunrise the burning lava was observed to have run round some oaks that were still standing unburnt. Their leaves were all withered. Some birds had fallen from their branches, and been burnt to death. Some people cast wood upon the lava, and it was immediately burnt. This lava continued hot, and exhaled smoke, for two years. For five years after this, no snow appeared on the summit of Etna.
31. In the year 1764 a new crater was opened at a great distance from Mount Etna.
32. In the year 1766 another was opened at the grotto of Paterno: fire, smoke, and an inconsiderable torrent of lava, issued out of it.
33. On the 27th of January 1780 a new opening was formed two miles under the last-mentioned crater. On the 28th of February and the 14th of March the earthquake was renewed on the north side, and accompanied with terrible noises. Between the 6th of April and the 7th of May the convulsions were renewed, accompanied with noise as before. A quantity of pumice stones and fine sand was discharged from it.
On the 18th of May the shocks were renewed. On the 23rd a new crater was formed on the side of Mount Fruimento on the summit of Ætna, and from it a torrent of lava discharged, which spread through the valley of Landuzza. It was 200 paces in breadth. Two other chinks were opened in the mountain near Paterno, and very near one another. The lava issuing from them proceeded, in the space of seven days, six miles; on the 25th it had run nine miles.
A new crater was likewise opened on the 25th, from which a quantity of red-hot stones continued to issue for half an hour, and fell at a very great distance. There proceeded likewise from it a stream of lava, which in the same space of time ran over a tract of country two miles in extent.
Several parts of those streams of lava were observed to be cold on the surface, and formed into solid masses, but melted again by a new stream of burning lava, which, however, did not melt the old lava.
34. In 1787 there was a great eruption. From the 1st to the 10th of July there were signs of its approach. On the 11th, after a little calm, there was a subterraneous noise, like the sound of a drum in a close place, and it was followed by a copious burst of black smoke. It was then calm till the 15th, when the same prognostics recurred. On the 17th the subterraneous noise was heard again: the smoke was more abundant, slight shocks of an earthquake followed, and the lava flowed from behind one of the two little mountains which form the double head of Ætna. On the 18th, while the spectators were in anxious expectation of a more severe eruption, all was quiet, and continued so for more than 12 hours. Soon after they perceived some new shocks, accompanied with much noise; and the mountain threw out a thick smoke, which, as the wind was westerly, soon darkened the eastern horizon. Two hours afterwards a shower of fine black brilliant sand descended: on the east side it was a storm of stones, and at the foot of the mountain a deluge of flashes of fire, of scoria and lava.
These appearances continued the whole day. At the setting of the sun the scene changed: a number of conical flames rose from the volcano; one on the north, another on the south, were very conspicuous, and rose and fell alternately. At three in the morning, the mountain appeared clef, and the summit seemed a burning mass. The cones of light which arose from the crater were of an immense extent, particularly the two just mentioned. The two heads seemed to be cut away; and at their separation was a cone of flame, seemingly composed of many lesser cones. The flame seemed of the height of the mountain placed on the mountain, so that it was probably two miles high, on a base of a mile and a half in diameter. This cone was still covered with a very thick smoke, in which there appeared very brilliant flashes of lightning, a phenomenon which Ætna had not before afforded. At times, sounds like those from the explosion of a large cannon were heard, seemingly at a less distance than the mountain. From the cone, as from a fountain, a jet of many flaming volcanic matters was thrown, which were carried to the distance of six or seven miles. From the base of the cone a thick smoke arose at the time when the rivers of lava broke out, which for a moment obscured some parts of the flame. This beautiful appearance continued three quarters of an hour. It began the next night with more force, but continued only half an hour. In the intervals, however, Ætna continued to throw out flames, smoke, ignited stones, and showers of sand. From the 20th to the 22d, the appearances gradually ceased. The stream of lava was carried towards Bronte and the plain of Lago.
After the eruption, the top of the mountain on the western side was found covered with hardened lava, scoria, and stones. The travellers were annoyed by smoke, by showers of sand, mephitic vapours, and excessive heat. They saw that the lava which came from the western point divided into two branches, one of which was directed towards Libeccio, the other, as we have already said, towards the plain of Lago. The lava on the western head of the mountain had, from its various shapes, been evidently in a state of fusion; from one of the spiracula, the odour was strongly that of liver of sulphur. The thermometer, in descending, was at 40 degrees of Fahrenheit's scale; while near the lava, in the plain of Lago, it was 140 degrees. The lava extended two miles; its width was from 13½ to 21 feet, and its depth 13½ feet.
