ERUPTIONS OF THE MOUNTAIN.
Their frequency within the historical period.--525 B.C.--477 B.C.--
426 B.C.--396 B.C.--140 B.C.--134 B.C.--126 B.C.--122 B.C.--49 B.C.
--43 B.C.--38 B.C.--32 B.C.--40 A.D.--72.--253.--420.--812.--1169.
--1181.--1285.--1329.--1333.--1371.--1408.--1444.--1446.--1447.--
Close of the Fifteenth Century.--1536.--1537--1566.--1579.--1603.--
1607.--1610.--1614.--1619.--1633.--1646.--1651.--1669.--1682.--1688.
--1689.--1693.--1694.--1702.--1723.--1732.--1735.--1744.--1747.--
1755.--Flood of 1755.--1759.--1763.--1766.--1780.--1781.--1787.--
1792.--1797.--1798.--1799.--1800.--1802.--1805.--1808.--1809.--1811.
--1819.--1831.--1832.--1838.--1842.--1843.--1852.--1865.--1874.--
General character of the Eruptions.
A list of all the eruptions of Etna from the earliest times has been
given by several writers, notably by Ferrara in his _Descrizione
dell' Etna_, and by Gemellaro. The latter places the first eruption in
1226 B.C. in the time of the Sicani; the second in 1170 B.C.; and of the
third he says, "In 1149 B.C. there was an eruption, and Hercules in
consequence fled from the island." Of course these dates are worthless,
and the statements are no doubt based upon the assertion of Diodorus,
that before the Trojan war the Sicani were driven from the east side of
Sicily by the eruptions of the volcano.
1. The first eruption appears to have occurred in the time of
Pythagoras; we have no details as to its nature.
2. The second eruption occurred in 477 B.C. It is mentioned by
Thucydides, and it must be the eruption to which Pindar and AEschylus
allude. The former visited the tomb of Hiero I. of Syracuse in 473 B.C.,
and the latter was in Sicily in 471 B.C. On the occasion of this
eruption, two heroic youths named Anapias and Amphinomus,
performed a deed to which Seneca and other writers allude with
enthusiasm. While the lava was rapidly overwhelming the city of Katana,
they placed their aged parents on their shoulders, and, at the risk of
their lives, bore them through the flaming streets, and succeeded in
placing them in safety. It was said that the fiery stream of lava parted
to make way for them. Statues were raised to the honour of the _Pii
Fratres_, and their burial place was long known as the _Campus Piorum_.
Even a temple was erected to commemorate the deed.
Lucilius Junior devotes the concluding lines of his poem on Etna to the
glory of the brothers: "The flames blushed to touch the filial youths,
and wherever they plant their footsteps, they retire. That day is a day
of fortune; harmless that land. On their right hand fierce dangers
prevail; on their left are burning fires. Athwart the flames they pass
in triumph, his brother and he, each safe beneath his filial burden.
There the devouring fire flees backward, and checks itself round the
twin pair. At length they issue forth unharmed, and bear with them their
deities in safety. Songs of poets honour and admire them; them has Pluto
placed apart beneath a glorious name, nor can the mean Fates reach the
holy youths, but have truly granted them the homes and dominion of the
blessed."[18]
[18] Translated by L. E. Upcott, M.A.
3. The third eruption occurred in the year 426 B.C. It is mentioned by
Thucydides as having commenced in the sixth year of the Peloponnesian
War. It destroyed a portion of the territory of the inhabitants of
Katana.
4. An important eruption occurred in the year 396 B.C. It broke out from
Monte di Mojo, the most northerly of the minor cones of Etna, and
following the course of the river Acesines, (now the Alcantara) entered
the sea at the site of the ancient Greek colony of Naxos. Himilco the
Carthaginian general, was at this time on his way from Messana to
Syracuse, and he was compelled to march his troops round the west side
of the mountain in order to avoid the stream of lava.
5. We hear of no further eruption for 256 years, when in the year 140
B.C., in the consulship of C. Laelius Sapiens and Q. Servilius Caepio,
there was an outburst from the volcano which destroyed 40 people.
6. Six years later an eruption occurred according to Orosius and Julius
Obsequens, in the consulship of Sergius Fulvius Flaccus, and Quintus
Calpurnius Piso. We have no details concerning its nature or extent.
7. The same authorities state that in the year 126 B.C. in the
consulship of L. OEmilius Lepidus, and L. Aurelius Orestes, Sicily
suffered from a very severe earthquake, and a deluge of fiery matter
poured from Etna, overwhelming large tracts of country, and rendering
the waters of the adjacent Ionian sea positively hot. It is said that
the sea near the island of Lipari boiled, and that the inhabitants ate
so large a number of the fishes which were cast, already cooked, upon
their shores, that a distemper appeared which destroyed a large number
of people.
8. Four years later Katana was nearly destroyed by a new eruption. The
roofs of many of the houses were broken in by the weight of hot ashes
which fell upon them; but the lava stream turned aside near the city and
flowed into the sea. The lava is believed to have issued from a small
crater near Gravina, about 2-1/2 miles from Katana. The city was so much
injured by this eruption that the Romans granted the inhabitants an
immunity from all taxes for a space of ten years.
