The daily union., 1852-11-30
The Eruption Of Mount Etna.
lFrom Bsyard Ts5iors Letters 10 the N. Y. Tribune

From Bsyard Ta5ior's Letters 10 the N. X. Tribune
MEsslsA. Sicily, Monday. August %. 1852.
The noises Of The festival had moi ceased when closed
my letter midnight Friday last | slept soundiy
through the night, but awakened before sunrise oy
my Sician landlord. 80, Exceenza have you heard
the mountain lie is going to break out again may the
holy Sanla Agatha protect as r. Ii il rather il-tmed on
The part OF the mountain, was my involuntary h's'
thought, that he should choose for new eruption pre-
csely the centennial festival OF The only saint VINO
supposed ia have any power him. Ii shows dis
regard OF female Influence not al all sailed 10 The present
day. aud scarcely believe that he seriously means u
Next came along The lablerng andlady " don't Ike
his looks Come, exceenza, you can see II from the
back terrace" The not yet risen. but all the
eas was bright with his coming. and there was not
cloud in the sky. All the features Of Etna sharply
scupluIed in the clear arr, From The iopmost cone
thick stream OF white smoke was slowly pulled out al
short intervals and rolled azly down the eastern side
II had heavy anguld character. and ! should have
thought nothing Of the appearance bat Tor the alarm oil
my hosts. twas like the slow fire OF earths incense,
burning on that grand mountain altar.
hurried oil to the pest oihce 10 await the arrival OF
the diligence from Palermo The office is the Strada
Enea, the street OF Caana, which runs straight
through the city, from the to The base Of the noun
tain, whose peak closes the long VISTA The diligence
hour later than usual. and passed The time IN
watching the smoke, which continued 10 increase IN
volume, aud was mingled from time 10 time with Jeis OF
inky blackness. The position said ne had seen hres
and heard loud noises during The night According 10
his account. the disturbances commenced about md
night could not but envy my friend C9sar, who was
probably al that moment on the summit looking down
into the seething hres OF the crater.
AT laet rolled out oil CafaDla. lneTt were I'D the
diligence. beside my self. two and women. Sic
ians OF the secondary class. The road followed the
Shore rugged tracts Of lava. the different epochs OF
which could be distinctly traced in the character OF the
vegetation The last floor (ot 1879 stood piled in
long ridges OF terrible ser,iy, barely allowing the aloe
and cactus to take root in The hoIloWs between.
We had not proceeded far before new sign called my
attention TO the mountain Not only was there ser
cepible jar vibration in the earth, but dull groanng
sound like the mu,lerng OF distant thunder, began TO be
heard. The smoke increased in volume, and we ad
vanced further to the eastward and much to the
great cone perceived that IT consisted of two jets, ssu-
ing i,om different mouths. broad stream Of very dense
white smoke still flowed over The lip OF The topmost
crater and down the eastern side As its breadth did
not vary, and the etges distinctly Defined il was no
doubt the suphnrous vapor rising from river OF molten
lava Perhaps a thousand yards below much stronger
column OF mingled black and white smoke flushed up, IN
regular beats pants from depression IN the noun
tain side. between two small extinct cones All this
part OF Ena scared with deep chasms, and in the
bottoms OF those nearest the opening could see the red
geam Of fire. The air perfectly still, and as ye
there cloud in The sky.
When we stopped TO change horses at the town oi
Aci ReaIe first elt the violence of the remor and the
awful siernness OF the sound The smoke by this time
seemed 10 be gathering the side toward Calana, and
hung in dark about half way down the noun
tain. Groups of the villagers were gathered in the
streets which looked upward 10 Ena, and discussing
the chances of eruption. "Ab" said an old peasant
!" The mountain knows how 10 make himself respected
When he talks ever, body listens" The sound was The
most awful that ever met my ears II was hard pain
ful moan. now and then fueIlng like suppressed sob
and had al the same time an expression o threatening
and OF agony. IL did not come frem H,na alone. II
had no liked locations i Iervaded all space: was IN
the air. in the depths OF the sea, in The earth under my
feet-sveIy where, IN fact and as II continued 10 IN
in violence, experienced sensation OF positive
distress. The people looked anxious and alarmed, al
though they said il good thing for all Sicily; that
last year they had been IN constant fear from earth
quakes, and that an eruption invariably left the island
quiet for several years Ii true that during the pasi
year paris OF Sicily and Caabria have been visited with
severe shocks. occasonng much damage 10 property.
