The traveller now exults in the near prospect of finish ing his toils, and joyfully anticipates the awful and sub Emu scenery, presented on the top of the mountain. But considerable fatigues still await him. The mountain now becomes excessively steep, and the materials of which it is composed are so loose, that he sinks at every step, and is often compelled to throw himself flat on its surface. By persevering, however, he is able to over come these difficulties, and perhaps arrives in time to behold the most wonderful and sublime sight in nature. A fiery radiance begins to appear behind the Italian hills. The fleecy clouds are tinged with purple. The .ktmosphere becomes strongly illuminated ; and reflect ing the rays of the sun, glows with a bright effulgence. In a little while, the body of the sun is seen rising from he ocean ; the highest top of /Etna catches the first emulous ray, while all below is dark and confused.
The hills immediately below the highest peak arc illu minated, and the spectator seems as if seated in sonic desert isle, in the midst of the watery waste. The ra diance is now rapidly diffused. The forests seem a new creation rising to the sight, and catching life and beauty from every increasing beam. Now appear the extensive plains of YEtna, with its towns, hamlets, and monaste ries ; the cities of Sicily, and its parched shores, with the dashing waves and wide expanse of the ocean. On the south are seen the hills of Camerata and Traponi; on the north, the mounts Pelegrino and Thermini, with the celebrated Enna. Among these mountains, the rivers appear like lines of glittering silver, winding their course through rich and Fertile fields, and washing the walls of twenty cities. Time view on every side seems boundless. On the north side are seen the islands of Lipari, with their smoking summits, the Straits of Mes sina, and the coast of Calabria ; and on the south, Malta is descried at a distance in the very edge of the horizon.
After dwelling upon these objects for some time, the traveller next attempts to explore the secrets of the great abyss. In the middle of the conical mountain formerly described, appears a hollow of about three miles in cir cumference. It goes shelving down from the top, pre senting the appearance of an inverted cone. Its depth nearly corresponds to the height of the conical mountain. The inside of this cup is crusted over with salts and sul phurs of different colours, and from different parts of its surface issue volumes of sulphureous smoke, which be ing heavier than the surrounding air, instead of rising immediately, on reaching the verge of the crater, roll down tile side of the mountain, and shoot off horizontally in the direction of the wind, forming a large track in the air. In the centre of this funnel is placed the mouth of the unfathomable gulf, whence issue confused and aw ful sounds which increase in loudness on the eve of an irruption. The inside of the crater, according to Bry
done, is remarkably hot ; and the surface so soft and loose, as to render it impossible to descend into it. M. D'Orville, however, made a bold attempt to explore the secrets of the awful abyss. Having fastened himself to a rope, which several men held at a distance, he des cended to the very edge of the opening. Here he be held, in the middle of the gulf, a mass of matter, rising in the shape of a cone, the height of which appeared to be about 60 feet, and its circumference at the base near 600. Around this conical mass, small lambent flames were seen to rise on every side, accompanied with a noxious kind of vapour, and offensive smoke. This cir cumstance, together with the particular form of the mar gin, which is incrusted with a greenish kind of sulphur, and pumice stone, prevented him from having a full view of its internal structure ; while the appearance of a con siderable commotion on the opposite side of the gulf, at tended with an increased loudness of the noises, warned him to escape to his companions. The account of the in side of the crater, given by Spallanzani, differs from this in some particulars. According to him, the inner sides of the crater, instead of terminating in the opening into the gulf, lead to a plain, in the centre of which is a cir cular aperture. Within this cavity, he observed liquid matter, rising and falling, and exhibiting all the appear ances of ebullition. In order to ascertain how far this appearance was real, he informs us, that he threw down large stones, both upon the bottom and boiling matter ; and that the stones which fell on the bottom rebounded, while those thrown into the aperture seemed as if they had fallen upon tenacious pitch. Baron Riedsdel, who visited the crater twenty years before Spallanzani, takes no notice of this bottom. Indeed, he inlbrms us, that, upon throwing large stones into the crater, no sound was returned ; but that he heard issuing from the gulf a noise, similar to that of the waves of the sea when agitated by a tempest. Sir William Hamilton describes the funnel as terminating in a point. Mr Brydone gives nearly the same account as M. D'Orville. M. Houel, who visited the mountain in 1782, describes /Etna as having three em inences, and places the crater in the middle of them. Fazello relates, that, in his time, a small conical hill rose in the centre of the crater, forming the vertex of the mountain ; and that after a terrible eruption it totally disappeared. Strabo describes the summit of /Etna as a level plain, having a smoky hill in its centre. Bembo informs us, that he found two craters ; but was prevented by the smoke and vapours from examining their internal strutture. From all these accounts, it appears obvious that the configuration of the crater is subject to frequent changes.