We were now in a great perplexity. I could not imagine any possible means of getting across; the muleteers held a noisy talk together about what was to be done, and at last led the way along the bank down stream. I asked where we were going, and was told that at the mouth of the river was a sand-bar, firm enough to allow us to cross upon it. In about a quarter of an hour, we came to the sea-shore. There was a smooth, sandy beach all along the coast, and the tide ran out of the river with a pretty rapid current. The bar was several feet under water, and the heaving of the sea, with the rapidity of the tide, made a great surf. I thought it a very dangerous thing to ride out into the ocean through the surf of a sand-bar, for the purpose of crossing a river, but there was no other way, and we pushed on. The head mule was frightened as he entered the sea, and seemed unwilling to proceed. One of the muleteers dismounted, and led him by the bridle into the surf, wading up to his middle in the water. By a good deal of coaxing and pulling, he made him advance. The mules are so accustomed to follow one another in a string, that the head one is sure to lead all the rest wherever he goes, so the whole file of them plunged in after him. When I had got a considerable distance out on the bar, my animal became frightened at the waves that were tumbling about his legs, and he sidled off into deep water. I expected hardly anything less than to be drowned, for, on finding the water rising up to his back, he grew so bewildered that he was unable to tell which way he was going, and would have carried me directly out to sea if I had not pulled in the reins with all my might, and brought him to a full stop. After allowing him to recover his breath a little, I drew his head round in the proper direction, and forced him onward; by repeated trials, I regained a shallower spot, where he grew more quiet, and finally got to land. All the others crossed the bar in safety.
The country after we passed the river was sandy and wild, abounding in marshes and lagoons, where we saw a great many wild ducks. Late in the afternoon we came to another stream, much broader and deeper than any of the others. There was a large ferryboat like a mud-scow, which carried us over, mules and all. The animals made a terrible uproar on board, kicking, pushing and biting each other at a furious rate. The boat had neither oars nor sail, but was moved by a rope stretched across the stream from shore to shore. The banks of the river were soft and clayey, and there was a clumsy sort of wharf for a landing-place, made of sticks and bushes tied together.
This river was anciently named Syn[oe]thus; at present it is called Giarretta. It is remarkable for containing amber, which is carried down to the sea in its waters, and afterwards thrown up on the beach by the waves, for many miles along the coast. A great many persons are constantly searching along the beach for this precious material. After my arrival at Catania, I saw a fisherman who had just picked up four or five highly valuable lumps. They were of a beautiful yellow color, and of the most transparent clearness I ever saw. It is well known that this article is made into beads and other ornamental work, but the nature of its origin has never been satisfactorily shown. From the masses being often found in the shape of tears or globules, like bulbs of turpentine or gum, it was formerly supposed to be some hardened vegetable matter; but no tree has ever been discovered exuding amber. Sometimes insects are imbedded in the lumps, and this has led many persons to imagine that the insects manufacture it, as the bees make wax. It is remarkable that it is never found originally on land, and nowhere except on the sea-beach. This part of the Sicilian coast, and the Prussian shore of the Baltic, produce the most of it. It is also found on the shores of the Adriatic and the coast of Maryland.
It was some time before we got ready to start from the ferry after crossing. The mules had become so antic from their squabble in the boat, that they continued to bite and kick and jostle one another, squealing and whirrying most terribly. Several of them threw off their loads in the hurly-burly, and we were forced to bang them lustily with sticks before they would be quiet. At last we mounted and set off again, and I was glad to hear that there were no more rivers to cross on the way to Catania. A little boy, who sat on one of the mules between two great packs, kept singing all the way. Some of the flat marshy spots were all overgrown with canes, such as we use for fishing rods: they were fifteen or twenty feet high. The country people make use of them to prop their vines, as we set up poles for beans. I saw many laborers in the vineyards along the road, setting the vine-props; these are taken down when the grapes are gathered, and the tops of the vine-stalks are cut and dried for fuel. During the winter, the vine looks like a dead and worthless stump, but it sprouts anew in the spring, and by midsummer shoots up to the top of the pole.
Every step of our journey brought us nearer to the great volcano, which more and more excited my wonder as I approached it. I could now plainly distinguish the numerous hills which stud its whole lower surface like warts. Many villages appeared scattered about in various parts of the mountain. I never before had any idea of its enormous magnitude. There are thousands of people who live at a great height upon this mountain, and have never been off it during their lives. Yet it is always smoking at the summit, and often bursts out in fiery eruptions, that lay waste whole towns and destroy many of the inhabitants.
Long after the sun had set to us, I continued to see the snowy top of Ætna brightened with his declining rays. As it grew dark, our road led us down to the sea-shore again, and we travelled many miles along the sandy beach. The mules were sadly tired with their long journey; every five minutes one of them fell from utter weariness and inability to sustain his load. The muleteers set them on their legs again, gave them a sound beating, and drove them onward. In the dark, I rode against the mule who was trotting before me: the beast, either being more vicious than the others, or rendered cross by fatigue, gave a kick, which was intended for my animal, but missed him, and struck me on the left leg. The pain of the blow was so great that I fell instantly from the saddle upon the ground, and should have been left there in the dark, if I had not bawled out loudly. The whole train was stopped when the accident was known. My first belief was that my leg was broken; upon feeling the bone, however, no fracture could be perceived; and, after a good deal of chafing, the pain somewhat abated, and I was helped again into the saddle. I jogged on slowly, keeping a sharp look-out for fear of another accident, having had adventures enough to satisfy me for one day. This affair delayed our progress so that we did not reach Catania till late in the evening, when it was much too dark to see anything of the city. I must therefore reserve my description of the place for the next chapter.
Balboa discovering the Pacific.