Italy from the Alps to Mount Etna . rincely one;and cheerful well-to-do populations inhabit for the most part the numerous villages andtowns of Etna : especially to the south and west, as far up as Nicolosi, a singular littleplace, which is passed in making the ascent of Etna. Zaffarana, Annunziata, Trecas-tagne, Signagrossa, and others, lie nearly all of them at least two thousand feet abovethe sea level. But they are thickly populated, and surrounded by beautiful gardens, whoseproduce both from blade and tree is double that of the mainland. The people are happysubjects of a mighty king ! How
Italy from the Alps to Mount Etna . rincely one;and cheerful well-to-do populations inhabit for the most part the numerous villages andtowns of Etna : especially to the south and west, as far up as Nicolosi, a singular littleplace, which is passed in making the ascent of Etna. Zaffarana, Annunziata, Trecas-tagne, Signagrossa, and others, lie nearly all of them at least two thousand feet abovethe sea level. But they are thickly populated, and surrounded by beautiful gardens, whoseproduce both from blade and tree is double that of the mainland. The people are happysubjects of a mighty king ! How grand he looks on his throne in the early spring, clad in his shining white snow- TO ETNA. mantle, whilst the fields arc rosy with almond blossoms and adorned with the delicatecyclamen ! Then the woods around his throne are covered with rich foliage; thesmothered heat bursts forth, the snows melt, turbid streams dash down the precipices, andaround the monarchs head soft clouds flutter, or float in tattered banners through his dark. EVERGREEN OAKS, NEAR SCIACCA. ravines. Sometimes he groans up to the face of heaven with titanic breathings ; or hisseat trembles and shakes as, musing on past times, he proves the strength of his arm byhurling down red-hot stones upon the puny human creatures below. Then again he sinksinto a long long dream, and the corn is sown in the folds of his robe, and young saplingssprout up close around his feet. Eruptions of the mountain are chronicled in the earliest legends of the island. And 3 o 466 ITALY. although Homer does not mention these, yet the terrific Cyclops who flings rocks at thelittle Grecian ships, and whom they are forced to flee from, is probably a personificationof Etna. In later times there have been recorded about two eruptions in each century,and many towns have suffered by them : especially Catania, which rises again and againlike a phcenix from its ashes. In ancient as in modern times the colossus has often been ascended by curiou
Size: 1519px × 1644px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorcavagnasangiulianidig, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870
