MOUNT AETNA AND THE SICILIAN HORRORS.
BY TRUMBULL WHITE.
=A Volcano with a Record of Twenty-five Centuries--Seventy-eight
Recorded Eruptions--Three Hundred Thousand Inhabitants Dwelling
on the Slopes of the Mountain and in the Valleys at its
Base--Stories of Earthquake Shock and Lava Flows--Tales of
Destruction--Described by Ancient and Modern Writers and
Eye-Witnesses.=
Mount AEtna, one of the most celebrated volcanoes in the world, is
situated on the eastern sea-board of Sicily. The ancient poets often
alluded to it, and by some it was feigned to be the prison of the
giant Euceladus or Typhon, by others the forge of Hephaestus. The
flames proceeded from the breath of Euceladus, the thunderous noises
of the mountain were his groans, and when he turned upon his side,
earthquakes shook the island. Pindar in his first Pythian ode for
Hiero of AEtna, winner in the chariot race in 474 B.C., exclaims:--He
(Typhon) is fast bound by a pillar of the sky, even by snowy AEtna,
nursing the whole year's length her dazzling snow. Whereout pure
springs of unapproachable fire are vomited from the inmost depth: in
the daytime the lava streams pour forth a lurid rush of smoke, but in
the darkness a red rolling flame sweepeth rocks with uproar to the
wide, deep sea. AEschylus (525-456 B.C.) speaks also of the "mighty
Typhon." Thucydides (471-402 B.C.) alludes in the last lines of his
third book to three early eruptions of the mountain. Many other early
writers speak of AEtna, among them Theocritus, Virgil, Ovid, Livy,
Seneca, Lucan, Strabo, and Lucilius Junior. While the poets on the
one hand had invested AEtna with various supernatural attributes, and
had made it the prison of a chained giant, and the workshop of a god,
Lucretius and others endeavored to show that the eruptions and other
phenomena of the mountain could be explained by the ordinary
operations of nature.
If we pass to more modern times we find mention of AEtna by Dante,
Petrarch, Cardinal Bembo, and other middle age writers. In 1541
Fazello wrote a brief history of the mountain, and described an
ascent. In 1591 Antonio Filoteo, who was born on AEtna, published a
work in Venice, in which he describes an eruption which he witnessed
in 1536. He asserts that the mountain was then, as now, divided into
three "regions"--the first very arid, rugged, uneven, and full of
broken rocks; the second covered with forests; and the third
cultivated in the ordinary manner.
The great eruption of 1669 was described at length by the naturalist
Borelli in the year of its occurrence, and a brief account of it was
given by the Earl of Winchelsea, English ambassador at Constantinople,
who was returning home by way of the Straits of Messina at the time.
As the eruption of 1669 was the most considerable one of modern times,
it attracted a great deal of attention, and was described by several
eye-witnesses.
The height of AEtna has been often determined. The earlier writers had
very exaggerated notions on the subject, and a height of three and
even four miles has been assigned. It must be borne in mind that the
cone of a volcano is liable to variations in height at different
periods, and a diminution of more than three hundred feet has occurred
during the course of a single eruption of AEtna, owing to the falling
of the cone of cinders into the crater. During the last sixty years,
however, the height of the mountain has been practically constant at
ten thousand eight hundred and seventy-four feet.
There are two cities, Catania and Aci Reale, and sixty-three towns or
villages on Mount AEtna. It is far more thickly populated than any
other part of Sicily or Italy. No less than 300,000 people live on the
mountain.
A remarkable feature of AEtna is the large number of minor cones which
are scattered over its sides. They look small in comparison with the
great mass of the mountain, but in reality some of them are of large
dimensions.
The best period for making the ascent of AEtna is between June and
September, after the melting of the winter snows, and before the
falling of the autumnal rains. In winter there are frequently nine or
ten miles of snow stretching from the summit downward, the paths are
obliterated, and the guides sometimes refuse to accompany travelers.
Moreover, violent storms often rage in the upper regions of the
mountain, and the wind acquires a force which it is difficult to
withstand, and is at the same time piercingly cold.
