Etna: A History of the Mountain and of its Eruptions - G. F. Rodwell

A drive of a few miles to the South of Aci Reale brings us to Trezza, a small village built of lava. A short distance from the shore are the celebrated Scogli di Ciclopi, or rocks of the Cyclops, said to be those which Polyphemus hurled at Ulysses after his escape from the cave. The rocks, seven in number, form small islets, the largest of which, the Isola d'Aci, is about 3000 feet in circumference, and 150 feet high. It consists of crudely columnar basalt capped by a kind of marl. Near the top of the island there is a cave called the "Grotto of Polyphemus," also a cistern of water. To the south of this island a very picturesque rock rises from the sea. It is 2000 feet in circumference and about 200 feet in height, and consists of columnar basalt in four and eight-sided prisms, but not very regular; a hard calcareous substance is found in their interstices. Fine crystals of analcime are sometimes met with in the basalts of the Cyclops Islands. Lyell considers these basalts "the most ancient monuments of volcanic action within the region of Etna."

A few miles south of the Isole di Ciclopi are the bay and city of Catania. We started from the latter when we commenced our ascent of Etna, and now on returning to it, we completed the circuit of the mountain by its base-road of 87 miles.

Katana (Κατα'νη) is believed to have been founded about 730 b.c. by a Greek colony of Naxos, which had originally come from Chalcis. The city maintained its independence till the time of Hieron, who expelled the original inhabitants in 476 b.c., and peopled the city with Syracusans and inhabitants of the Peloponnesus to the number of 10,000. At the same time the name of the city was changed to Aetna (′'Αιθνη). In 461 b.c., however, the old inhabitants retook their city, and drove out the newly-settled strangers, who betook themselves to Inessa, occupied it, and changed its name to Aetna. At a later period the Katanians sided with the Athenians against the Syracusans. But in 403 b.c. Dionysius of Syracuse took and plundered the city, sold the inhabitants as slaves, and established in it a body of Campanian mercenaries. The latter quitted it and retired to Aetna in 396 b.c., when the city was taken by the Carthaginians after a battle off the rocks of the Cyclops. Katana submitted to the Romans in 263 b.c., during the first Punic War, and it soon became a very populous city. Cicero mentions it as a wealthy city and important seaport. During the Middle Ages it underwent many changes both at the hands of nature and of man; it belonged in succession to the Goths, Saracens, and Normans; and in 1169 was destroyed by an earthquake, during which 15,000 of its inhabitants perished. Again in 1669, and 1693, it was almost destroyed by earthquakes. The present town is comparatively new, many of its more ancient remains are covered with lava, among them the remains of a fine Greco-Roman theatre, in which it is probable that Alcibiades addressed the Catanians in 415 b.c. There are also remains of a Roman amphitheatre, bath, and tombs. Of more modern structures, the cathedral is the first to claim our notice. It was commenced by Roger I. in 1091, but in less than a century was almost entirely destroyed by an earthquake. At one corner of the building you descend through a narrow passage cut in the lava, to a crypt in which some ancient Roman arches are shown, partly filled up with lava. Here also is seen a small stream of very clear water flowing through the lava. The cathedral contains several interesting tombs, and in the chapel of S. Agata, her body is preserved in a silver sarcophagus, which during certain fetes is carried through the town in procession, attended by all the authorities. S. Agata was martyred by the Prætor Quintianus in the reign of Decius, and is the patron saint of the city. Whenever Catania has been in trouble from the approach of lava streams, or from earthquakes, the veil of S. Agata has been used as a charm to avert the evil.

The University of Catania is the most celebrated in Sicily. It was founded in 1445 by Alfonso of Arragon, and has produced several men of eminence. The city also possesses one of the finest monasteries in the world, now converted into schools and barracks. Formerly the monastery of S. Nicola was occupied by 40 monks, all members of noble families; it is sufficiently large to hold 400.

CHAPTER V.
ERUPTIONS OF THE MOUNTAIN.

Their frequency within the historical period.—525 b.c.—477 b.c.—426 b.c.—396 b.c.—140 b.c.—134 b.c.—126 b.c.—122 b.c.—49 b.c.—43 b.c.—38 b.c.—32 b.c.—40 a.d.—72.—253.—420.—812.—1169.—1181.—1285.—1329.—1333.—1371.—1408.—1444.—1446.—1447.—Close of the Fifteenth Century.—1536.—1537—1566.—1579.—1603.—1607.—1610.—1614.—1619.—1633.—1646.—1651.—1669.—1682.—1688.—1689.—1693.—1694.—1702.—1723.—1732.—1735.—1744.—1747.—1755.—Flood of 1755.—1759.—1763.—1766.—1780.—1781.—1787.—1792.—1797.—1798.—1799.—1800.—1802.—1805.—1808.—1809.—1811.—1819.—1831.—1832.—1838.—1842.—1843.—1852.—1865.—1874.—General character of the Eruptions.