35. Eruptions in 1792. Eruptions of greater and less magnitude from May until the close of the year. 36. A small eruption in June 1799. 37. Smaller eruption in June 1799. 38. Eruption of lava and flood of water in February 1800. 39. Eruption in 1802. 40. Eruption 27th March 1809. 41. Eruption 28th October 1811. 42. Eruption 29th May 1819. 43. Eruption in November 1832. 44. Eruption in August 1852.
The eruption of August 1852 is the most violent which has occurred for a very long period. After some days of premonitory symptoms, such as the drying up of springs in the vicinity, bramidas or subterranean thunders, three shocks of an earthquake, and a vast column of white smoke from the mountain that rose and spread out like a gigantic pine tree; on the night between the 20th and 21st of August, two new mouths opened on the east flank of Ætna, in the Val de Leone, and began to eject clouds of an ash-grey dust, that completely covered the adjacent country to a great extent, and was carried by the winds far to sea. Soon after a vast torrent of molten lava began to issue from these mouths, which were speedily converted into one by the force of the imprisoned lava; and vast masses of rock and scoria were projected to a great height into the air. The lava divided into two principal streams; the first flowing in the direction of Zaffarana, the second towards Giarra. This river of liquid fire was two miles wide at its greatest breadth, though where it issued from the mountain it was only about 60 feet wide; its thickness increasing from seven feet on the 21st, to 15 feet on the 22d, and to 170 feet on the 30th of August. Its progression was more than usually rapid where widest, being about 600 feet per hour; but when it descended the steeps of the mountain it was precipitated like a torrent, in cascades of fire. After the first week the violence of the eruption seemed to abate, until the 4th of September when it burst out with fresh fury, and the lava took the road to Milo. Eruptions, too, of dust and huge stones continued through October, but diminished in November; when the convulsion appeared to be subsiding. The country devastated was one of extraordinary fertility, and produced the finest wines of the island. But the labour of many years has been destroyed, and the peasantry about Zaffarana and in the commune of Giarra are utterly ruined, and the destruction of property of every kind has been immense. Persons whom curiosity led to behold the terrors of an eruption more nearly, describe the scene around the apertures from which the torrent issued as sublimely terrible. "After scrambling with difficulty," says one observer, "to the summit of a hill composed of irregular blocks of lava, we beheld on our right, at the distance of a quarter of a mile, and towering far above us, an enormous hill of red hot rock and half molten lava, from which at our level issued liquid lava, which descended in a stream of about 60 feet wide into a chasm far below us, that presented the appearance of a lake of fire. Opposite to our station was a dark, frowning cliff, which sent forth clouds of lurid red smoke and steam, round which forked lightnings terrifically played. At intervals, vast masses of rocks, some the size of a small house, and intensely hot, were hurled high into the air, accompanied by bramidas and peals of thunder, amid clouds of steam and showers of volcanic dust. Another stream of lava glowed in a deep chasm on our left, and this aperture also projected stones with fearful violence. The thunder and lightning overhead, and the danger from those missiles rendering our station alarming, we soon retired farther from this terrific scene; which was rendered still more impressive by a storm of wind that obliged us to cling for security to adjacent rocks, or to throw ourselves to the ground."
(II. 3.)
Etna, the name of an ancient town, built by Hiero, on the southern declivity of the mountain. Its more ancient name was Inessum, which was changed to Etna when the Catanians took possession of it. In the time of Cicero it was still a place of some importance. It is now Centorbi.
Aetolia, a country of ancient Greece, bounded on the north by Epirus and Thessaly; on the east by the province of the Locri Ozolae; on the south by the Gulf of Corinth; and separated on the west from Acarnania by the river Achelous. The part which lay westward of the river Evenus was called old Aetolia, and that lying to the east, new or acquired Aetolia.