A list of the eruptions of AEtna from the earliest times has been given
by several writers. The first eruption within the historical period
probably happened in the seventh century B.C.; the second occurred in
the time of Pythagoras. The third eruption, which was in 477 B.C., is
mentioned by Thucydides, and it must have been the same eruption to
which Pindar and AEschylus allude. An eruption mentioned by Thucydides
happened in the year 426 B.C. An outburst of lava took place from
Monte di Moja, the most northerly of the minor cones of AEtna, in 396
B.C., and following the course of the river Acesines, now the
Alcantara, entered the sea near the site of the Greek colony of Naxos
(now Capo di Schiso). We have no record of any further eruption for
256 years, till the year 140 B.C. Six years later an eruption
occurred, and the same authorities mention an eruption in the year 126
B.C. Four years later Katana was nearly destroyed by a new eruption.
Another, of which we possess no details, occurred during the civil war
between Caesar and Pompey, 49 B.C. Livy speaks of an earthquake which
took place in 43 B.C., shortly before the death of Caesar, which it
was believed to portend. In 38 B.C. and 32 B.C. eruptions took place.
The next eruption of which we hear is that mentioned by Suetonius in
his life of Caligula. This was in 40 A.D. An eruption occurred in 72
A.D., after which AEtna was quiescent for nearly two centuries, but in
the year 253, in the reign of the Emperor Decius, a violent eruption
lasting nine days is recorded. According to Carrera and Photius, an
eruption occurred in the year 420. We now find no further record for
nearly four hundred years. Geoffrey of Viterbo states that there was
an eruption in 812, when Charlemagne was in Messina. After another
long interval, in this case of more than three centuries and a half,
the mountain again showed activity. In February, 1169, one of the most
disastrous eruptions on record took place. A violent earthquake, which
was felt as far as Reggio, destroyed Catania in the course of a few
minutes, burying fifteen thousand people beneath the ruins. It was the
vigil of the feast of St. Agatha, and the cathedral of Catania was
crowded with people, who were all buried beneath the ruins, together
with the bishops and forty-four Benedictine monks. The side of the
cone of the great crater toward Taormina fell into the crater.
There was a great eruption from the eastern side of the mountain in
1181. Lava descended in the same vicinity in 1285. In 1329 Speziale
was in Catania, and witnessed a very violent eruption, of which he has
left us an account. On the evening of June 28th, about the hour of
vespers, AEtna was strongly convulsed, terrible noises were emitted,
and flames issued from the south side of the mountain. A new crater,
Monte Lepre, opened above the rock of Musarra, and emitted large
quantities of dense black smoke. Soon after a torrent of lava poured
from the crater, and red-hot masses of rock were projected into the
air. Four years after the last eruption it is recorded by Silvaggio
that a fresh outburst took place. A manuscript preserved in the
archives of the cathedral of Catania mentions an eruption which took
place on August 6, 1371, which caused the destruction of numerous
olive groves near the city. An eruption which lasted for twelve days
commenced in November, 1408. A violent earthquake in 1444 caused the
cone of the mountain to fall into the great crater. An eruption of
short duration, of which we have no details, occurred in 1447; and
after this AEtna was quiescent for eighty-nine years.
Cardinal Bembo and Fazello mention an eruption which took place toward
the close of the fifteenth century. 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.
A year later, in May, 1537, a fresh outburst occurred. A number of new
mouths were opened on the south slope near La Fontanelle, and a
quantity of lava burst forth which flowed in the direction of Catania,
destroying a part of Nicolosi, and St. Antonio. In four days the lava
ran fifteen miles. The cone of 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. Three new craters opened in November,
1566, on the northeast slope of the mountain. In 1579, 1603, 1607,
1610, 1614, and 1619, unimportant eruptions occurred. In February,
1633, Nicolosi was partly destroyed by a violent earthquake, and in
the following December, earthquakes became frequent around the
mountain.
In 1646 a new mouth opened on the northeast side, and five years later
several new mouths opened on the west side of the mountain and poured
out vast volumes of lava which threatened to overwhelm Bronte. We have
a more detailed account of the eruption of 1669 than any previous one.
It was observed by many men of different nations, and there are a
number of narratives regarding it. The eruption was in every respect
one of the most terrible on record. On March 8th, the sun was obscured
and a whirlwind blew over the face of the mountain; at the same time
earthquakes were felt, and they continued to increase in violence for
three days, at the end of which 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 St.
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, and discharged vast volumes of smoke, accompanied
by low bellowing, which could be heard forty miles off. Toward the
close of the day a crater opened about a mile below the others, and
ejected red-hot stones to a considerable distance, and afterward sand
and ashes, which covered the country for a distance of sixty miles.