A list of all the eruptions of Etna from the earliest times has been given by several writers, notably by Ferrara in his Descrizione dell' Etna, and by Gemellaro. The latter places the first eruption in 1226 b.c. in the time of the Sicani; the second in 1170 b.c.; and of the third he says, "In 1149 b.c. there was an eruption, and Hercules in consequence fled from the island." Of course these dates are worthless, and the statements are no doubt based upon the assertion of Diodorus, that before the Trojan war the Sicani were driven from the east side of Sicily by the eruptions of the volcano.

The first eruption appears to have occurred in the time of Pythagoras; we have no details as to its nature.
The second eruption occurred in 477 b.c. It is mentioned by Thucydides, and it must be the eruption to which Pindar and Æschylus allude. The former visited the tomb of Hiero I. of Syracuse in 473 b.c., and the latter was in Sicily in 471 b.c. On the occasion of this eruption, two heroic youths named Anăpias and Amphĭnomus, performed a deed to which Seneca and other writers allude with enthusiasm. While the lava was rapidly overwhelming the city of Katana, they placed their aged parents on their shoulders, and, at the risk of their lives, bore them through the flaming streets, and succeeded in placing them in safety. It was said that the fiery stream of lava parted to make way for them. Statues were raised to the honour of the Pii Fratres, and their burial place was long known as the Campus Piorum. Even a temple was erected to commemorate the deed.
Lucilius Junior devotes the concluding lines of his poem on Etna to the glory of the brothers: "The flames blushed to touch the filial youths, and wherever they plant their footsteps, they retire. That day is a day of fortune; harmless that land. On their right hand fierce dangers prevail; on their left are burning fires. Athwart the flames they pass in triumph, his brother and he, each safe beneath his filial burden. There the devouring fire flees backward, and checks itself round the twin pair. At length they issue forth unharmed, and bear with them their deities in safety. Songs of poets honour and admire them; them has Pluto placed apart beneath a glorious name, nor can the mean Fates reach the holy youths, but have truly granted them the homes and dominion of the blessed."[18]
The third eruption occurred in the year 426 b.c. It is mentioned by Thucydides as having commenced in the sixth year of the Peloponnesian War. It destroyed a portion of the territory of the inhabitants of Katana.
An important eruption occurred in the year 396 b.c. It broke out from Monte di Mojo, the most northerly of the minor cones of Etna, and following the course of the river Acesines, (now the Alcantara) entered the sea at the site of the ancient Greek colony of Naxos. Himilco the Carthaginian general, was at this time on his way from Messana to Syracuse, and he was compelled to march his troops round the west side of the mountain in order to avoid the stream of lava.
We hear of no further eruption for 256 years, when in the year 140 b.c., in the consulship of C. Lælius Sapiens and Q. Servilius Cæpio, there was an outburst from the volcano which destroyed 40 people.
Six years later an eruption occurred according to Orosius and Julius Obsequens, in the consulship of Sergius Fulvius Flaccus, and Quintus Calpurnius Piso. We have no details concerning its nature or extent.
The same authorities state that in the year 126 b.c. in the consulship of L. Œmilius Lepidus, and L. Aurelius Orestes, Sicily suffered from a very severe earthquake, and a deluge of fiery matter poured from Etna, overwhelming large tracts of country, and rendering the waters of the adjacent Ionian sea positively hot. It is said that the sea near the island of Lipari boiled, and that the inhabitants ate so large a number of the fishes which were cast, already cooked, upon their shores, that a distemper appeared which destroyed a large number of people.
Four years later Katana was nearly destroyed by a new eruption. The roofs of many of the houses were broken in by the weight of hot ashes which fell upon them; but the lava stream turned aside near the city and flowed into the sea. The lava is believed to have issued from a small crater near Gravina, about 2½ miles from Katana. The city was so much injured by this eruption that the Romans granted the inhabitants an immunity from all taxes for a space of ten years.
An eruption, of which we have no details, occurred during the civil war between Cæsar and Pompey.
Livy speaks of an eruption and earthquake which took place shortly before the death of Cæsar, which it was believed to portend.
In 38 b.c., during the civil war between Octavianus and Sextus Pompeius, a violent eruption occurred on the east side of the mountain, accompanied by fearful noises and outbursts of flame.
Six years afterwards an eruption of a less violent character took place.
The next eruption of which we hear is that mentioned by Suetonius in his Life of Caligula. The Emperor happened to be at Messina at the time, and he fled from the town through fear of the eruption. This was in 40 a.d.
An eruption is said to have occurred in 72, in the second year after the capture of Jerusalem by Titus.
Etna was now quiescent for nearly two centuries, but in the year 253, in the reign of the Emperor Decius, a violent eruption lasting nine days occurred. The lava flowed in the direction of Catania, and the inhabitants for the first time tested the efficacy of the veil of S. Agatha, which afterwards stood them in such good stead on more than one occasion. The Saint had been martyred the year before, and when the frightened inhabitants saw the stream of lava approaching the city, they rushed to the tomb, and removed the veil which covered her body. This was carried to the edge of the descending torrent of lava, and is asserted to have at once arrested its progress.
According to Carrera and Photius an eruption occurred in the year 420.
We now find no record of any volcanic action for nearly four hundred years. Geoffrey of Viterbo states that an eruption occurred in 812, when Charlemagne was in Messina.