9. An eruption, of which we have no details, occurred during the civil
war between Caesar and Pompey.
10. Livy speaks of an eruption and earthquake which took place shortly
before the death of Caesar, which it was believed to portend.
11. In 38 B.C., during the civil war between Octavianus and Sextus
Pompeius, a violent eruption occurred on the east side of the mountain,
accompanied by fearful noises and outbursts of flame.
12. Six years afterwards an eruption of a less violent character took
place.
13. The next eruption of which we hear is that mentioned by Suetonius in
his Life of Caligula. The Emperor happened to be at Messina at the time,
and he fled from the town through fear of the eruption. This was in 40
A.D.
14. An eruption is said to have occurred in 72, in the second year after
the capture of Jerusalem by Titus.
15. Etna was now quiescent for nearly two centuries, but in the year
253, in the reign of the Emperor Decius, a violent eruption lasting nine
days occurred. The lava flowed in the direction of Catania, and the
inhabitants for the first time tested the efficacy of the veil of S.
Agatha, which afterwards stood them in such good stead on more than one
occasion. The Saint had been martyred the year before, and when the
frightened inhabitants saw the stream of lava approaching the city,
they rushed to the tomb, and removed the veil which covered her body.
This was carried to the edge of the descending torrent of lava, and is
asserted to have at once arrested its progress.
16. According to Carrera and Photius an eruption occurred in the year
420.
17. We now find no record of any volcanic action for nearly four hundred
years. Geoffrey of Viterbo states that an eruption occurred in 812, when
Charlemagne was in Messina.
18. After another long interval of more than three centuries and a half,
the mountain again entered into eruption. In February, 1169, occurred
one of the most disastrous eruptions on record. A violent earthquake,
which was felt as far as Reggio, occurred about dawn, and in a few
minutes Catania was a heap of ruins. It is estimated that 15,000 persons
were buried beneath the ruins. It was the vigil of the feast of S.
Agatha, and the Cathedral of Catania was crowded with people, who were
all buried beneath the ruins, together with the Bishop and forty-four
Benedictine monks. The side of the cone of the great crater towards
Taormina fell into the crater. At Messina the sea retired to some
distance from the shore, and then suddenly returned, overwhelming a
portion of the city, and sweeping away a number of persons who had fled
to the shore for safety. The clear and pure fountain of Arethusa at
Syracuse became muddy and brackish; while the fountain of Ajo, near the
village of Saraceni, ceased to flow for two hours, and then emitted
water of the colour of blood. Ludovico Aurelio states that the vines,
corn, and trees were burnt up over large districts.
19. According to Nicolo Speziale, there was a great eruption from the
eastern side of the mountain in 1181.
20. A stream of lava is said to have burst from the eastern side of the
mountain in 1285, when Charles of Anjou was on his death-bed, and to
have flowed fifteen miles.
21. In the year 1329 Niccolo Speziale was in Catania, and witnessed the
eruption of which he has left us an account. On the evening of June
28th, about the hour of vespers, Etna was strongly convulsed, terrible
noises were emitted, and flames issued from the south side of the
mountain. A new crater--Monte Lepre--opened in the Val del Bove above
the rock of Musarra, and emitted large quantities of dense black smoke.
Soon afterwards a torrent of lava poured from the crater, and red-hot
masses of rock were projected into the air. These effects continued till
the 15th of July, when a second crater opened ten miles to the S.E. of
Montelepre, and near the Church of S. Giovanni Paparometto. Soon after
four other craters opened around it, and emitted smoke and lava. The
sun was obscured from morning till evening by the smoke and ashes, and
the adjacent fields were burnt up by the hot sand and ashes. Multitudes
of birds and animals perished, and many persons are said to have died
from terror. The lava streams were divided into three portions, two of
which flowed towards Aci, and the third towards Catania. The ashes were
carried as far as Malta, a distance of 130 miles.
22. Four years afterwards an eruption is recorded by Silvaggio.
23. A manuscript preserved in the archives of the Cathedral of Catania
mentions an eruption which occurred on the 6th of August, 1371, which
caused the destruction of numerous olive groves near the city.
24. An eruption which lasted for twelve days commenced on the 9th of
November, 1408; it originated in the great crater, but several mouths
subsequently opened near the base of the mountain. Large quantities of
red-hot ashes were emitted, some of which fell in Calabria. The villages
of Pedara and Tre Castagne suffered severely from this eruption.
25. A violent earthquake in 1444 caused the upper cone of the mountain
to fall into the crater. A torrent of lava also issued from the
mountain, and moved for a space of twenty days towards Catania, but it
did not reach the city.
26. Two years later lava issued from the Val del Bove near the Rock of
Musarra; the crater then formed was perhaps the present Monte Finocchio.
27. A short eruption, of which we have no details, occurred in 1447:
after which Etna was quiescent for 89 years.
28. Bembo and Fazzello mention an eruption which occurred towards the
close of the 15th century, during which a current of lava flowed from
the great crater, and destroyed a portion of Catania. In 1533 Filoteo,
of whom we have before spoken as one of the earliest historians of Etna,
descended into the crater, which possessed its present funnel-like form.
He found at the bottom a hole, not larger than a man's head, from which
issued a thin moist sulphurous vapour.
