JOURNEY TO CASTRO GIOVANNI

AND SYRACUSE.

Umbilicus Siciliæ.-CICERO.

ON quitting Girgenti we proceeded towards Castro Giovanni, the ancient Enna, the fabled capital of the kingdom of Ceres. The lofty mountain on which it stands is said to be the highest inhabited ground in Sicily: it is situated, as the "Umbilicus Sicilia"-the phrase which Cicero applies to it-would lead us to imagine, nearly in the centre of the island. Owing to its great elevation above the level of the sea, and the consequent purity and coolness of the air, it forms an agreeable retreat during summer; at which time it becomes sometimes the resort of strangers, as well as of the Sicilians themselves. The town, situated on a table-land at the summit of the mountain, is everywhere intersected by deep ravines, the sides of which are honeycombed with caves, some of them containing two or three apartments, and still occupied by the poorer classes. The abrupt and insulated character of this mountain, the table-land at its summit, and the perennial springs with which it abounds, recall Cicero's description of Enna-a description as accurate as it is concise*.

Enna. . . est loco præcelso atque edito: quo in summo est æquata agri planitics, et aquæ perennes: tota vero ab omni aditu cir

Ceres was the favourite deity of the Sicilians, and here, at the eastern extremity of this table-land, on the verge of a tremendous precipice near 2000 feet in perpendicular height, and commanding a glorious prospect over the extensive vales below and the flanks of the giant Etna, is pointed out the spot on which her temple stood

once as much an object of reverence with the Pagan pilgrim, as the Santa Casa of Loreto is now with the Catholic.

From the same spot also we look directly down upon the little lake, where

Proserpine gathering flowers,

Herself a fairer flower, by gloomy Dis
Was gathered.

Sicilian authors, indeed, have gravely discussed the question, whether it was from the neighbourhood of Enna or of Ætna that Proserpine was carried off. Cicero, however, who alludes to this fabulous incident, in his invectives against Verres, adopts the common opinion*. Diodorus, too, coincides with him in making Enna the scene of the abduction; and, like him, paints it as a terrestrial paradise, abounding with limpid streams, and shady groves, and fragrant flowers. But "its dark surrounding

cumcisa atque dirempta est: quam circa lacus lucique sunt plurimi, et lectissimi flores omni tempore anni.

Hic dolor erat tantus, ut Verres, alter Orcus, venisse Ennam, et non Proserpinam asportasse, sed ipsam abripuisse Cererem videretur.

woods are vanished from this fair field of Enna,' together with those flowers whose powerful odour was able to deprive dogs of their scent in the pursuit of game; yet the blessings of Ceres still remain, and the corn yields a fifty-fold increase*." Of the various mines in the vicinity, some of which yield considerable quantities of sulphur, coal, and copper, the most curious are the salt mines, from which rock salt is procured in great abundance, and of the same violet hue with that mentioned by Pliny as met with at Centorbi, in the same neighbourhood.-(N. H. xxxi. 7). This mountain formed the strong-hold of Eunus: hither he repaired with the revolted slaves during the first Punic war; nor was it till after he had defeated three prætorian armies, that he was at last overpowered by Perpenna.

From Enna we proceeded towards Syracuse, passing through Palagonia and Lentini. On approaching the latter place we looked in vain for any indications of that astonishing fertility which Diodorus and Pliny ascribe to this region, where wheat was said to yield one hundred fold, and to shoot up almost spontaneously;-but this must have been in the golden days of Ceres. Such is now the desolate condition of the Leontine fields, that Cicero, who traversed them some nineteen hundred years ago, might, were it possible for him to revisit them, still indignantly exclaim, as he then did when describing the forlorn state to which he found them reduced, "in uberrimâ Siciliæ parte Siciliam quærebam."

• Hughes.

Within a short distance of Lentini is an expanse of water, called the Lake of Biviere, which, though nineteen miles in circumference during the winter months, often dwindles during the heats of summer to a circumference of eight or nine; leaving an extensive swamp exposed to the action of a vertical sun, and, as usual in this warm climate, engendering malaria with all its evil consequences. These bad effects might, however, be easily prevented by deepening the channel of the rivulet San Leonardo, and thus opening an outlet into the sea. Instead of this, "the Biviere," observes Captain Smith, "was considerably enlarged, during the reign of King Martin, by a stratagem of the then Prince of Butera (to whom the fishery on the lake belongs), who obtained leave to turn a stream into it, under pretence that the admission of more water would certainly force a passage to the sea, and thus act as a drain; but which, escaping into marshes on every side, from no efforts being made to conduct it in the proper direction, only increased the general evil, and added to the perquisites of the crafty prince."

Lentini, the ancient Leontium, once a celebrated and populous city, and famous for its struggles with Syracuse itself, presents scarcely any vestiges of its former grandeur; so totally was it demolished by the great earthquake of 1693. Among the few remains of the ancient town, which was seated on the side of a hill, may be observed numerous caverns, apparently designed for human habitations, and similar to those at Castro Giovanni. These excavations are supposed by some to have been

the work of the Saracens, who, after the Norman invasion, retired to the fastnesses in the interior, where they supported themselves by predatory excursions upon their conquerors. It has, however, been conjectured by many, that these caves, as well as those met with in other parts of the island-especially in the Val d'Ispicat-may have been the work of the primitive inhabitants of the country-the first attempt of a rude people towards the construction of a town; while subsequently they may have served as a place of refuge in time of danger.

The descent from Lentini towards the coast is by a circuitous route, through scenery agreeably diversified with hill and dale, and enriched with myrtles, rhododendrons, and other flowering shrubs. The olive-tree, with which the country is thinly sprinkled, appears to be the favourite resort of the cicala-a species of grasshopper -"which," as Hughes observes, "makes the air resound with its shrill and piercing cries, accurately illus

"During the reign of William the Bad," observes Sismondi, "Les Sarrasins, cantonnés dans les montagnes, occupoient encore la plus grande partie de l'interieur de l'isle: ils n'obeissoient qu'à des chefs de leur nation, et la soumission de ceux-ci au roi étoit plus que douteuse."-Vol. ii. p. 263.

The Val d'Ispica is situated between Spaccaforno and Modica, among wild and romantic cliffs, and was known to the Romans by the name of the Ispica Fundus. The sides of the valley are hollowed out into a multitude of grottos difficult of access. These singular abodes are still occupied by a sturdy half-civilized race, who subsist on the simplest diet-the berries of the myrtle-tree, the arbutus, the dwarf olive, the stunted oak, the bramble, and other plants, with which the whole country is overrun.