After another long interval of more than three centuries and a half, the mountain again entered into eruption. In February, 1169, occurred one of the most disastrous eruptions on record. A violent earthquake, which was felt as far as Reggio, occurred about dawn, and in a few minutes Catania was a heap of ruins. It is estimated that 15,000 persons were buried beneath the ruins. It was the vigil of the feast of S. Agatha, and the Cathedral of Catania was crowded with people, who were all buried beneath the ruins, together with the Bishop and forty-four Benedictine monks. The side of the cone of the great crater towards Taormina fell into the crater. At Messina the sea retired to some distance from the shore, and then suddenly returned, overwhelming a portion of the city, and sweeping away a number of persons who had fled to the shore for safety. The clear and pure fountain of Arethusa at Syracuse became muddy and brackish; while the fountain of Ajo, near the village of Saraceni, ceased to flow for two hours, and then emitted water of the colour of blood. Ludovico Aurelio states that the vines, corn, and trees were burnt up over large districts.
According to Nicolo Speziale, there was a great eruption from the eastern side of the mountain in 1181.
A stream of lava is said to have burst from the eastern side of the mountain in 1285, when Charles of Anjou was on his death-bed, and to have flowed fifteen miles.
In the year 1329 Niccolo Speziale was in Catania, and witnessed the eruption of which he has left us an account. On the evening of June 28th, about the hour of vespers, Etna was strongly convulsed, terrible noises were emitted, and flames issued from the south side of the mountain. A new crater—Monte Lepre—opened in the Val del Bove above the rock of Musarra, and emitted large quantities of dense black smoke. Soon afterwards a torrent of lava poured from the crater, and red-hot masses of rock were projected into the air. These effects continued till the 15th of July, when a second crater opened ten miles to the S.E. of Montelepre, and near the Church of S. Giovanni Paparometto. Soon after four other craters opened around it, and emitted smoke and lava. The sun was obscured from morning till evening by the smoke and ashes, and the adjacent fields were burnt up by the hot sand and ashes. Multitudes of birds and animals perished, and many persons are said to have died from terror. The lava streams were divided into three portions, two of which flowed towards Aci, and the third towards Catania. The ashes were carried as far as Malta, a distance of 130 miles.
Four years afterwards an eruption is recorded by Silvaggio.
A manuscript preserved in the archives of the Cathedral of Catania mentions an eruption which occurred on the 6th of August, 1371, which caused the destruction of numerous olive groves near the city.
An eruption which lasted for twelve days commenced on the 9th of November, 1408; it originated in the great crater, but several mouths subsequently opened near the base of the mountain. Large quantities of red-hot ashes were emitted, some of which fell in Calabria. The villages of Pedara and Tre Castagne suffered severely from this eruption.
A violent earthquake in 1444 caused the upper cone of the mountain to fall into the crater. A torrent of lava also issued from the mountain, and moved for a space of twenty days towards Catania, but it did not reach the city.
Two years later lava issued from the Val del Bove near the Rock of Musarra; the crater then formed was perhaps the present Monte Finocchio.
A short eruption, of which we have no details, occurred in 1447: after which Etna was quiescent for 89 years.
Bembo and Fazzello mention an eruption which occurred towards the close of the 15th century, during which a current of lava flowed from the great crater, and destroyed a portion of Catania. In 1533 Filoteo, of whom we have before spoken as one of the earliest historians of Etna, descended into the crater, which possessed its present funnel-like form. He found at the bottom a hole, not larger than a man's head, from which issued a thin moist sulphurous vapour.
In March, 1536, a quantity of lava issued from the great crater, and several new apertures opened near the summit of the mountain and emitted lava. It divided into several streams, flowing in different directions, one towards Randazzo, a second towards Aderno, and a third towards Bronte. The lava swept everything before it; at the same time quantities of smoke and ashes were ejected, the mountain was convulsed, and fearful noises were heard. Three new craters were formed on the south and west sides of the mountain, and on the 26th of March twelve new craters, or bocche, opened between Monte Manfre and Monte Vituri. A physician of Lentini, named Negro di Piazza, having approached too near to the scene of the eruption, was destroyed by a volley of red-hot stones. Several rifts were formed in the sides of the mountain from which issued flames and hot cinders.
A year later, in May, 1537, a fresh outburst occurred; a number of new mouths were opened on the south slope of the mountain near La Fontanelle, and a quantity of lava was emitted, which flowed in the direction of Catania, destroying a part of Nicolosi, and S. Antonio. In four days the lava had run fifteen miles. At the same time violent shocks of earthquake occurred all over Sicily, the inhabitants thought that the last day had come, and many prepared for their end by receiving Extreme Unction. According to Filoteo the noises were so violent that many persons were struck deaf. The sun was obscured by smoke and dust, ashes fell in sufficient quantities to destroy the olive plantations of Messina, and were even carried 300 miles out to sea. The great crater suddenly fell in, so as to become level with the Piano del Lago. The height of the mountain was thus diminished by 320 feet.
Three new craters opened in November, 1566, on the north-east slope of the mountain. Quantities of lava were emitted, which flowed towards Linguaglossa and Randazzo.
A slight eruption, of which we have no details, occurred in 1579.
