Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1843-02-10
MOUNT ETNA.

The following extract ola letter from Pal
ermo, Dec. l, appears in one the late Lon
don papers,
The day before yesterday, passing along
the Marina, or public walk that skirts the ex-
quisitely beautiful bay of Palermo, and cast
ing my eye ever the range of the Madonan
mountains, and beyond the picturesque hills
of Termni, | saw resting above the snowy
ridge of hoary-headed old Etna (which lies
literally east of sunrise from here) a long line
of feathery whitish cloud, which, from its Pc
cuiar treelike shape, knew at once to be
smoke from the volcanoe. Accordingly, to-
wards night the sun had dropped down into
the bay of Mondello, deep-red lurd glare
became distinctly visible at the foot of the
column of smoke, and all the world was then
aware that the volcanoe was in active opera
ton.
This has continued ever since, dimly dis
cernable by day in pillar of cloud of that
peculiar form which an eye experienced in
eruptions instantly perceives to be the vapor
from crater--and more conspicuous by night
in body of deep red fire, of the apparent
size of an ordinary haycock, but Frightening
and lessening ilfully with the swells and luls
of the blast of the frey furnace.
The height or Etna is the best ascertain
ed ofany lofty mountain in the world. Cac-
ciatore, the present Astronomer Royal al
Palermo, and our countrymen, Sir John
Herchell and Captain Smytf, the celebrated
trigonometrical surveyor, by processes
entirely independent ofand unknown to each
other, all fixed it at 1854 feet English, no,
differing fathom in the three computations
So exact coincidence, in a case in which
several compensations had to be allowed for
must necessarily have been partly accidental
but, as DIR. WOlaston said of it, the accident
was one upon which no three fools could BY
any possibility have stumbled. 1t is worth
observing that Etna, which is more thantwice
as high as Vesuvius, (about twice and half
has not half so larga cone of clInkers ant
ashes at the top, nor is its crater anything
like so large or deep as that of Vesuvius
which latter is in fact quite model volcanoe
as if made for show. Generally, in VOLCANOES
the height of the cone and depth of the era
ter are in the mperse ratio of the whole
heights OF the mountains to which they belong
| 1t would seem as ifthe expansive forces with
in the volcano, having a greater vertica
heightto work through before they reach tn,
surface, either do not eject the scorie ant
ashes so far, or in so great quantity, or per
haps both these circumstances combine t,
render the hollow conical cup at the tot
small in diameter and shallow in depth il
proportion as the general elevation of eacl
volcanic mountain is greater.
The present great eruption of Etna (it i
at this moment flaming away with undimn
ished brilliancy and GRANDEUR is the first tina
has peen visible at Palermo since 1892
Intelligence travels slowly in Sicily, and w
have not yet had any authentic advices from
the scene of action. E.. J.
+. 5. have just seen letter from Rip
osto, within fifteen miles of the crater. Th
hury-burly began its pother on Sunday night
The smoke that afternoon, and the drying VI
OF the springs, betokened that Enceladu
was getting fidgetty; and in the dead of tn
night the mountain heaved and quivered lik
the midships of three-decker, when sh
pours her first broadside into the ribs of tn
enemy. A roar succeeded louder than
thousand train ofartillery, and myrads of re-
hot rocky fragments shot up to the heaven.
No lava had yet begun to flow. Many per
sons here saw, or thought they saw, il float
ing down the TANKS of the mountain 10 day
but, as ! do not tax my imagination for m
facts, on this head l can at present tell yo
nothing.