Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 8.djvu/653

Rh E T N A and oldest trees in the world, is in the forest of Carpinetto, on the east side of the mountain, five miles above Giarre. The breadth of the Regione Selvosa varies considerably : in the direction of the Val del Bue it is very narrow, while elsewhere it often has a breadth of from six to eight miles. The Desert Region is embraced between the limit of 6300 feet and the summit. It occupies an area of about ten square miles, and consists of a dreary waste of black sand, scorire, ashes, and masses of ejected lara. In autumn, winter, and spring it remains permanently covered with snow, and even in the height of summer snow may be found in certain rifts near the summit. Minor Cones. A remarkable feature of Etna is the large number of minor cones which are scattered over its sides. They look small in comparison with the great mass of the mountain, but in reality some of them are of large dimen sions. Monte Minardo, near Bronte, the largest of the minor cones, is still 750 feet in height, although its base has been raised by modern lava streams which have flowed around it. There are SO of the more conspicuous of the minor cones, but Von V:iltershausen has mapped no less than 200, withiti a ten-mils radius of the crater, neglecting many monticules of ashes. According to Reclus, there are 700 minor cones, while Jukes asserts that there are 600; these statements undoubtedly include the most insignificant monticules, and also the borche and boccarelle, from which lava or fire has issued. If these be included, no doubt the above numbers are not exaggerations. The only large and important minor cone which has been raised during the historical period is the double mountain known as Monti Rossi, from the red colour of the cinders which compose it. This was raised from the plain of Nicolosi during the eruption of 1669 ; it is 450 feet high, and two miles in circumference at the base. In a line between the Monti Rossi and the great crater 33 of the more important minor cones may be counted, and Captain Smyth was ablft to discern 50 from an elevated position on the mountain, j Many of them are covered with vegetation, as the names | Monte Faggi, Monte Ilice, Monte Zappiui, indicate. In many instances the names have not been happily chosen, and several cones in different parts of the mountain bear the same name: Monte Arso, Monte Nero, Monte Rosso, Monte Frumento, are the most common of these duplicates. Ascent of the. Mountain. The best period for making the ascent of Etna is between June and September, after the melting of the winter snows, and before the falling of the autumnal rains. In winter there are frequently nine or ten miles of snow stretching from the summit downwards, the paths are obliterated, and the guides sometimes refuse to accompany travellers. Moreover violent storms often rage in the upper regions of the mountain, and the wind acquires a force which it is difficult to withstand, and is at the sime time piercingly cold. Thii writer of this article miidi: the ascent of the mountain in the month of August 1877, accompanied by a courier and a guide. The weather was fine and bright, and there had been no rain for more than three months. The temperature in the shade at Catania, and generally along the eastern coast of Sicily, was a mean of 82 Fahr. The party left Catania soon after mid-day, and drove t Nicolosi, 12 miles distant, and 2288 feet above the sea. The road for some distance lay through a very fertile district ; on both sides there were corn-fields and vineyards, and gardens of orange and lemon trees, figs and almonds, growing in the decomposed lava. The road passes through several small villages, Pasquali, Gravina, and Mascalucia the last a town of 4000 inhabi tants. Soon after this the Monti Rossi are seen apparently close at hand, the village of Torre di Grifo is passed, and the road then enters a nearly barren district, covered with the lava of 1537. The only prominent vegetation is a peculiar tall broom (Genistd Ettiensis), which nourishes here. Nicolosi was reached at half-past 4 o clock, and after dinner in the one room of the very primitive inn, a start was made for the summit at 6 o clock. For a short distance above Nicolosi stunted vines are seen growing in black ashes, but these soon give way to a large tract covered with lava and ashes, with here and there patches of broom. At half-past eight o clock P.M. the temperature was 66 Fahr. About 9 o clock the Casa del Bosco (4216 feet) was reached, at the foot of Monte Rinazzi, a small house in which several men live who have charge of the forest. After an hour s rest, the ascent of the higher regions was commenced, a great-coat and a double waistcoat being put on as a protection against the increasing cold. The air was extraordinarily still at this time; the fiame of a candle placed near the open door of the Casa del Bosco did not flicker. The ascent from this point led through forests of pollard oaks, in which it was quite impossible to see either a path or any obstacles which might lie in one s way. The guide carried a lantern, and the mules seemed well accustomed to the route. At about 6300 feet above the sea the Regione Deserta was entered, a lifeless waste of black sand, ashes, and lava; the ascent now became more steep, and the air was bitterly cold. There was no moon, but the stars shone in extraordinary numbers and with wonderful brilliancy, sparkling like particles of white-hot steel. The milky way gleamed like a path of fire, and meteors flashed across the sky in such numbers as to baffle any attempt to count them. The vault of heaven seemed to be much nearer than when seen from the earth, and also more flat, and as if only a short distance overhead, and some of the brighter stars appeared to be hanging down from the sky The idea of erecting an observatory on Mount Etna was brought forward last year, when Professor Tacchini, the astronomer-royal at Palermo, communicated a paper to the Accademia Gioenia, entitled Delia Convenienza ed utilita di eric/ere. sulV Etna una stazione, Astronomico- Meteorologico, in which he refers to the extraordinary blueness of the sky as seen from the higher regions of Etna, and the appearance of the sun in a telescope, which is moreover the spectroscopic lines are defined with wonderful distinctness. Toiling along the slopes of the Regione Deserta, at length the travellers reach the Piano del Lago, or Plain of the Lake, so called because a lake produced by the melting of the snows existed here till 1607, when it was filled up by lava. The air is now excessively cold, and a sharp wind is blowing. Progress is very slow, the soil consistc of loose ashes, and the mules frequently stop. The guide maintains that the Casa Inglesi is quite near, but the stoppages become so frequent that it seems a long way off; at length it becomes necessary to dismount, and after a toilsome walk the small lava-built house called the Casa Inglesi is reached (1.30 A.M., temperature 40 Fahr ) It stands at a height of 9652 feet above the sea, near the base of the cone of the great crater. The Casa Inglesi takes its name from the fact that it was erected by the English officers stationed in Sicily in 1811. It has suffered severely from time to time from the pressure of snow, and from earthquakes, but it was thoroughly repaired in 1862, on the occasion of the visit of Prince Humbert, and is now in tolerable preservation. At 3 A.M. the Casa Inglesi is left for the summit of the great crater, 1200 feet above, in order to be in time to witness the sunrise. The road lay for a short distance over the upper portion of the Piano del Lago, and the walking was very difficult. The brighter stars had disappeared, and it was much darker than it had been some hours earlier. The guide led tho way with a lantern. The ascent of the cone was a very
 * whiter and more tranquil &quot; than when seen from below;