\ merchant OF this city informed me yesterday thai his
ID, k.I he nj
rs warehouse, fearing that their residence might be
4naken down in the night
As we rode along from Ac Reae 10 Taormna, all The
rafting oil the diligence The rough road could not
drown the awful noise. There strong smell of
sulphur in the air and the thick pants OF smoke from the
lower crater continued 10 increase in strength The
fierce and hot, and the edges OF the suphurons
clouds shone with dazzling wbleness mounted
soldier overlook and rode beside the diligence talking
with the position. He had been up 10 the mountain,
and taking his report TO the governor OF the district
The heat OF the day and the continued iremo OF the air
lued me into sort Of doze, when | was suddenly
aroused by cry from the soldier and the stopping oil The
diligence. At the time there a terrific peal oi
sound, followed by jar which must have shaken The
whole island. We looked up TO Elna which was ortu-
natey in full view before Us An immense mass oil
white smoke bad burst up from the crater, and
rising pependculay into the air, lis rounded volumes
rapidly whng one over the Other yet urged with such
impetus that they only rolled outward after they had
cended 10 an immense height II might have been one
minute or 6vefor was entraDced by this wonderful
spectacle that lost the sense OF tme-but il seemed IN
stantaneous ESQ rapid and violent the effects OF the
expoeon) when there stood IN the air, based on The
summit OF the mountain, mass OF smoke four or five
miles high and shaped precisely like the Italian pine tree
Words cannot paint The grandeur OF this mighty tree.
Its trunk OF coumDed smoke, side OF which was
slvered by the sun, while the other, in shadow, was
lurd with red iame for than mile before IL
sent out lis cloudy bougbs Then parting into thou
sand streams, each OF which again threw its branch
ing tufts OF smoke, rolling and waving in The arr stood
in Intense relief against The dark blue OF the sky It's
founded masses oi foliage wefe dazzngly white one
SIDE while IN the shadowy depths OF the branches there
was constant play OF brown, yellow, and crimson ns
revealing the central shalt OF fire. II was like that tree
celebrated in the Scandinavian sagas, as seen by the
mother OF Iarald HaTdrads-ihal tree whose roots
pierced through The earth, whose trunk OF the color
o blood, and whose branches filled the uermost
OF the heavens.
This ou,burst seemed TO have relieved the mountain
for the less violent, though the terri.
bic noise still droned in the air. and earth. and sea And
now, from the base OF the ree three white slow
ly crept into many separate chasms against the walls
OF which played the Pickering glow OF The burning lava.
The column Of smoke and flame still hurled upward,
and the tree, after standing about ten mnnies-a
and revelation OF the active orces OF Nature-grad
ally and spread, lost lis FORM and slowly moved by
light wind he first that disturbed the dead calm Of
The day. bent over 10 The eastward. We resumed
The vas, belt OF smoke a, last arched
the strait, here about twenty miles wide, and sank
toward the distant Calabrian shore. As we dove
under H. for some miles of our way the sun was
totally obscured, and the sky presented the singular
spectacle OF two bemIspheres OF clear blue, with broad
belt oil darkness drawn between them There was hot
sulphurous vspor the air. and showers of white ashes
fell from time 10 time We were distant about fifteen
miles, in straight line from the craer bat the air
clear, under the shadow OF the smoke. that
could distinctly Iace the downward movement OF the