29. In March, 1536, a quantity of lava issued from the great crater, and
several new apertures opened near the summit of the mountain and emitted
lava. It divided into several streams, flowing in different directions,
one towards Randazzo, a second towards Aderno, and a third towards
Bronte. The lava swept everything before it; at the same time quantities
of smoke and ashes were ejected, the mountain was convulsed, and fearful
noises were heard. Three new craters were formed on the south and west
sides of the mountain, and on the 26th of March twelve new craters, or
_bocche_, opened between Monte Manfre and Monte Vituri. A physician of
Lentini, named Negro di Piazza, having approached too near to the scene
of the eruption, was destroyed by a volley of red-hot stones. Several
rifts were formed in the sides of the mountain from which issued flames
and hot cinders.
30. A year later, in May, 1537, a fresh outburst occurred; a number of
new mouths were opened on the south slope of the mountain near La
Fontanelle, and a quantity of lava was emitted, which flowed in the
direction of Catania, destroying a part of Nicolosi, and S. Antonio. In
four days the lava had run fifteen miles. At the same time violent
shocks of earthquake occurred all over Sicily, the inhabitants thought
that the last day had come, and many prepared for their end by receiving
Extreme Unction. According to Filoteo the noises were so violent that
many persons were struck deaf. The sun was obscured by smoke and dust,
ashes fell in sufficient quantities to destroy the olive plantations of
Messina, and were even carried 300 miles out to sea. The great crater
suddenly fell in, so as to become level with the Piano del Lago. The
height of the mountain was thus diminished by 320 feet.
31. Three new craters opened in November, 1566, on the north-east slope
of the mountain. Quantities of lava were emitted, which flowed towards
Linguaglossa and Randazzo.
32. A slight eruption, of which we have no details, occurred in 1579.
33. According to Carrera, an eruption occurred in June, 1603. The
mountain was shaken with earthquakes, and great volumes of smoke and
flame were emitted.
34. A stream of lava issued from the great crater four years later, and
filled up the lake which had previously existed in the Piano del Lago.
35. In February, 1610, lava was emitted from the great crater. It flowed
towards Aderno, and filled up the bed of the Simeto, a little above the
Ponte di Carcaci. A few months later a second stream destroyed a large
portion of the forest Del Pino.
36. In 1614 several new craters were opened between Randazzo and the
great crater on the north side of the mountain. A quantity of lava
issued from them, which united into one stream, and ran for ten miles,
destroying a great deal of wooded country.
37. A slight eruption occurred in 1619.
38. In February, 1633, Nicolosi was partially destroyed by a violent
earthquake; and in the following December earthquakes became frequent on
the mountain. A new crater opened above the cone called Serrapizzuta,
five miles from the great crater, and emitted a good deal of lava. A
second crater afterwards opened about two miles to the east of the
former. The eruption lasted off and on for four years: the ejected lava
then covered a tract eighteen miles in length by two miles in width,
the thickness sometimes attaining 42 feet. In 1643 a severe earthquake
occurred, which was mainly felt on the west side of the mountain.
39. In 1646 a new mouth opened on the north-north-east side of the
mountain, five miles from the great crater. The lava flowed towards
Castiglione.
40. In February, 1651, several new mouths opened on the west side of the
mountain, and poured out vast volumes of lava which threatened to
overwhelm Bronte. In twenty-four hours the lava ran sixteen miles with a
breadth of four miles.
41. We have a more detailed account of the eruption of 1669 than of any
previous outburst. It was observed by many men of different nations; and
we find accounts of it in our own _Philosophical Transactions_, in
French, and of course in Italian. Perhaps the most accurate and complete
description is that given by Alfonso Borelli, Professor of Mathematics
in Catania. The eruption was, in every respect, one of the most terrible
on record. On the 8th of March the sun was obscured, and a whirlwind
blew over the face of the mountain; at the same time earthquakes
commenced, and continued to increase in violence for three days, when
Nicolosi was converted into a heap of ruins. On the morning of the 11th
a fissure nearly twelve miles in length opened in the side of the
mountain, and extended from the Piano di S. Leo to Monte Frumento, a
mile from the summit. The fissure was only six feet wide, but it seemed
to be of unknown depth, and a bright light proceeded from it. Six mouths
opened in a line with the principal fissure; they emitted vast columns
of smoke, accompanied by loud bellowings which could be heard 40 miles
off. Towards the close of the day, a crater opened about a mile below
the others, and it ejected red hot stones to a considerable distance,
and afterwards sand and ashes which covered the country for a distance
of 60 miles. The new crater soon vomited forth a torrent of lava which
presented a front of two miles, it encircled Monpilieri, and afterwards
flowed towards Belpasso, a town of 8000 inhabitants, which was speedily
destroyed. Seven mouths of fire opened around the new crater, and in
three days united with it, forming one large crater 800 feet in
diameter. The torrent of lava all this time continued to descend, and it
destroyed the town of Mascalucia on the 23rd of March. On the same day
the crater cast up great quantities of sand, ashes, and scoriae, and
formed above itself the great double-coned hill now called Monti Rossi
from the red colour of the ashes of which it is mainly composed. On the
25th very violent earthquakes occurred, and the cone of the great
central crater was shaken down into the crater for the fifth time since
the first century A.D. The original current of lava had divided into
three streams, one of which destroyed S. Pietro, the second
Camporotondo, and the third the lands about Mascalucia, and afterwards
the village of Misterbianco. Fourteen villages were altogether
destroyed, and the lava was on its way to Catania. At Albanelli, two
miles from the city, it undermined a hill covered with cornfields, and
carried it forward a considerable distance; a vineyard was also seen to
be floating on its fiery surface. When the lava reached the walls of
Catania it accumulated without progression until it rose to the top of
the wall, 60 feet in height, and it then fell over in a fiery cascade,
and overwhelmed a part of the city. Another portion of the same stream
threw down 120 feet of the wall, and flowed into the city. On the 23rd
of April the lava reached the sea, which it entered as a stream 600
yards broad and 40 feet deep. The stream had moved at the rate of
thirteen miles in twenty days, but as it cooled it moved less quickly,
and during the last twenty-three days of its course it only moved two
miles. On reaching the sea the water of course began to boil violently,
and clouds of steam arose, carrying with them particles of scoriae.