According to Carrera, an eruption occurred in June, 1603. The mountain was shaken with earthquakes, and great volumes of smoke and flame were emitted.
A stream of lava issued from the great crater four years later, and filled up the lake which had previously existed in the Piano del Lago.
In February, 1610, lava was emitted from the great crater. It flowed towards Aderno, and filled up the bed of the Simeto, a little above the Ponte di Carcaci. A few months later a second stream destroyed a large portion of the forest Del Pino.
In 1614 several new craters were opened between Randazzo and the great crater on the north side of the mountain. A quantity of lava issued from them, which united into one stream, and ran for ten miles, destroying a great deal of wooded country.
A slight eruption occurred in 1619.
In February, 1633, Nicolosi was partially destroyed by a violent earthquake; and in the following December earthquakes became frequent on the mountain. A new crater opened above the cone called Serrapizzuta, five miles from the great crater, and emitted a good deal of lava. A second crater afterwards opened about two miles to the east of the former. The eruption lasted off and on for four years: the ejected lava then covered a tract eighteen miles in length by two miles in width, the thickness sometimes attaining 42 feet. In 1643 a severe earthquake occurred, which was mainly felt on the west side of the mountain.
In 1646 a new mouth opened on the north-north-east side of the mountain, five miles from the great crater. The lava flowed towards Castiglione.
In February, 1651, several new mouths opened on the west side of the mountain, and poured out vast volumes of lava which threatened to overwhelm Bronte. In twenty-four hours the lava ran sixteen miles with a breadth of four miles.
We have a more detailed account of the eruption of 1669 than of any previous outburst. It was observed by many men of different nations; and we find accounts of it in our own Philosophical Transactions, in French, and of course in Italian. Perhaps the most accurate and complete description is that given by Alfonso Borelli, Professor of Mathematics in Catania. The eruption was, in every respect, one of the most terrible on record. On the 8th of March the sun was obscured, and a whirlwind blew over the face of the mountain; at the same time earthquakes commenced, and continued to increase in violence for three days, when Nicolosi was converted into a heap of ruins. On the morning of the 11th a fissure nearly twelve miles in length opened in the side of the mountain, and extended from the Piano di S. Leo to Monte Frumento, a mile from the summit. The fissure was only six feet wide, but it seemed to be of unknown depth, and a bright light proceeded from it. Six mouths opened in a line with the principal fissure; they emitted vast columns of smoke, accompanied by loud bellowings which could be heard 40 miles off. Towards the close of the day, a crater opened about a mile below the others, and it ejected red hot stones to a considerable distance, and afterwards sand and ashes which covered the country for a distance of 60 miles. The new crater soon vomited forth a torrent of lava which presented a front of two miles, it encircled Monpilieri, and afterwards flowed towards Belpasso, a town of 8000 inhabitants, which was speedily destroyed. Seven mouths of fire opened around the new crater, and in three days united with it, forming one large crater 800 feet in diameter. The torrent of lava all this time continued to descend, and it destroyed the town of Mascalucia on the 23rd of March. On the same day the crater cast up great quantities of sand, ashes, and scoriæ, and formed above itself the great double-coned hill now called Monti Rossi from the red colour of the ashes of which it is mainly composed. On the 25th very violent earthquakes occurred, and the cone of the great central crater was shaken down into the crater for the fifth time since the first century a.d. The original current of lava had divided into three streams, one of which destroyed S. Pietro, the second Camporotondo, and the third the lands about Mascalucia, and afterwards the village of Misterbianco. Fourteen villages were altogether destroyed, and the lava was on its way to Catania. At Albanelli, two miles from the city, it undermined a hill covered with cornfields, and carried it forward a considerable distance; a vineyard was also seen to be floating on its fiery surface. When the lava reached the walls of Catania it accumulated without progression until it rose to the top of the wall, 60 feet in height, and it then fell over in a fiery cascade, and overwhelmed a part of the city. Another portion of the same stream threw down 120 feet of the wall, and flowed into the city. On the 23rd of April the lava reached the sea, which it entered as a stream 600 yards broad and 40 feet deep. The stream had moved at the rate of thirteen miles in twenty days, but as it cooled it moved less quickly, and during the last twenty-three days of its course it only moved two miles. On reaching the sea the water of course began to boil violently, and clouds of steam arose, carrying with them particles of scoriæ. Towards the end of April the stream on the west side of Catania, which had appeared to be consolidated, again burst forth, and flowed into the garden of the Benedictine Monastery of S. Niccola, and then branched off into the city. Attempts were made to build walls to arrest its progress. An attempt of another kind was made by a gentleman of Catania, named Pappalardo, who took fifty men with him, having previously provided them with skins for protection from the intense heat, and with crowbars to effect an opening in the lava. They pierced the solid outer crust of solidified lava, and a rivulet of the molten interior immediately gushed out, and flowed in the direction of Paterno; whereupon 500 men of that town, alarmed for its safety, took up arms, and caused Pappalardo and his men to desist. The lava did not altogether stop for four months; and two years after it had ceased to flow it was found to be red hot beneath the surface. Even eight years after the eruption quantities of steam escaped from the lava after a shower of rain. The stones which were ejected from the crater during this eruption were often of considerable magnitude, and Borelli calculated that the diameter of one which he saw was 50 feet; it was thrown to a distance of a mile, and as it fell it penetrated the earth to a depth of 23 feet. The volume of lava emitted during this eruption amounted to many millions of cubic feet: Ferrara considers that the length of the stream was at least fifteen miles, while its average width was between two and three miles, so that it covered at least forty square miles of surface.
