it was the earliest after the the first ; but The second happened about the time of the 77th Olympiad, and the last in that of the 88th, which was nearly about the period when Pindar wrote; so that we cannot doubt that his description is taken from the accounts he had heard of some of those eruptions, the circumstances of which, no doubt, at that time, had afforded matter of conversation all over Greece. I think we may now try to take leave of Ætna, though I am afraid, during the remainder of our expedition, we shall meet with nothing worthy to succeed it. We shall sail from hence to-morrow morning; and expect to sleep at Syracuse, as it is only about fifty miles distant. I shall write to you again from the ruins of that celebrated city. Farewell. Ever yours. LETTER XII. Syracuse, June Ist. The view of Mount ON the 31st of May, we embarked on board a felucca, and set sail for the mighty Syracuse. The wind was favourable, and for some time we went at a great rate. Ætna, for the whole of this little voyage, is wonderfully fine; and the bold black coast formed for near thirty miles, of the lava of that immense volcano, gives the most awful idea of its eruptions. There is no part of this coast nearer than thirty miles to its summit; and yet there has hardly been any great eruption, where the lava has not reached the sea, and driven back its waters to a great distance, leaving high rocks and promontories, that for ever set its waves at defiance, and prescribe their utmost limits. What a tremendous scene must the meeting betwixt these adverse elements have formed? We may easily conceive the variety of changes this coast has undergone in the space of some thousands of years, as every great eruption must have made a considerable difference. Virgil is wonderfully minute and exact in his geography of Sicily; and this is the only part of the island that seems to be materially altered since his time. He says there was a large port at the foot of Ætna, where ships were secure from every wind; "Portus ab accessu ventorum immotus et ingens;" of which, at present, there are not the least remains. It is probably the same that was called by the Sicilians the port of Ulysses; which is often mentioned by their writers.The place of its existence is still shown betwixt three and four miles up the country, amongst the lavas of Etna. However, I can see no sort of reason why they have called this the port of Ulysses: for surely Homer does not bring his hero near the precincts of Mount Ætna. Indeed, I think it is evident, that this volcano did not burn during the time of Homer, nor for some ages preceding it; otherwise it is not possible, that he would have said so much of Sicily, without taking any notice of so great and capital an object, which, of all others, the daring and sublime imagination of Homer would have been the most eager to grasp at. It is evident from his account, that Ulysses landed at the west end of Sicily, opposite to the island of Lachaea, now Favignana, almost two hundred miles distant from this port. Virgil with more judgment lands his hero at the foot of Etna, which gives him an opportunity of introducing some of the finest descriptions in the Eneid. But it is somewhat odd, that here he makes Æneas find one of Ulysses's companions, who had escaped the rage of Polyphemus, and had lived for several months in the woods and caverns of this mountain.-Virgil must have been aware of this impropriety, as he well knew that Homer had landed Ulysses, and placed the cave of Polyphemus at the most distant point of the island. But he could not prevail on himself to pass Mount Etna. He was so thoroughly convinced that this was the most proper landing place for an epic hero, as well as the most proper habitation for the Cyclops, that, by a bold poetical licence, he has fairly taken it for granted, that Homer really made it so. Indeed, in this passage, the pleasure he affords to the imagination of his reader makes an ample amends for his having imposed on his judgment. But to return to our voyage. 1 The view of the mountain from the sea is more complete and satisfactory than any where on the island. The eye takes in a greater portion of the circle, and you observe, with more distinctness, how it rises equally on all sides, from its immense base, overspread with the beautiful little mountains I have mentioned; and at once can trace the progress of vegetation from its utmost luxuriance to where it is checked by the two extremes of heat and of cold. -The different regions of the mountain are distinctly marked out by their different colours and different productions; exposing at once to the ravished eye every climate, and every season, with all their variety; "Where blossoms, fruits and flowers, together rise, And the whole year in gay confusion lies." The first region exhibits every object that characterizes summer and autumn; the second those of the most delightful spring; the third, an eternal and unrelenting winter; and the fourth, to complete the contrast, the regions of unextinguishable fire. The circumference of the great base of Ætna, Recupero told me, he had been at a good deal of pains to ascertain; as it had generally been |