Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1857-12-02
4 LEAP In THE DARK

A LEAP IN THE DARK.
One of the gentlemen who visited Mount
Sinai, in company with Bishop Clayton, hap
pened, on his return to England, to pass thro'
Sicily. Though by no means person of ro-
mantle character, he had fancy for wandering
about mountains, for getting belated in forests,
and supping, by the light of wood fires, under
rock. II was perfectly natural, therefore,
that he should wish to visit Mount -Etna, look
at the great chestnut trees, and examine that
marvellous belt of vegetation, so admirably
described by the commandant Dolinian, which
encircles the cone of the volcano, and marks
the point at which in general the streams of
lava are arrested in their downward progress.
Our travellers unromantic name was Fen
mel, and he had along with him two friends,
considerable younger than himself, one cler-
gyman and the other barrister. Two SER
wants, net much accustomed to sojourn IN
strange countries, rough York kshircmen, speak
ing their native dialect in perfection, and de-
spising everything not English, waited upon
the triad of travellers and when they left Ca
tsuia, two guides were hired to conduct the
party through the labyrinth of woods, gorges,
the ascent to the crater, and renders it at all
times enterprise of considerable danger.
For nearly week before they set out, the
mountain had exhibited some symptoms of in
ternal uncasiness. Earthquakes passed like
gentle tremors beneath the city-not rocking
or heaving up the earth-not cracking the
walls, or dismantling the houses-but just Civ
ing a tremulous motion to the pavement un-
der your feet, and at night causing the pillow
under your head to seem for an instant about
to float away. To the Catanians, this was
nothing they had been used to it from the
cradle. Their houses all stood upon lava, were
built with lava; the detrtus Of lava formed
the very soil in their gardens, and the fruits
they ate had a rich lava relish. In some sense,
they were half lava themselves-cold without,
fiery within, feeling much, rejecting little, al
ways on the brink of an impassioned eruption,
but kept from running over, except at widely
distant periods, by the paucity of materials in
their constitution.
Mr.. Fennel, as true Englishman, loved to
see sights, and therefore longed for an erup-
ton; but, the Catanians assured him he would
have to wait at least amonth in order to enjoy
that peculiar spectacle. He determined to
wait two months if necessary but in the mean
time, thought it would be pleasant and inter
esting to run up and get peep at the crater.
The wind blew strongly from the west, and
spun out the dusky smoke into long ribbons in
the air. Once or twice in the night he thought
he could detect red sparks among the fuligin =
ous vapor, which now and then increased large
Iy in volume, and issued from the breast OF the
mountain with something like a deep grunt.
The young clergyman observed joculary that
Enceladus was snorting or snoring in his sleep,
but the barrister, familiar with the slang OF
men about town, maintained that there was a
row among the Titans, and that Typhaus hav-
ing got Mr.. Enceladus's head into Chancery.
was pommelling him about the mob, and max
ing him seek to deliver himself with fierce
putting and contortions. Mr.. Fennel laughed
at their absurdity, which he did not even pre-
tend TO mistake for wit, and determined to set
out early in the evening to see with his own
eyes, as he expressed it, what it was all about.
at the hour appointed, the mules were ready,
and off they went. To describe what they saw.
what they felt and what they said, would fill
4 aVolume oil no small ulhieuSiohs. SicHs ie
big, every inch of it, with wonder; and nc
writer, so far as l know, has succeeded in con-
yeying to an untravelled reader any idea OF its
awe-inspiring scenery. You know very well
that every step you take conducts you over
uniathomable CULTS of fire, from which you
are separated only by thin crust, which may
az any moment crack and fall in. You know
that interminable beds of sulphur extend from
the great volcanic peak in unnumbered leagues
out beneath the sea, and that for thousands Of
years they have supplied fuel to that prodig
ious fireplace, whose chimney rises ten thou
sand feet towards the empyrean. You fee
mingled with the air You breathe, the warmth
Of that mighty confagration, which, forcing