Towards the end of April the stream on the west side of Catania, which
had appeared to be consolidated, again burst forth, and flowed into the
garden of the Benedictine Monastery of S. Niccola, and then branched
off into the city. Attempts were made to build walls to arrest its
progress. An attempt of another kind was made by a gentleman of Catania,
named Pappalardo, who took fifty men with him, having previously
provided them with skins for protection from the intense heat, and with
crowbars to effect an opening in the lava. They pierced the solid outer
crust of solidified lava, and a rivulet of the molten interior
immediately gushed out, and flowed in the direction of Paterno;
whereupon 500 men of that town, alarmed for its safety, took up arms,
and caused Pappalardo and his men to desist. The lava did not altogether
stop for four months; and two years after it had ceased to flow it was
found to be red hot beneath the surface. Even eight years after the
eruption quantities of steam escaped from the lava after a shower of
rain. The stones which were ejected from the crater during this eruption
were often of considerable magnitude, and Borelli calculated that the
diameter of one which he saw was 50 feet; it was thrown to a distance of
a mile, and as it fell it penetrated the earth to a depth of 23 feet.
The volume of lava emitted during this eruption amounted to many
millions of cubic feet: Ferrara considers that the length of the stream
was at least fifteen miles, while its average width was between two and
three miles, so that it covered at least forty square miles of surface.
In a somewhat rare tract,[19] Lord Winchelsea, who was returning to
England from Constantinople, and who landed at Catania, gives an account
of what he saw of the eruption. He appears to have been frightened at
the sight, and took good care to keep in a safe place; hence his letter,
which is a short one, is mainly founded on hearsay. However, he says, "I
could discern the river of fire to descend the mountain, of a terrible
fiery or red colour, and stones of a paler red to swim thereon, and to
be as big as an ordinary table.... Of 20,000 persons which inhabited
Catania, 3000 did only remain; all their goods are carried away, the
cannon of brass are removed out of the castle, some great bells taken
down, the city gates walled up next the fire, and preparations made by
all to abandon the city." The noble earl is less happy in his scientific
ideas than in his general statement of the facts of which he was an
eye-witness; we can only hope that he joined the recently-formed Royal
Society on his return to England, and listened to Robert Hooke's
discourse on fire. In describing the lava, Lord Winchelsea says, "The
composition of this fire, stones, and cinders, are sulphur, nitre,
quicksilver, sal-ammoniac, lead, iron, brass, and all other mettals!"
Two other accounts are appended to the above letter; in one of these we
are told that as the lava approached Catania, the various religious
bodies carried their relics in procession, "followed by great multitudes
of people, some of them mortifying themselves with whips, and other
signs of penance, with great complaints and cries, expressing their
dreadful expectation of the events of those prodigious fiery
inundations." In the midst of all this, news was brought that a large
band of robbers had taken advantage of the general distress, and were
robbing right and left, and murdering the people: whereupon a troop of
Spanish horse was sent out to protect the city and country, three pair
of gallows were set up, and such as were found robbing were executed
without trial by martial law.
[19] "A true and exact relation of the late prodigious earthquake and
eruption of Mount AEtna or Monte Gibello; as it came in a letter written
to his Majesty from Naples by the Rt. Honble. the Earl of Winchelsea
late Ambassadour at Constantinople, who in his return from thence
visiting Catania in the Island of Sicily, was an eye-witness of that
dreadful spectacle." Published by Authority. Printed by T. Newcomb in
the Savoy. 1669.
As the lava streams approached the city, the Senate, accompanied by the
Bishop and all the clergy, secular and regular, went in procession out
of the city to Monte di S. Sofia with all their relics, etc. There they
erected an altar in view of the burning mountain, and celebrated mass,
"and used the exorcismes accustomed upon such extraordinary occasions,
all which time the mountain ceased not as before with excessive roaring
to throw up its smoak and flames with extraordinary violence, and
abundance of great stones, which were carried through the air."
42. For a few years after this terrible eruption Etna was quiescent, but
in 1682 a new mouth opened on the east side of the mountain, a little
below the summit, and above the Val del Bove. Lava issued from it, and
rushed down the precipices of the Val del Bove as far as the rock of
Musarra.
