Page:The Works of J. W. von Goethe, Volume 12.djvu/427

Rh my meridian. This purely natural phenomenon was, however, interpreted by us travellers as highly favourable.

, April 22, 1787. The road hither, which runs over nothing but gravelly hills, has been mineralogically uninteresting. The traveller here reaches the shore, from which, at different points, bold limestone rocks rise suddenly. All the flat land is extremely fertile; barley and oats in the finest condition. The salsola-kali is here cultivated. The aloes, since yesterday and the day before, have shot forth their tall spikes. The same numerous varieties of the trefoil still attended us. At last we came on a little wood, thick with brushwood, the tall trees standing very wide apart ; and lastly, the cork-tree.

From Sciacca to this place is a hard day's ride. We examined the baths at the last-named place. A hot stream burst from the rock with a strong smell of sulphur: the water had a strong saline flavour, but it was not at all thick. May not this sulphureous exhalation be formed at the moment of its breaking from the rock? A little higher is a spring, quite cool and without smell. Eight above is the monastery, where are the vapour baths: a thick mist rises above it into the pure air.

The shingles on the shore are nothing but limestone: the quartz and hornstone have wholly disappeared. I have examined all the little streams: the Calta Bellota, and the Maccasoli, carry down with them nothing but limestone; the Platani, a yellow marble and flint, the invariable companion of this nobler calcareous formation. A few pieces of lava excited my attention, but I saw nothing in this country that indicated the presence of volcanic action. I