The new crater soon vomited forth a torrent of lava, which presented a
front of two miles. It encircled Monpilieri, and afterward flowed
toward Belpasso, a town of 8,000 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 had continued to flow, and it destroyed
the town of Mascalucia on March 23d. On the same day the crater cast
up great quantities of sand, ashes, and scoriae, and formed above
itself the great double coned hill called Monti Rossi, from the red
color 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 beginning
of the first century A.D. The original current of lava had divided
into three streams, one of which destroyed San Pietro, the second
Camporotondo, and the third the lands about Mascalucia, and afterward
the village of Misterbianco. Fourteen villages were afterward swept
out of existence, and the lava made its way toward Catania. At
Albanello, two miles from the city, it undermined a hill covered with
corn fields, and carried it forward a considerable distance; a
vineyard was also seen 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, sixty 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 carried death and destruction in its course. On
April 23d the lava reached the sea, which it entered as a stream 1800
feet broad and forty feet deep. On reaching the sea the water, of
course, began to boil violently, and clouds of steam arose, carrying
with them particles of scoriae. The volume of lava emitted during this
eruption amounted to many millions of cubic feet. Fewara 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.
For a few years after this terrible eruption AEtna was quiescent, but
in 1682 a new mouth opened on the east side of the mountain, and lava
issued from it and rushed down the precipices of the Val del Bue.
Early in January, 1693, clouds of black smoke poured from the great
crater, and loud noises resembling the discharge of artillery, were
heard. A violent earthquake followed, and Catania was shaken to the
ground, burying 18,000 of its inhabitants. It is said that in all
fifty cities and towns were destroyed in Sicily, together with
approximately 100,000 inhabitants.
The following year witnessed another eruption, but no serious disaster
resulted. In March, 1702, three mouths opened in the Contrada del
Trifaglietto, near the head of the Val del Bue. In 1723, 1732, 1735,
1744, and 1747, slight eruptions occurred. Early in the year 1775 AEtna
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 Rocca di Musarra in the Val
del Bue, four miles from the summit, and a quantity of lava was
ejected from it. An extraordinary flood of water descended from Val
del Bue, carrying all before it, and strewing its path with large
blocks. Recupero estimated the volume of water at 16,000,000 cubic
feet, probably a greater amount than could be furnished by the sudden
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. 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 liquified 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 followed. In 1759, 1763,
1766, and 1780, eruptions were noted, and on May 18, 1780, a fissure
opened on the southwest 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 about 4,000 feet wide. Other mouths opened later in the
year, and emitted larger quantities of lava, while in 1781 and 1787
there were slight eruptions. Five years later a fresh outbreak
occurred; earthquakes were prevalent, and vast volumes of smoke were
carried out to sea, seeming to form a gigantic bridge between Sicily
and Africa. A torrent of lava flowed toward Aderno, and a second
flowed into the Val del Bue as far as Zuccolaro. A pit called La
Cisterna, forty 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.
In 1797, 1798, 1799, 1800, 1802, 1805, and 1808 slight eruptions
occurred. In March, 1809, no less than twenty-one mouths of fire
opened between the summit of the mountain and Castiglione, and two
years afterward more than thirty mouths opened in a line running
eastward from the summit for five miles. They ejected jets of fire,
accompanied by much smoke. 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
Bue. The lava flowed until it reached a nearly perpendicular precipice
at the head 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 three feet an hour nine months after its emission.
Eruptions occurred in 1831, 1832, 1838, and 1842. Near the end of the
following year, fifteen mouths of fire opened near the crater of 1832,
at a height of 7,000 feet above the sea. They began by discharging
scoriae and sand, and afterward lava, which divided into three
streams, the two outer of which 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 vapor enveloped everything.
Thirty-six persons were killed on the spot, and twenty survived but a
few hours.
A very violent eruption, which lasted more than nine months, commenced
on the 26th of August, 1852. It was first witnessed by a party of six
English tourists, who were ascending the mountain from Nicolosi in
order to witness the sun rise 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 the riders, and forced them toward the
precipices of Val del Bue. They sheltered themselves beneath some
masses of lava, when suddenly an earthquake shook the mountain, and
the mules fled in terror. They returned on foot toward daylight to
Nicolosi, fortunately without having sustained injury. In the course
of the night many rifts opened in that part of Val del Bue called the
Balzo di Trifaglietto, and a great fissure opened at the base of
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 into the Val del
Bue, branching off so that one stream flowed to the foot of Mount
Finocchio, while the other flowed to Mount Calanna. The eruption
continued with abated violence during the early months of 1853, and
did not fully cease until May 27th. 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.