43. Six years later a torrent of lava burst from an opening in the great
cone, and flowed into the Val del Bove for a distance of three miles.
44. In the following year lava was emitted from a mouth in the Val del
Bove, and it descended for about ten miles, destroying everything in its
course, until it reached a little valley near Macchia.
45. Early in January 1693, clouds of black smoke were poured from the
great crater, and loud noises resembling the discharge of artillery were
heard. A violent earthquake succeeded, and Catania was shaken to the
ground, burying 18,000 of its inhabitants in the ruins. It is said that
in all fifty towns were destroyed in Sicily, together with from 60,000
to 100,000 inhabitants. Lava was emitted from the crater, which was
lowered by the eruption.
46. In the following year Etna again entered into eruption, ejecting
large quantities of ashes, some of which were carried as far as Malta.
47. In March 1702, three mouths opened in the Contrada del Trifoglietto,
near the head of the Val del Bove. Lava was emitted from them, which
flowed into the Valley of Calanna.
48. Towards the end of 1723 loud bellowings issued from the mountain;
earthquakes occurred, and a torrent of lava issued from the crater,
which flowed towards Bronte, through the Bosco di Bronte.
49. A small lava stream issued from the crater in 1732, and descended
the western slope of the mountain, but without producing any damage.
50. In October 1735, the usual noises which presage an eruption were
heard, earthquakes followed, and a little later the crater emitted
flames and red-hot stones. Lava also issued from it, and the stream
divided into three branches, one of which flowed towards Bronte, a
second towards Linguaglossa, and a third towards Mascali; but they did
not get beyond the upper regions of the mountain.
51. In 1744 the mountain threw out great quantities of ashes, but no
lava.
52. In 1747 a quantity of lava flowed from the great crater into the Val
del Bove, and the height of the cone was considerably increased during
the eruption.
53. Early in the year 1755, Etna began to show signs of disturbance; a
great column of black smoke issued from the crater, from which forked
lightning was frequently emitted. Loud detonations were heard, and two
streams of lava issued from the crater. A new mouth opened near the
Rocca di Musarra in the Val del Bove, four miles from the summit, and a
quantity of lava was ejected from it. An extraordinary flood of water
descended from the Val del Bove, carrying all before it, and strewing
its path, with huge blocks. Recupero estimated the volume of water as
16,000,000 cubic feet, probably a greater amount than could be furnished
by the melting of all the winter's snow on the mountain. It formed a
channel two miles broad, and, in some places, thirty-four feet deep, and
it flowed at the rate of a mile in a minute and a half during the first
twelve miles of its course. Lyell considers the flood was probably
produced by the melting, not only of the winter's snow, but also of
older layers of ice, which were suddenly melted by the permeation of hot
steam and lava, and which had been previously preserved from melting by
a deposit of sand and ashes, as in the case of the ancient glacier found
near the summit of the mountain in 1828. In November 1758, a smart shock
of earthquake caused the cone of the great crater to fall in, but no
eruption occurred at the time.
54. Great quantities of ashes, and some small streams of lava, were
emitted from the crater in 1759, a little later the cone, which had been
again raised by the eruption, gave way, and the greater part of it fell
into the crater. Two parts of it however were left standing.
55. Severe shocks of earthquakes were felt on the east side of the
mountain in 1763, and a new mouth opened in the Bosco di Bronte, ten
miles from the town, between Monte Rosso and Monte Lepre. Four other
mouths were afterwards opened in a line; they threw up quantities of
scoriae and ashes, and afterwards lava. In the middle of June several
mouths opened on the south side of the mountain, and a fissure 2000 feet
long opened downwards in a southerly direction. The lava divided into
two branches, the larger of which was ten miles long and 250 feet wide,
with a depth of 25 feet.
56. Several new mouths opened in the spring of 1766, and ejected large
volumes of ashes, also streams of lava, which flowed in the direction of
Nicolosi and Pedara. The Canon Recupero, one of the historians of Etna,
witnessed this eruption, and narrowly escaped being destroyed. He had
ascended a small hill 50 feet high, of ancient volcanic matter, in order
to witness the approach of the lava stream which was slowly advancing
with a front of two miles and a half. Suddenly two small streams
detached themselves from the main stream, and ran rapidly towards the
hill. Recupero and his guide at once hastened to descend, and had
barely escaped when they saw the hill surrounded by lava, and in a few
minutes it was melted down and sank into the molten mass.
57. In the early part of 1780, earthquakes were felt all over Sicily,
and on the 18th of May a fissure opened on the south-west side of the
mountain, and extended from the base of the great crater for seven
miles, terminating in a new mouth from which a stream of lava emanated.
This encountered the cone of Palmintelli in its course, and separated
into two branches, each of which was 400 feet wide. Other mouths opened
later in the year, and emitted large quantities of lava, which
devastated the country of Montemazzo.
58. In 1781 the volcano emitted a quantity of lava which flowed into the
Val del Bove. Clouds of grey ashes were also ejected. At the
commencement of the great Calabrian earthquake of 1783, Etna ejected
large quantities of smoke, but it was otherwise quiescent.
