r 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