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Updated: May 8, 2025
Next he was said to have paid a visit to Batang, in the mountainous district of southwestern China, and finally, according to rumor, he was seen in Sicily, at Nicolosi, among the volcanic pimples on the southern slope of Mount Etna. Next followed something of more curious and even startling interest.
Many of these volcanoes of second or third magnitude lie outside the forest zone, both above and below it; such as the double hill of Monti Rossi, near Nicolosi, formed in 1659, which is 450 feet in height, and two miles in circumference at its base. Sir C. Lyell observes that these minor crater-cones present us with one of the most delightful and characteristic scenes in Europe.
The heat emitted by lava currents seems extremely small when we consider the temperature required to fuse such materials and the great length of time they take in cooling. I saw at Nicolosi ancient oil-jars, holding a hundred gallons or more, which had been dug out from under a stream of old lava above that town.
Of the numerous eruptions of Etna, one of the most memorable was that of 1669, when on the flank of the mountain above Nicolosi, about half way between Catania and the top of the great crater, there was formed an immense rent about twelve miles long, from which a vast torrent of lava descended.
Nicolosi, according to Signor Gemmellero, a Sicilian physician, long resident at Catania, is two thousand one hundred and twenty-eight feet above the level of the sea, and its mean temperature 64° Fahr.
As day approached they returned on foot to Nicolosi, fortunately without having sustained injury. 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 wooded region.
The eruption began with the sudden opening of an enormous fissure, extending from a little way above Nicolosi to within about a mile of the top of the principal cone, its length being twelve miles, its average breadth six feet, its depth unknown. We have a more detailed account of this eruption than of any preceding one, as it was observed by men of science from various countries.
On the evening of the 13th of July, 1830, I set off from Catania with a party of my messmates, to ascend Mount Etna, taking the necessary guides, and two sumpter mules to carry the provisions, &c., as nothing in that way can be procured after leaving Nicolosi, which is a small village about twelve miles from Catania. Etna is divided by the Sicilians into three several regions.
A chemist at Budapest, where the first rumors of Syx's reappearance had placed the mysterious doctor, announced that he could produce artemisium, and proved it, although he kept his process secret. Hardly had the sensation caused by this news partially subsided when a similar report arrived from Ekaterinburg; then another from Batang; after that a fourth from Nicolosi!
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 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.
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