59. In the middle of 1787 lava burst from the great crater, which also
discharged quantities of sand, scoriae, and red-hot ashes. Large heated
masses of rock were ejected to a great height, and subterranean
bellowings were heard by the dwellers on the mountain.
60. Five years afterwards a fresh outburst occurred, earthquakes were
prevalent, and vast volumes of smoke bore to seaward, and seemed to
bridge the sea between Sicily and Africa. A torrent of lava flowed
towards Aderno, and a second flowed into the Val del Bove as far as
Zoccolaro. A pit called _La Cisterna_, 40 feet in diameter, opened in
the Piano del Lago, near the great cone, and ejected smoke and masses of
old lava saturated with water. Several mouths opened below the crater,
and the country round about Zaffarana was desolated. The Abate Ferrara,
the author of the _Descrizione dell' Etna_, witnessed this eruption: "I
shall never forget," he writes, "that this last mouth opened precisely
on the spot where, the day before, I had made my meal with a shepherd.
On my return next day he related how, after a stunning explosion, the
rocks on which we had sat together were blown into the air, and a mouth
opened, discharging a flood of fire, which, rushing down with the
rapidity of water, hardly gave him time to make his escape."
61. In 1797 a slight eruption occurred, and the great crater threw out
ashes and sand, but no lava. Earthquakes were frequent.
62. In the following year lava was emitted, and severe earthquakes
occurred.
63. The eruptions continued during 1799.
64. In February 1800 loud explosions were heard by the dwellers on the
mountain, and columns of fire issued from the crater, accompanied by
forked lightning. This was succeeded by a discharge of hot ashes and
scoriae, which, falling on the snows accumulated near the summit of the
mountain, produced devastating floods of water.
65. In November 1802 a new mouth opened near the Rocca di Musarra in the
Val del Bove, which emitted a copious stream of lava. In a day and a
half the lava had run twelve miles.
66. In 1805 the great crater was in a state of eruption, and a cone was
thrown up within it to a height of 1,050 feet.
67. In 1808 the mountain again became active, and fire and smoke were
emitted from the crater.
68. In March 1809, no less than twenty-one mouths of fire opened in the
direction of Castiglione. They ejected volumes of smoke, large
quantities of scoriae and ashes, and afterwards lava, which, uniting into
one torrent, flowed with a front of 450 feet for 8 miles. Fissures were
formed in the earth, and loud explosions constantly occurred within the
great crater; a small cone was thrown up.
69. Two years afterwards more than thirty mouths opened in a line
running eastwards for five miles. They ejected jets of fire accompanied
by much smoke. The eruptions soon diminished in the higher mouths, and
became more and more violent in the lower mouths, until the eruption
centred in the lowest one called S. Simone, near the head of the Val del
Bove. From this, great black clouds, having a lustre like that of black
wool, issued, and afterwards quantities of lava, which formed a stream
a mile wide, and eight miles long. It flowed nearly as far as the
village of Milo. Frequent earthquakes accompanied this outburst, and
they continued in various parts of the island for the following five
years.
70. In 1819 five new mouths of fire opened near the scene of the
eruption of 1811; three of these united into one large crater, and
poured forth a quantity of lava into the Val del Bove. The lava flowed
until it reached a nearly perpendicular precipice at the bend of the
valley of Calanna, over which it fell in a cascade, and, being hardened
by its descent, it was forced against the sides of the tufaceous rock at
the bottom, so as to produce an extraordinary amount of abrasion,
accompanied by clouds of dust, worn off by the friction. Mr. Scrope
observed that the lava flowed at the rate of about a yard an hour, nine
months after its emission.
71. A slight eruption occurred in 1831 from the great crater, which
threw out lava on its northern side.
72. In October of the following year a violent eruption occurred. A new
crater was formed in the Val del Serbo, above Bronte and three miles
from the summit. Seven mouths afterwards opened, three miles below the
first. From one of these lava was emitted, which flowed to within a mile
and a half of Bronte. The stream was a mile and a half broad, and 40
feet deep.
73. A slight eruption occurred in 1838, when a small quantity of lava
was poured from the great crater into the Val del Bove.
74. Four years later the crater discharged ashes and scoriae, and lava
burst from the cone 300 feet from the summit. It flowed into the Val del
Bove, in a stream 600 feet wide, and it came to a standstill ten miles
from the summit.
75. Near the end of the following year, fifteen mouths of fire opened
near the crater of 1832, at a height of 7000 feet above the sea. They
began by discharging scoriae and sand, and afterwards lava, which divided
into three streams, the two outer ones soon came to a standstill, while
the central stream continued to flow at the rapid rate of 180 feet a
minute, the descent being an angle of 25 deg.. The heat at a distance of 120
feet from the current was 90 deg. F. A new crater opened just above Bronte,
and discharged lava which threatened the town, but it fortunately
encountered Monte Vittoria and was diverted into another course. While a
number of the inhabitants of Bronte were watching the progress of the
lava, the front of the stream was suddenly blown out as by an explosion
of gunpowder; in an instant red-hot masses were hurled in every
direction; and a cloud of vapour enveloped everything. Thirty-six
persons were killed on the spot, and twenty survived but a few hours.
