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 m