e of the letters "addressed to the
Secretary of the Royal Society on October 17th, 1769," describes an
ascent of Etna. Hamilton ascended on June 24th with the Canon Recupero
and other companions; the few observations of any value which he made
have been alluded to elsewhere under the head of the special subjects to
which they refer. The illustrations of the _Campi Phlegraei_, specially
the original water-colours which are contained in one of the British
Museum copies, are magnificent, and convey a better idea of volcanic
phenomena than any amount of simple reading. From them we can well
realise the opening of a long rift extending down the sides of a
mountain during its eruption, and the formation of subsidiary craters
along the line of fire thus opened. Various volcanic products are also
admirably painted. In the picture of Etna, however, which was drawn by
Antonio Fabris, the artist has scarcely been more successful than his
predecessors, and the slope of the sides of the mountain has been
greatly exaggerated.

M. Houel, in his _Voyage pittoresque dans les Deux Siciles_, 1781-1786,
has given a fairly good account of Etna, accompanied by some really
excellent engravings.

In 1776 Patrick Brydone, a clever Irishman with a good deal of native
shrewdness and humour, published two volumes of a _Tour in Sicily and
Malta_, in which he devoted several chapters to Mount Etna. He made the
ascent of the mountain, and collected from the Canon Recupero, and from
others, many facts concerning its then present, and its past history. He
also made observations as to the height, temperature of the air at
various elevations, brightness of the stars, and so on. Sir William
Hamilton calls Brydone "a very ingenious and accurate observer," and
adds that he was well acquainted with Alpine measurements. M. Elie de
Beaumont, writing in 1836, speaks of him as _le celebre Brydone_; while,
on the other hand, the Abbe Spallanzani, displeased at certain remarks
which he made concerning Roman Catholicism in Sicily, never fails to
deprecate his work, and deplores "his trivial and insipid pleasantries."
Albeit Brydone's chapters on Etna furnished a more complete account of
the volcano than any which had appeared in English up to that time; his
remarks are frequently very sound and just, and we shall have occasion
more than once to quote him.

It was reserved, however, for the Abate Francesco Ferrara, Professor of
Physical Science in the University