The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1879-07-17
Etna.


globe. The lower zone, which attans
height of about 5000 feet, is beautifcd
by the most luxuriant vegetation, such rs
the tropical and moderate zones afford. 1t
is, indeed, the richest land of SOLVE and
aloe and maize and vine" to he found upon
the face of Europe. Laughing little towns,
white, prosperous. and glecful and dreary
Norman castles, abound all over the rcgiol.,
mingled with streaks of black lava, and in
terruptcd by gardens filled with orange
trees, fig trees and olcanders. The middle
zone, Or "Wood Region" belts the noun
tain to a height of nearly 1000 feet, and
though not so richly shaded as in former
times, 1t richly deserves the name of sylvo-
sa, which it received from the ancients.
The eruption Of the so called 'Bochcrcllc
del FcOcO, i'll 1766, destroyed over u mil
lion oaks of the most beautiful growth on
the southern side Of the mountain. Above
this the desert begins; the four hundred and
seventy seven species of which the flora of
| the Etncan woods is composed thin down
to about eighty, thirty of which arc lichcns
belonging to the glacial zone. The upper
portion of the mountains is in fact, a vast
wilderness where fire alone contends for
supremacy with the snow that, almost the
year round, clothes the summit and the
sides of the main cone. He who has not
seen the sun rise from the top of Etna, has
great deal to learn about the immensity
and beauty Of nature. Just rs the sun rises,
an immense shadow of the most exquisite
purple is projected from the volcano half
over the island, while without its range the
light strikes with magic suddeness upon
the tops of the mountains below. The
range Of the view is almost boundlcss. -
Catania, Syracuse and even Malta; the
Tyrrcnian, the Zonian and the African
seas, are visible, Castro Giovanni stands up
| on its rock, conspicuous in the centre of the
island, while the distant Apprentices of Ca
labria and Apulia, and the entrance Of the
Faro of Messina, with the medieval towns
OF Reggio and PizZo, appear in the far east,
seemingly but mile distant The crater
presents itself as a real valley, profound,
uneven, with hollows and promontorics
formed by masses of lava that have rolled
in all directions ever encroaching upon one
| another. The walls Of the crater are jet
black and steel gray in color, intcrspersed
with the most beautiful blush, reddish,
greenish and golden veins. A gravclike 81
lcnce usually prevails. A thousand smoke
stacks noiselcssly emit long trails of white
vapors that go slowly to break against the
sides of the crater. Over two hundred
cones of various heights, most of them re-
gular in form and all having a reversed
conelike funnel at their summit, are scat
tered over the woody region as the "Plano
del Lano," the plateau from which the
main conc arises. These minor cones that,
like huge parasites, cover the mountain
sides, are all of very ancient origin, with
the exception of the N1onti Rossi, which
sprang up in 1869, and were the outlets of
the terrible eruption which came near bu-
rying Catania. 1t is a very rare occurrence
that the main crater is not aided by some
of these auxiliaries in its work of destruc-
tion-hence the fears that arc now enter
tanned, especially as regards the villages OH
the northern side, such as Randazzo, Cas-
tiglione and Pledimonte. An enormous
portion of the woods overhanging these vii
lagos was destroyed by singular event in
the year 1756. In the eruption OF that
! year, which threatened the eastern slopes
of Etna, all immense torrent of boiling
water issued secmingly from the great
crater, and in an instant poured down to
its base on the north, overwhelming and
destroying everything in its course. Some
traces of this torrent are still visible,
though the locality has recovered vugeta-
| tion and verdure. 1t was probably caused
| by the melting of some glacier that did not
resist the immense heat emanatiug from tho
main cone. The eruption of 1869 covered
six square leagues with lava, at some points
one hundred feet thick, and destroyed
the dwellings of nearly $4,000 people.