In a somewhat rare tract,[19] Lord Winchelsea, who was returning to England from Constantinople, and who landed at Catania, gives an account of what he saw of the eruption. He appears to have been frightened at the sight, and took good care to keep in a safe place; hence his letter, which is a short one, is mainly founded on hearsay. However, he says, "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 thereon, and to be as big as an ordinary table.... Of 20,000 persons which inhabited Catania, 3000 did only remain; all their goods are carried away, the cannon of brass are removed out of the castle, some great bells taken down, the city gates walled up next the fire, and preparations made by all to abandon the city." The noble earl is less happy in his scientific ideas than in his general statement of the facts of which he was an eye-witness; we can only hope that he joined the recently-formed Royal Society on his return to England, and listened to Robert Hooke's discourse on fire. In describing the lava, Lord Winchelsea says, "The composition of this fire, stones, and cinders, are sulphur, nitre, quicksilver, sal-ammoniac, lead, iron, brass, and all other mettals!" Two other accounts are appended to the above letter; in one of these we are told that as the lava approached Catania, the various religious bodies carried their relics in procession, "followed by great multitudes of people, some of them mortifying themselves with whips, and other signs of penance, with great complaints and cries, expressing their dreadful expectation of the events of those prodigious fiery inundations." In the midst of all this, news was brought that a large band of robbers had taken advantage of the general distress, and were robbing right and left, and murdering the people: whereupon a troop of Spanish horse was sent out to protect the city and country, three pair of gallows were set up, and such as were found robbing were executed without trial by martial law.
As the lava streams approached the city, the Senate, accompanied by the Bishop and all the clergy, secular and regular, went in procession out of the city to Monte di S. Sofia with all their relics, etc. There they erected an altar in view of the burning mountain, and celebrated mass, "and used the exorcismes accustomed upon such extraordinary occasions, all which time the mountain ceased not as before with excessive roaring to throw up its smoak and flames with extraordinary violence, and abundance of great stones, which were carried through the air."
For a few years after this terrible eruption Etna was quiescent, but in 1682 a new mouth opened on the east side of the mountain, a little below the summit, and above the Val del Bove. Lava issued from it, and rushed down the precipices of the Val del Bove as far as the rock of Musarra.
Six years later a torrent of lava burst from an opening in the great cone, and flowed into the Val del Bove for a distance of three miles.
In the following year lava was emitted from a mouth in the Val del Bove, and it descended for about ten miles, destroying everything in its course, until it reached a little valley near Macchia.
Early in January 1693, clouds of black smoke were poured from the great crater, and loud noises resembling the discharge of artillery were heard. A violent earthquake succeeded, and Catania was shaken to the ground, burying 18,000 of its inhabitants in the ruins. It is said that in all fifty towns were destroyed in Sicily, together with from 60,000 to 100,000 inhabitants. Lava was emitted from the crater, which was lowered by the eruption.
In the following year Etna again entered into eruption, ejecting large quantities of ashes, some of which were carried as far as Malta.
In March 1702, three mouths opened in the Contrada del Trifoglietto, near the head of the Val del Bove. Lava was emitted from them, which flowed into the Valley of Calanna.
Towards the end of 1723 loud bellowings issued from the mountain; earthquakes occurred, and a torrent of lava issued from the crater, which flowed towards Bronte, through the Bosco di Bronte.
A small lava stream issued from the crater in 1732, and descended the western slope of the mountain, but without producing any damage.
In October 1735, the usual noises which presage an eruption were heard, earthquakes followed, and a little later the crater emitted flames and red-hot stones. Lava also issued from it, and the stream divided into three branches, one of which flowed towards Bronte, a second towards Linguaglossa, and a third towards Mascali; but they did not get beyond the upper regions of the mountain.
In 1744 the mountain threw out great quantities of ashes, but no lava.
In 1747 a quantity of lava flowed from the great crater into the Val del Bove, and the height of the cone was considerably increased during the eruption.
Early in the year 1755, Etna began to show signs of disturbance; a great column of black smoke issued from the crater, from which forked lightning was frequently emitted. Loud detonations were heard, and two streams of lava issued from the crater. A new mouth opened near the Rocca di Musarra in the Val del Bove, four miles from the summit, and a quantity of lava was ejected from it. An extraordinary flood of water descended from the Val del Bove, carrying all before it, and strewing its path, with huge blocks. Recupero estimated the volume of water as 16,000,000 cubic feet, probably a greater amount than could be furnished by the melting of all the winter's snow on the mountain. It formed a channel two miles broad, and, in some places, thirty-four feet deep, and it flowed at the rate of a mile in a minute and a half during the first twelve miles of its course. Lyell considers the flood was probably produced by the melting, not only of the winter's snow, but also of older layers of ice, which were suddenly melted by the permeation of hot steam and lava, and which had been previously preserved from melting by a deposit of sand and ashes, as in the case of the ancient glacier found near the summit of the mountain in 1828. In November 1758, a smart shock of earthquake caused the cone of the great crater to fall in, but no eruption occurred at the time.