The Aetolians were a restless and turbulent people, seldom at peace among themselves, and ever at war with their neighbours; utter strangers to all sense of friendship or principles of honour; ready to betray their friends upon the least prospect of reaping any advantage from their treachery; in short, they were looked upon by the other states of Greece no otherwise than as outlaws and public robbers. On the other hand, they were bold and enterprising in war; inured to labour and hardships; undaunted in the greatest dangers; jealous defenders of their liberties, for which they were on all occasions willing to venture their lives, and sacrifice all that was most dear to them. They distinguished themselves above all the other nations of Greece in opposing the ambitious designs of the Macedonian princes, who, after having reduced most of the other states, were forced to grant them a peace upon very honourable terms. The constitution of the Aetolian republic was copied from that of the Achaean, and with a view to form, as it were, a counter-alliance; for the Aetolians bore an irreconcilable hatred to the Achaean, and had conceived no small jealousy at the growing power of that state. The Cleomenic war, and that of the allies, called the social war, were kindled by the Aetolians in the heart of Peloponnesus, with no other view than to humble their antagonists the Achaens. In the latter they held out, with the assistance only of the Eleans and Lacedemonians, for the space of three years, against the united forces of Achaia and Macedon; but were obliged at last to purchase a peace, by yielding up to Philip all Acarnania. As they parted with this province much against their will, they watched all opportunities of wresting it again out of the Macedonian's hand; for which reason they entered into an alliance with Rome against him, and proved of great service to the Romans in their war with him; but growing insolent on account of their services, they made war upon the Romans themselves. By that warlike nation they were overcome, and granted a peace on the following severe terms:
1. The majesty of the Roman people shall be revered in all Aetolia. 2. Aetolia shall not suffer the armies of such as are at war with Rome to pass through her territories, and the enemies of Rome shall be likewise the enemies of Aetolia. 3. She shall, in the space of 100 days, put into the hands of the magistrates of Corcyra all the prisoners and deserters she has, whether of the Romans or their allies, except such as have been taken twice, or during her alliance with Rome. 4. The Aetolians shall pay down in ready money, to the Roman general in Aetolia, 200 Euboic talents, of the same value as the Athenian talents, and engage to pay 50 talents more within the six years following. 5. They shall put into the hands of the consul 40 such hostages as he shall choose, none of whom shall be under 12, or above 40 years of age; the praetor, the general of the horse, and such as have been already hostages at Rome, are excepted out of this number. 6. Aetolia shall renounce all pretensions to the cities and territories which the Romans have conquered, though these cities and territories had formerly belonged to the Aetolians. 7. The city of Oenis and its district shall be subject to the Acarnanians.
After the conquest of Macedon by Emilius Paulus, they were reduced to a much worse condition; for not only those among them who had openly declared for Perseus, but such as were only suspected to have favoured him in their hearts, were sent to Rome, in order to clear themselves before the senate. There they were detained, and never afterwards suffered to return into their native country. Five hundred and fifty of the chief men of the nation were barbarously assassinated by the partisans of Rome, for no other crime than that of being suspected to wish well to Perseus. The Aetolians appeared before Emilius Paulus in mourning habits, and made loud complaints of such inhuman treatment, but could obtain no redress; nay, ten commissioners, who had been sent by the senate to settle the affairs of Greece, enacted a decree, declaring that those who were killed had suffered justly, since it appeared to them that they had favoured the Macedonian party. From this time those only were raised to the chief honours and employments in the Aetolian republic who were known to prefer the interest of Rome to that of their country; and as these alone were countenanced at Rome, all the magistrates of Aetolia were the creatures and mere tools of the Roman senate. In this state of servile subjection they continued till the destruction of Corinth and the dissolution of the Achaean league, when Aetolia, with the other free states of Greece, was reduced to a Roman province, commonly called the province of Achaia. Nevertheless, each state and city was governed by its own laws, under the superintendency of the praetor whom Rome sent annually into Achaia. The whole nation paid a certain tribute, and the rich were forbidden to possess lands anywhere but in their own country.
In this state, with little alteration, Aetolia continued under the emperors till the reign of Constantine the Great, who, in his new partition of the provinces of the empire, divided the western parts of Greece from the rest, calling them New Epirus, and subjecting the whole country to the prefectus praetorii for Illyricum. Under the successors of Constantine Greece was parcelled out into several principalities, especially after the taking of Constantinople by the western princes. At that time Theodorus Angelus, a noble Grecian of the imperial family, seized on Aetolia and Epirus. The former he left to Michael his son, who maintained it against Michael Palaeologus, the first emperor of the Greeks, after the expulsion of the Latins. Charles, the last prince of this family, dying in 1430 without lawful issue, bequeathed Aetolia to his brother's son, named also Charles; and Acarnania to his natural sons Memnon, Turnus, and Hercules. But great disputes arising about this division, Amurath II., after the reduction of Thessalonica, laid hold of so favourable an opportunity, and drove them all out in 1432. The Mahometans were afterwards dispossessed of this country by the famous prince of Epirus, George Castriot, commonly called Scanderbeg, who with a small army opposed the whole power of the Ottoman empire, and defeated these barbarians in 22 pitched battles. That hero at his death left great part of Ætolia to the Venetians; but not being able to make head against such a mighty power, the whole country was soon reduced by Mahommed II. It is now included in the kingdom of Hellas.