The Sun.
London, England, 1824-05-11 00:00:00

MOUNT ETNA.

The grandeur and sublimity of this celebrated
Mountain is thus described in the Travels of
WILLIAM RAE WILSON, who went to its summit
during midnight to behold the rising of the Sun :
" The imagination of a human being can hardly
figure a spot which has been marked with such
woeful desolation,and is more strikingly calculated
to fill the human mind with wonder. During this
journey the scene became more awfully grand
and sublime, from that conspiracy, if it may be
so termed, of the elements, which impeded my
progress, by storms of rain and hail, with vivid
lightning and awful rolling of thunder, threaten-
ing to dart in thunderbolts on our heads.—
Overpowered with fatigue and drenched with
rain, I landed at a small house of lava at
the base of the cone, for the accommodation of
travellers, the keys of which were brought from
Nicolosa, and built by the British army, with
an inscription to that purpose over its entrance.
" The dead silence that reigns in this devoted
spot, which is, as it were, totally shut out from
the world, and the terrific devastation all around,
where not an insect, or bird of the air is to be
seen, strike deep on the mind sentiments of pro-
found awe and veneration.

" After muffling myself up, and taking a staff
in my hand, I set off with a guide, who carried
a lighted lanthorn. _ _

In the course of proceeding, we stumbled
among enormous blocks of lava, which I can only
compare to prodigious masses of ice, hurled on
each other in terrible confusion, in large gullies.
Although we proceeded with cautious steps, yet
we fell down at almost every other movement, and
were apprehensive that we should break our legs.
In about two hours, we got to the immediate base
of the perpendicular height of the cone, which
we began to ascend, when a slight glimmering of
the light of day began to appear. Of all the
tasks I had ever undertaken at any one period in
the course of my long journies in ascending
mountains, this was the most arduous and laborious.
The difficulty chiefly arose from being unable to
obtain a solid footing, to press the body forward, in
consequence of the ashes being loose,since frequent-
ly, at acquiring a step, we slid down, and in fact
lost more ground than we had gained. At this
time the pure air in one part affected the lungs,,
and prevented free respiration ; and at another
the sulphurious vapour, which obscured the eye-
sight, as if exposed to smoke, occasioned sickness
and violent vomiting. Having reached half way
up the cone; I was obliged, to lay down la a com-
plete state of exhaustion. I perceived below a
spark of light moving quickly along, and not un-
like the torch of a lamplighter in full speed.
This ignus fatuus is presumed by some to be oc-
casioned by swarms of flying glow-worms, or lu-
minous insects ; although others are disposed to
consider them as meteors, or a species of natural
phosphorus. On proceeding, I found the loose
ashes still continuing, and after scrambling up
and rolling down, thank God, we reached the
top, and threw ourselves on the ground for some
time, completely worn out by exertion. At this
very critical moment the sun began to rise, and
with a glorious majesty, altogether indescribable.
—Most fortunately at this season there was no
snow on the cone, otherwise our attempt to gain
its summit would have been perfectly impracti-
cable."

The Author then gives the following glowing
description from its elevation :
" The scene around, from this most command-
ing altitude, uniting objects so numerous and
snblime, baffles all kind of description, and never
could be attempted by the most fertile and lively
mind. Silence, awfully solemn as the very re-
gions of death, appears to reign around. An
horizon is unfolded of an extent incredible, a
vast extent of country and numerous villages,
like so many packs of cards, are scattered about;
rivers in their serpentine directions; mountains
and volcanoes. The ocean is boundless, and the
islands of Lipari and Strambolo appear with
their smoking summits. In short, all nature,
nay, the very world itself, appeared, as it
were, to be under the feet. If from such an
elevation terrestrial objects appeared so small
and diminutive to the eyes of a mere mortal,
what idea must be entertained of that view
in which all sublunary things appear to the Al-
mighty Being who created all by merely speak-
ing, and it was done, and sits on the circle of
this earth, the inhabitants whereof are merely as
grasshoppers. In short, the horrors arising from
numerous caverns belching forth clouds of smoke,
boiling cauldrons, and the overwhelming de-
struction occasioned by the lava from different
eruptions that rushed down this mount in a state
of fusion, with such tremendous fury, the vast
elevation of the mountain, the purity of its air,
where not a bird or the smallest insect rise to be
seen, the yawning caverns, and the dead silence
reigning throughout ; I say, the -combination of
these is calculated to strike terror on- the mind,
and shake the nerves of the traveller, however
distinguished he may be for courage and in-
trepidity, and afford some idea of those hor-
rors that attend the approach of a day
of judgment ! This place is infinitely more
frightful than any part of Mount Vesuvius
which I visited. The view which the rocks
presents, being rent and torn in a thousand parts,
brought. forcibly to my recollection that dreadful
agitation of nature which arose, when the--Re-
deemer of a guilty world edured the penalty of
the law, and said, " It is finished." And further,
those flames of fire and smoke produced by the
volcanoes around, might also convey to us an
idea of the terrors displayed on that Mount,
where the law and commandments were deliver-
ed, and spoken by the Majesty of Heaven."
There are various other important observa-
tions respecting this stupendous mountain, which
is calculated at twelve thousand feet above the
level of the sea, but as our limits will not per-
mit us to introduce these, we shall just refer to
the interesting work itself.