Great quantities of ashes, and some small streams of lava, were emitted from the crater in 1759, a little later the cone, which had been again raised by the eruption, gave way, and the greater part of it fell into the crater. Two parts of it however were left standing.
Severe shocks of earthquakes were felt on the east side of the mountain in 1763, and a new mouth opened in the Bosco di Bronte, ten miles from the town, between Monte Rosso and Monte Lepre. Four other mouths were afterwards opened in a line; they threw up quantities of scoriæ and ashes, and afterwards lava. In the middle of June several mouths opened on the south side of the mountain, and a fissure 2000 feet long opened downwards in a southerly direction. The lava divided into two branches, the larger of which was ten miles long and 250 feet wide, with a depth of 25 feet.
Several new mouths opened in the spring of 1766, and ejected large volumes of ashes, also streams of lava, which flowed in the direction of Nicolosi and Pedara. The Canon Recupero, one of the historians of Etna, witnessed this eruption, and narrowly escaped being destroyed. He had ascended a small hill 50 feet high, of ancient volcanic matter, in order to witness the approach of the lava stream which was slowly advancing with a front of two miles and a half. Suddenly two small streams detached themselves from the main stream, and ran rapidly towards the hill. Recupero and his guide at once hastened to descend, and had barely escaped when they saw the hill surrounded by lava, and in a few minutes it was melted down and sank into the molten mass.
In the early part of 1780, earthquakes were felt all over Sicily, and on the 18th of May a fissure opened on the south-west side of the mountain, and extended from the base of the great crater for seven miles, terminating in a new mouth from which a stream of lava emanated. This encountered the cone of Palmintelli in its course, and separated into two branches, each of which was 400 feet wide. Other mouths opened later in the year, and emitted large quantities of lava, which devastated the country of Montemazzo.
In 1781 the volcano emitted a quantity of lava which flowed into the Val del Bove. Clouds of grey ashes were also ejected. At the commencement of the great Calabrian earthquake of 1783, Etna ejected large quantities of smoke, but it was otherwise quiescent.
In the middle of 1787 lava burst from the great crater, which also discharged quantities of sand, scoriæ, and red-hot ashes. Large heated masses of rock were ejected to a great height, and subterranean bellowings were heard by the dwellers on the mountain.
Five years afterwards a fresh outburst occurred, earthquakes were prevalent, and vast volumes of smoke bore to seaward, and seemed to bridge the sea between Sicily and Africa. A torrent of lava flowed towards Aderno, and a second flowed into the Val del Bove as far as Zoccolaro. A pit called La Cisterna, 40 feet in diameter, opened in the Piano del Lago, near the great cone, and ejected smoke and masses of old lava saturated with water. Several mouths opened below the crater, and the country round about Zaffarana was desolated. The Abate Ferrara, the author of the Descrizione dell' Etna, witnessed this eruption: "I shall never forget," he writes, "that this last mouth opened precisely on the spot where, the day before, I had made my meal with a shepherd. On my return next day he related how, after a stunning explosion, the rocks on which we had sat together were blown into the air, and a mouth opened, discharging a flood of fire, which, rushing down with the rapidity of water, hardly gave him time to make his escape."
In 1797 a slight eruption occurred, and the great crater threw out ashes and sand, but no lava. Earthquakes were frequent.
In the following year lava was emitted, and severe earthquakes occurred.
The eruptions continued during 1799.
In February 1800 loud explosions were heard by the dwellers on the mountain, and columns of fire issued from the crater, accompanied by forked lightning. This was succeeded by a discharge of hot ashes and scoriæ, which, falling on the snows accumulated near the summit of the mountain, produced devastating floods of water.
In November 1802 a new mouth opened near the Rocca di Musarra in the Val del Bove, which emitted a copious stream of lava. In a day and a half the lava had run twelve miles.
In 1805 the great crater was in a state of eruption, and a cone was thrown up within it to a height of 1,050 feet.
In 1808 the mountain again became active, and fire and smoke were emitted from the crater.
In March 1809, no less than twenty-one mouths of fire opened in the direction of Castiglione. They ejected volumes of smoke, large quantities of scoriæ and ashes, and afterwards lava, which, uniting into one torrent, flowed with a front of 450 feet for 8 miles. Fissures were formed in the earth, and loud explosions constantly occurred within the great crater; a small cone was thrown up.
Two years afterwards more than thirty mouths opened in a line running eastwards for five miles. They ejected jets of fire accompanied by much smoke. The eruptions soon diminished in the higher mouths, and became more and more violent in the lower mouths, until the eruption centred in the lowest one called S. Simone, near the head of the Val del Bove. From this, great black clouds, having a lustre like that of black wool, issued, and afterwards quantities of lava, which formed a stream a mile wide, and eight miles long. It flowed nearly as far as the village of Milo. Frequent earthquakes accompanied this outburst, and they continued in various parts of the island for the following five years.