In October, 1864, frequent shocks of earthquake were felt by the
dwellers on AEtna. In January, 1865, 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 northeast side of the mountain,
and a mouth opened below Monte Frumento, from which lava was ejected.
It flowed at the 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. Since 1865, there have been
occasional eruptions, but none of great duration, nor has there been
any loss of life in consequence.
It will be seen from the foregoing account that there is a great
similarity in the general character of the eruptions of AEtna.
Earthquakes presage the outburst; loud explosions are heard; rifts
open in the sides of the mountain; smoke, sand, ashes, and scoriae are
discharged; the action localizes itself in one or more craters;
cinders are thrown out and accumulate around the crater in a conical
form; ultimately lava rises through the new cone, frequently breaking
down one side of it where there is least resistance, and flowing over
the surrounding country. Out of the seventy-eight eruptions mentioned
above, a comparatively small number have been of extreme violence,
while many of them have been of a slight and harmless character.
Italy does not contain a more beautiful or fertile province than
Calabria, the celebrated region which the ancients called Magna
Grecia, where once flourished Crotona, Tarentum, Sybaris, and so many
other prosperous cities. Situated between the volcanoes of Vesuvius
and AEtna, Calabria has always been much exposed to the destructive
influence of earthquakes, but the most terrible shock ever felt in the
province was that of February 5, 1783. The ground was agitated in all
directions, swelling like the waves of the ocean. Nothing could
withstand such shocks, and not a building upon the surface remained
erect. The beautiful city of Messina, the commercial metropolis of
Sicily, was reduced to a heap of ruins.
Upon March 4, a fresh shock, almost as violent as the first, completed
the work of destruction. The number of persons who perished in
Calabria and Sicily during these two earthquakes is estimated at
80,000 and 320 of the 365 towns and villages which Calabria contained
were destroyed. The greater number of those who lost their lives were
buried amid the ruins of the houses, but many perished in fires that
were kindled in most of the towns, particularly in Oppido, where the
flames were fed by great magazines of oil. Not a few, especially among
the peasantry dwelling in the country, were suddenly engulfed in
fissures. Many who were only half buried in the ruins, and who might
have been saved had there been help at hand, were left to die a
lingering death from cold and hunger. Four Augustine monks at
Terranova perished thus miserably. Having taken refuge in a vaulted
sacristy, they were entombed in it alive by the masses of rubbish, and
lingered for four days, during which their cries for help could be
heard, till death put an end to their sufferings.
Of still more thrilling interest was the case of the Marchioness
Spadara. Having fainted at the moment of the first great shock, she
was lifted by her husband, who, bearing her in his arms, hurried with
her to the harbor. Here, on recovering her senses, she observed that
her infant boy had been left behind. Taking advantage of a moment when
her husband was too much occupied to notice her, she darted off, and,
running back to her house, which was still standing, she snatched her
babe from his cradle. Rushing with him in her arms toward the
staircase, she found the stair had fallen, barring all further
progress in that direction. She fled from room to room, chased by the
falling materials, and at length reached a balcony as her last refuge.
Holding up her infant, she implored the few passers-by for help; but
they all, intent on securing their own safety, turned a deaf ear to
her cries. Meanwhile her mansion had caught fire, and ere long the
balcony, with the devoted lady still grasping her darling, was hurled
into the devouring flames.
A few cases are recorded of devotion similar to that of this heroic
woman, but happily attended by more fortunate results. In the great
majority of instances, however, the instinct of self-preservation
triumphed over every other feeling, rendering the wretched people
callous to the dangers and sufferings of others. Still worse was the
conduct of the half savage peasantry. They hastened into the towns
like vultures to their prey. Instead of helping the sufferers, they
ransacked the smoking ruins for plunder, robbed the persons of the
dead, and of those entangled alive among the rubbish. They robbed the
very injured who would have paid them handsomely for rescuing them. At
Polistena, a gentleman had been buried head downward beneath the ruins
of his house, and when his servant saw what had happened he actually
stole the silver buckles off his shoes, while his legs were in the
air, and made off with them. The unfortunate gentleman, however,
managed to rescue himself from his perilous position.
Several cases occurred of persons being rescued alive from the ruins
after a lapse of three, four, and even five days, and one on the
seventh day after interment. Those who were thus rescued all declared
that their direst sufferings were from thirst.