After 1¼ hr. we pass through the Bocca Piccola, a strait 3 M. in breadth, between the huge cliffs of Lo Capo, the N.E. point of Capri, and the Punta di Campanella (154 ft.; lighthouse), the extremity of the peninsula of Sorrento.
The steamboat now proceeds to the S.S.E. towards the straits of Messina. We have a fine view, in passing, of the Punta Tragara, the S.E. headland of Capri, with the cliffs of the Faraglioni, and of the precipitous Monte Soláro (1920 ft.), the highest hill in the island. On our left lies the broad Gulf of Salerno, with the bays of Positano and Amalfi on the S. side of the peninsula of Sorrento. Conspicuous among the Neapolitan Apennines are the spurs of Monte Stella (3708 ft.) with the Punta Licosa, and of Monte Bulgheria (4016 ft.) with Cape Palinuro (lighthouse).
At length, far off the coast of Calabria, we sight to the S. the volcanic Lipari or Æolian Islands, the ancient Liparaeae or Æoliae. We pass close to Strómboli, the Strongyle of the Greeks, which the ancients regarded as the seat of Æolus, god of the winds. This island culminates in a peak (3038 ft.) with a crater on its N. side, often shrouded in smoke, which is one of the few constantly active volcanoes in Europe. To the S.W. we descry in clear weather Panária (1381 ft.), with its archipelago of smaller islands; Lípari, the largest of the group with Monte Sant’Angelo (1955 ft.); and Vulcano with its ever smoking crater (1638 ft.).
Off Cape Vaticano (lighthouse), a spur of the Calabrian coast-hills between the bays of Sant’Eufemia and Gioia, we sight the N. coast of Sicily, with the Monti Peloritani, the Myconius Mons or Mons Neptuni of the Romans, overtopped by Mt. Ætna (p. [159]). On the Calabrian coast, near the strait which was the chief scene of the earthquake of 1908 (p. [156]), appear the ruins of the little town of Palmi, halfway up Monte Elia (1900 ft.; a famous point of view), and those of Bagnara and of Scilla with its castle-rock.
The *Voyage through the Straits of Messina (Faro or Stretto di Messina), the Fretum Siculum of antiquity, is one of the most beautiful in the Mediterranean. Both banks are luxuriantly fertile, shaded with palms, and yielding oranges, pomegranates, and prickly pears. The Calabrian coast, thickly studded with villages, partly in ruins, culminates in Montalto (5424 ft.), the highest peak of the wooded Aspromonte, the ancient Sila, while we survey the Sicilian coast as far as Mt. Ætna. The narrowest part of the straits, 2 M., is between the Punta del Faro (p. [158]) and the Punta Pezzo, where they are entered from the Tyrrhenian Sea; between Messina and Villa San Giovanni (p. [159]) they are 4½ M., and between Capo di Scaletta (p. [158]) and the Punta di Péllaro (p. [159]) in the Ionian Sea 8¾ M. wide. The currents which sweep past the headland of Scilla (see above) and cause strong eddies near the harbour of Messina, sometimes augmented by gales, gave rise at a very early period to the legend of Scylla and Charybdis, and Homer has described Scylla as a roaring, all-devouring sea-monster.
We pass the lighthouses of the Punta del Faro and the Punta di Pezzo. Nearing the Harbour of Messina, in a bay formed by a sickle-shaped peninsula, we survey the ruins of the city on the green slopes of the Monti Peloritani (p. [155]), whose fissured peaks tower above the sea of houses, once so picturesque.
The central point of the earthquake of Messina (28th Dec., 1908), caused by dislocation or subsidence, was the strait and the W. slope of Aspromonte (p. [155]). The first terrific shock at 5 a.m. was followed almost immediately by a great tidal wave caused by a submarine earthquake, and aggravating the calamity in the lower parts of the coast towns and villages. The effects of the earthquake were disastrous also in Calabria as far to the N. as Cosenza, and in Sicily as far to the S. as Pachino (near Cape Passero; p. [411]). At Messina the sea-wave rose to a height of 8–9 ft., at Reggio 11½ ft., and at Giardini and Riposto 19½–20 ft. The area of the seismic disturbance extended to the N.E. to Pizzo on the bay of Sant’Eufemia (p. [155]), to the E. to the mouth of the Amendolea, near Cape Spartivento and the small town of Ferruzzano, the scene of the earthquake of 1907, and to the S. to Riposto (p. [158]). It was estimated that 96,000 persons lost their lives. The value of the buildings destroyed amounted to about 6,500,000l.
Messina.—Arrival. Landing or embarkation 1 fr., or without baggage 50 c., but bargain advisable. Passengers are landed at the quay (Approdo Ferry-boats) adjoining the old Stazione Porto, where, in connection with the express from Naples (steam-ferry from Villa San Giovanni), express trains to Catania and Palermo are in waiting.