In 1819 five new mouths of fire opened near the scene of the eruption of 1811; three of these united into one large crater, and poured forth a quantity of lava into the Val del Bove. The lava flowed until it reached a nearly perpendicular precipice at the bend of the valley of Calanna, over which it fell in a cascade, and, being hardened by its descent, it was forced against the sides of the tufaceous rock at the bottom, so as to produce an extraordinary amount of abrasion, accompanied by clouds of dust, worn off by the friction. Mr. Scrope observed that the lava flowed at the rate of about a yard an hour, nine months after its emission.
A slight eruption occurred in 1831 from the great crater, which threw out lava on its northern side.
In October of the following year a violent eruption occurred. A new crater was formed in the Val del Serbo, above Bronte and three miles from the summit. Seven mouths afterwards opened, three miles below the first. From one of these lava was emitted, which flowed to within a mile and a half of Bronte. The stream was a mile and a half broad, and 40 feet deep.
A slight eruption occurred in 1838, when a small quantity of lava was poured from the great crater into the Val del Bove.
Four years later the crater discharged ashes and scoriæ, and lava burst from the cone 300 feet from the summit. It flowed into the Val del Bove, in a stream 600 feet wide, and it came to a standstill ten miles from the summit.
Near the end of the following year, fifteen mouths of fire opened near the crater of 1832, at a height of 7000 feet above the sea. They began by discharging scoriæ and sand, and afterwards lava, which divided into three streams, the two outer ones soon came to a standstill, while the central stream continued to flow at the rapid rate of 180 feet a minute, the descent being an angle of 25°. The heat at a distance of 120 feet from the current was 90° F. A new crater opened just above Bronte, and discharged lava which threatened the town, but it fortunately encountered Monte Vittoria and was diverted into another course. While a number of the inhabitants of Bronte were watching the progress of the lava, the front of the stream was suddenly blown out as by an explosion of gunpowder; in an instant red-hot masses were hurled in every direction; and a cloud of vapour enveloped everything. Thirty-six persons were killed on the spot, and twenty survived but a few hours. The great crater showed signs of disturbance, by emitting dense volumes of smoke, and loud bellowings, also quantities of volcanic dust saturated with hydrochloric acid, which destroyed the vegetation wherever it fell.
A very violent eruption which lasted more than nine months, commenced on the 21st of August, 1852. It was first witnessed by a party of six English tourists, who were ascending the mountain from Nicolosi in order to see the sunrise from the summit. As they approached the Casa Inglesi the crater commenced to give forth ashes and flames of fire. In a narrow defile they were met by a violent hurricane, which overthrew both the mules and their riders, and urged them towards the precipices of the Val del Bove. They sheltered themselves beneath some masses of lava, when suddenly an earthquake shook the mountain, and their mules in terror fled away. They returned on foot towards daylight to Nicolosi, fortunately without having sustained injury. In the course of the night many bocche del fuoco opened in that part of the Val del Bove called the Balzo di Trifoglietto, and a great fissure opened at the base of the Giannicola Grande, and a crater was thrown up from which for seventeen days showers of sand and scoriæ were ejected. During the next day a quantity of lava flowed down the Val del Bove, branching off so that one stream advanced to the foot of Monte Finocchio, and the other to Monte Calanna. Afterwards it flowed towards Zaffarana, and devastated a large tract of woody region. Four days later a second crater was formed near the first, from which lava was emitted together with sand and scoriæ, which caused cones to rise around the craters. The lava moved but slowly, and towards the end of August it came to a stand, only a quarter of a mile from Zaffarana: on the second of September, Gemellaro ascended Monte Finocchio in the Val del Bove in order to witness the outburst. He states that the hill was violently agitated, like a ship at sea. The surface of the Val del Bove appeared like a molten lake; scoriæ were thrown up from the craters to a great height, and loud explosions were heard at frequent intervals. The eruption continued to increase in violence. On October 6th two new mouths opened in the Val del Bove, emitting lava which flowed towards the Valley of Calanna, and fell over the Salto della Giumenta, a precipice nearly 200 feet deep. The noise which it produced was like that of the clash of metallic masses. The eruption continued with abated violence during the early months of 1853, and it did not finally cease till May 27. The entire mass of lava ejected is estimated to be equal to an area six miles long by two miles broad, with an average depth of about twelve feet.