The great crater showed signs of disturbance, by emitting dense volumes
of smoke, and loud bellowings, also quantities of volcanic dust
saturated with hydrochloric acid, which destroyed the vegetation
wherever it fell.
76. A very violent eruption which lasted more than nine months,
commenced on the 21st of August, 1852. It was first witnessed by a party
of six English tourists, who were ascending the mountain from Nicolosi
in order to see the sunrise from the summit. As they approached the Casa
Inglesi the crater commenced to give forth ashes and flames of fire. In
a narrow defile they were met by a violent hurricane, which overthrew
both the mules and their riders, and urged them towards the precipices
of the Val del Bove. They sheltered themselves beneath some masses of
lava, when suddenly an earthquake shook the mountain, and their mules in
terror fled away. They returned on foot towards daylight to Nicolosi,
fortunately without having sustained injury. In the course of the night
many _bocche del fuoco_ opened in that part of the Val del Bove called
the Balzo di Trifoglietto, and a great fissure opened at the base of the
Giannicola Grande, and a crater was thrown up from which for seventeen
days showers of sand and scoriae were ejected. During the next day a
quantity of lava flowed down the Val del Bove, branching off so that one
stream advanced to the foot of Monte Finocchio, and the other to Monte
Calanna. Afterwards it flowed towards Zaffarana, and devastated a large
tract of woody region. Four days later a second crater was formed near
the first, from which lava was emitted together with sand and scoriae,
which caused cones to rise around the craters. The lava moved but
slowly, and towards the end of August it came to a stand, only a quarter
of a mile from Zaffarana: on the second of September, Gemellaro ascended
Monte Finocchio in the Val del Bove in order to witness the outburst. He
states that the hill was violently agitated, like a ship at sea. The
surface of the Val del Bove appeared like a molten lake; scoriae were
thrown up from the craters to a great height, and loud explosions were
heard at frequent intervals. The eruption continued to increase in
violence. On October 6th two new mouths opened in the Val del Bove,
emitting lava which flowed towards the Valley of Calanna, and fell over
the Salto della Giumenta, a precipice nearly 200 feet deep. The noise
which it produced was like that of the clash of metallic masses. The
eruption continued with abated violence during the early months of 1853,
and it did not finally cease till May 27. The entire mass of lava
ejected is estimated to be equal to an area six miles long by two miles
broad, with an average depth of about twelve feet.
I am indebted to M. Antonin Moris of Palermo for the following account
of the eruption of 1852:
The eruption of 1852 commenced on the 21st of August. The earthquakes,
the jets of flame from the great crater, and the subterranean rumblings
which usually precede an eruption, did not herald the approach of this
one. An English family, who were then making the ascent of the mountain,
together with a poor shepherd of Riposto, were the only witnesses of the
first outburst. The latter was asleep in the midst of his flocks, and
was awakened by violent shakings of the ground; he fled in haste, and
some seconds afterwards the earth opened with a loud noise, vomiting a
terrible column of fire, at the very spot which he had just abandoned.
An enormous crevasse opened on the north side of Trifoglietto in the
direction of the great crater. On its summit near the opening called the
Piccolo Teatro, several openings were produced at the very first, but
they only emitted feeble currents of lava. All the force of the eruption
was concentrated at the foot of the escarpment of the Serra di
Giannicola, 4 kilometres, (2-1/2 miles) from the summit of Etna. To the
west of, and somewhat above the principal crater, a second one was
formed, but its activity was of short duration. The liquid lava issued
with such violence that in 24 hours it had reached the base of Monte
Calanna, a distance of 3 kilometres, (nearly 2 miles). After surrounding
this hill, it divided into two currents, one of which ran towards
Zaffarana, and the other towards Milo. At a distance they seemed to
present a united front of 2 kilometres, (1-1/4 mile), which threatened
to destroy all the villages below. The Val del Bove was already
entirely overrun; Isoletta dei Zappinelli in the midst of the lavas of
1811 and 1819 was overwhelmed; the valley of Calanna was buried under
the fire with lava, when on the 28th of August the lava hurled itself
into the narrow passage of the Portella di Calanna. A frightful cascade
of lava was then seen to precipitate itself from a height of 60 metres,
with a harsh metallic noise, accompanied by loud cracking. Zaffarana was
on the eve of total ruin; the fire had taken the direction of the ravine
which terminates there, when suddenly, in the beginning of September,
the devastating stream stayed its march against the ill-fated district.
On the contrary that which had taken the direction of Milo, reinforced
by a new current on the 10th of September, destroyed the hamlet of
Caselle del Milo; and afterwards divided itself into two branches, which
left the village of Caselle in safety between them.
The inhabitants of La Macchia and Giarre gave themselves up for lost;
for it seemed that the lava would be obliged to follow the valley of
Santa Maria della Strada; happily, however, from the 20th of September
onward, it ceased to advance perceptibly. The eruption did not totally
subside till March 1853; but the lava-flows did no more than travel by
the side, or on the top of the older, without extending beyond them.
The crater of 1852 was called the Centenario, from its having been
formed at the time of the centenary of the fete of S. Agatha. Santiago,
in the island of Cuba, was destroyed by an earthquake on the very day of
the eruption.