I am indebted to M. Antonin Moris of Palermo for the following account of the eruption of 1852:
The eruption of 1852 commenced on the 21st of August. The earthquakes, the jets of flame from the great crater, and the subterranean rumblings which usually precede an eruption, did not herald the approach of this one. An English family, who were then making the ascent of the mountain, together with a poor shepherd of Riposto, were the only witnesses of the first outburst. The latter was asleep in the midst of his flocks, and was awakened by violent shakings of the ground; he fled in haste, and some seconds afterwards the earth opened with a loud noise, vomiting a terrible column of fire, at the very spot which he had just abandoned. An enormous crevasse opened on the north side of Trifoglietto in the direction of the great crater. On its summit near the opening called the Piccolo Teatro, several openings were produced at the very first, but they only emitted feeble currents of lava. All the force of the eruption was concentrated at the foot of the escarpment of the Serra di Giannicola, 4 kilometres, (2½ miles) from the summit of Etna. To the west of, and somewhat above the principal crater, a second one was formed, but its activity was of short duration. The liquid lava issued with such violence that in 24 hours it had reached the base of Monte Calanna, a distance of 3 kilometres, (nearly 2 miles). After surrounding this hill, it divided into two currents, one of which ran towards Zaffarana, and the other towards Milo. At a distance they seemed to present a united front of 2 kilometres, (1¼ mile), which threatened to destroy all the villages below. The Val del Bove was already entirely overrun; Isoletta dei Zappinelli in the midst of the lavas of 1811 and 1819 was overwhelmed; the valley of Calanna was buried under the fire with lava, when on the 28th of August the lava hurled itself into the narrow passage of the Portella di Calanna. A frightful cascade of lava was then seen to precipitate itself from a height of 60 metres, with a harsh metallic noise, accompanied by loud cracking. Zaffarana was on the eve of total ruin; the fire had taken the direction of the ravine which terminates there, when suddenly, in the beginning of September, the devastating stream stayed its march against the ill-fated district.
On the contrary that which had taken the direction of Milo, reinforced by a new current on the 10th of September, destroyed the hamlet of Caselle del Milo; and afterwards divided itself into two branches, which left the village of Caselle in safety between them.
The inhabitants of La Macchia and Giarre gave themselves up for lost; for it seemed that the lava would be obliged to follow the valley of Santa Maria della Strada; happily, however, from the 20th of September onward, it ceased to advance perceptibly. The eruption did not totally subside till March 1853; but the lava-flows did no more than travel by the side, or on the top of the older, without extending beyond them.
The crater of 1852 was called the Centenario, from its having been formed at the time of the centenary of the fête of S. Agatha. Santiago, in the island of Cuba, was destroyed by an earthquake on the very day of the eruption.
During the whole period of the eruption, only one explosion proceeded from the great crater of Etna. By it an enormous column of ashes and scoriæ was cast into the air.
On the 9th of September white ashes were seen on the summit, which at a distance appeared like snow. When pressed together by the hand they took the consistence of clay, but they hardened in the fire, and could then be reduced to powder. They have been considered to be the debris of felspathic rocks, disintegrated by the heat of the lava, and blown out by the expansive power of disengaged gas.
The eruption of 1852 was one of the grandest of the recorded eruptions of Etna. More than 2,000,000,000 cubic feet of red hot lava was spread over three square miles. This eruption was minutely described by Carlo Gemellaro, in a memoir entitled, "Breve ragguaglio della eruzione dell' Etna del 21 Agosto, 1852."
In October 1864, frequent shocks of earthquakes were felt by the dwellers on Etna. In January clouds of smoke were emitted by the great crater, and roaring sounds were heard. On the night of the 30th a violent shock was felt on the north-east side of the mountain, and a mouth opened below Monte Frumento, from which lava was ejected. It flowed at a rate of about a mile a day, and ultimately divided into two streams. By March 10th the new mouths of fire had increased to seven in number, and they were all situated along a line stretching down from the summit. The three upper craters gave forth loud detonations three or four times a minute. Professor Orazio Silvestri has devoted a quarto of 267 pages to an account of I Fenomeni Vulcanici presentati dall' Etna nel 1863-64-65-66.
In August 1874 the inhabitants of the towns situated on the north, west, and east sides of the mountain, were awakened by loud subterranean rumblings. Soon afterwards a formidable column of black smoke issued from the crater, accompanied by sand, scoriæ, and ignited matter (infuocata materia). Severe shocks of earthquake were felt, the centre of impulsion being apparently situated on the northern flank of the mountain, at a height of 2450 metres above the level of the sea. Some small bocche eruttive opened near the great crater, and ejected lava, but the quantity was comparatively small, and but little damage was done. An account of this eruption was given by Silvestri in 1874, in a small pamphlet entitled, Notizie sulla eruzione dell' Etna del 29 Agosto, 1874. Since 1874 the mountain has been in a quiescent state. The centre of disturbance was at an elevation of 2450 metres (7600 feet) above the sea, on the north side of the crater, and between the minor cones known as the Fratelli Pii and Monte Grigio. A new crater, having an elliptical contour, and a diameter of about 100 metres, was formed at this point. It is composed of a prehistoric grey labradorite, and of doleritic lava. Downwards from the main crater, in the direction of Monte di Mojo, a long fissure extended for 400 metres, and along the line of this fissure no less than thirty-five minor cones opened, with craters of from thirty to three metres in diameter. The stream of lava ejected from the various boccarelle was 400 metres long, 80 wide, and 2 metres in thickness, and the bulk of volcanic material brought to the surface, including the principal cone and its thirty-five subordinates and their ejectamenta, was calculated to amount to 1,351,000 cubic metres. The lava is of an augitic character, and magnetic; it possesses a specific gravity of 2·3636 at 25° C.

CHAPTER V.ERUPTIONS OF THE MOUNTAIN.

CHAPTER V.
ERUPTIONS OF THE MOUNTAIN.