During the whole period of the eruption, only one explosion proceeded
from the great crater of Etna. By it an enormous column of ashes and
scoriae was cast into the air.
On the 9th of September white ashes were seen on the summit, which at a
distance appeared like snow. When pressed together by the hand they took
the consistence of clay, but they hardened in the fire, and could then
be reduced to powder. They have been considered to be the _debris_ of
felspathic rocks, disintegrated by the heat of the lava, and blown out
by the expansive power of disengaged gas.
The eruption of 1852 was one of the grandest of the recorded eruptions
of Etna. More than 2,000,000,000 cubic feet of red hot lava was spread
over three square miles. This eruption was minutely described by Carlo
Gemellaro, in a memoir entitled, "_Breve ragguaglio della eruzione
dell' Etna del 21 Agosto, 1852_."
77. In October 1864, frequent shocks of earthquakes were felt by the
dwellers on Etna. In January clouds of smoke were emitted by the great
crater, and roaring sounds were heard. On the night of the 30th a
violent shock was felt on the north-east side of the mountain, and a
mouth opened below Monte Frumento, from which lava was ejected. It
flowed at a rate of about a mile a day, and ultimately divided into two
streams. By March 10th the new mouths of fire had increased to seven in
number, and they were all situated along a line stretching down from the
summit. The three upper craters gave forth loud detonations three or
four times a minute. Professor Orazio Silvestri has devoted a quarto of
267 pages to an account of _I Fenomeni Vulcanici presentati dall'Etna
nel 1863-64-65-66_.
78. In August 1874 the inhabitants of the towns situated on the north,
west, and east sides of the mountain, were awakened by loud subterranean
rumblings. Soon afterwards a formidable column of black smoke issued
from the crater, accompanied by sand, scoriae, and ignited matter
(_infuocata materia_). Severe shocks of earthquake were felt, the centre
of impulsion being apparently situated on the northern flank of the
mountain, at a height of 2450 metres above the level of the sea. Some
small _bocche eruttive_ opened near the great crater, and ejected lava,
but the quantity was comparatively small, and but little damage was
done. An account of this eruption was given by Silvestri in 1874, in a
small pamphlet entitled, _Notizie sulla eruzione dell' Etna del 29
Agosto, 1874_. Since 1874 the mountain has been in a quiescent state.
The centre of disturbance was at an elevation of 2450 metres (7600 feet)
above the sea, on the north side of the crater, and between the minor
cones known as the _Fratelli Pii_ and _Monte Grigio_. A new crater,
having an elliptical contour, and a diameter of about 100 metres, was
formed at this point. It is composed of a prehistoric grey labradorite,
and of doleritic lava. Downwards from the main crater, in the direction
of Monte di Mojo, a long fissure extended for 400 metres, and along the
line of this fissure no less than _thirty-five_ minor cones opened, with
craters of from thirty to three metres in diameter. The stream of lava
ejected from the various _boccarelle_ was 400 metres long, 80 wide, and
2 metres in thickness, and the bulk of volcanic material brought to the
surface, including the principal cone and its thirty-five subordinates
and their ejectamenta, was calculated to amount to 1,351,000 cubic
metres. The lava is of an augitic character, and magnetic; it possesses
a specific gravity of 2.3636 at 25 deg. C.
It will be seen from the account of the foregoing eruptions that there
is a great similarity in the character of the eruptions of Etna.
Earthquakes presage the outburst; loud explosions follow, rifts and
_bocche del fuoco_ open in the sides of the mountain; smoke, sand,
ashes, and scoriae are discharged, the action localises itself in one or
more craters, cinders are thrown up, and accumulate around the crater
and cone, ultimately lava rises, and frequently breaks down one side of
the cone, where the resistance is least. Then the eruption is at an
end.
Smyth says, "The symptoms which precede an eruption are generally
irregular clouds of smoke, ferilli, or volcanic lightnings, hollow
intonations, and local earthquakes that often alarm the surrounding
country as far as Messina, and have given the whole province the name of
Val Demone, as being the abode of infernal spirits. These agitations
increase until the vast cauldron becomes surcharged with the fused
minerals, when, if the convulsion is not sufficiently powerful to force
them from the great crater (which, from its great altitude and the
weight of the candent matter, requires an uncommon effort), they explode
through that part of the side which offers the least resistance with a
grand and terrific effect, throwing red-hot stones and flakes of fire to
an incredible height, and spreading ignited cinders and ashes in every
direction." After the eruption of ashes, lava frequently follows,
sometimes rising to the top of the cone of cinders, at others breaching
it on the least resisting side. When the lava has reached the base of
the cone, it begins to flow down the mountain, and being then in a very
fluid state, it moves with great velocity. As it cools the sides and
surface begin to harden, its velocity decreases, and in the course of a
few days it only moves a few yards in an hour. The internal portions,
however, part slowly with their heat, and months after the eruption,
clouds of steam arise from the black and externally cold lava beds after
rain, which, having penetrated through the cracks, has found its way to
the heated mass within.
Of the seventy-eight eruptions described above, it will be noticed that
not more than nineteen have been of extreme violence, while the majority
have been of a slight and comparatively harmless character.
[Illustration: Geological Map of Etna]