On contemplating the beauty of the scenery, and the richness and variety of the productions of Ætna*, during our descent through the Woody and Cultivated Regions, and more especially during our progress over its lower declivities in our subsequent journey to the pretty village of Giardini, we could almost have envied the inhabitants of this terrestrial paradise; where heaven seemed to have lavished its blessings with a too prodigal hand. But the number of lava-streams that we encountered in our passage-indelible marks of the frightful convulsions that have so often desolated this smiling land—tended not a little to sober down our feelings of admiration; satisfying us, upon more mature reflection, that, in this awful intermixture of evil, we might see enough to attest the impartiality of Providence, and "vindicate the ways of God to man." At a short distance from Giardini, which is pleasantly situated on the sea-shore, is Point Schiso, a small volcanic projection-formed by one of the Etnean lavastreams-where stood the city of Naxos, the earliest of the Grecian settlements on the island. About two miles * Ætna is no less an epitome of the whole earth in its soil and climate than in the variety of its productions. Besides the corn, the wine, the oil, the silk, the spice, and delicious fruits of its lower region; the beautiful forests, the flocks, the game, the tar, the cork, the honey, of its second; the ice and snow of its third; it affords from its caverns a variety of mineral and other productions-cinnabar, mercury, sulphur, alum, nitre, and vitriol; so that this wonderful mountain produces at the same time every necessary and every luxury of life.-Brydone. northward of Giardini, on the Messina road, and approached by a zigzag path commanding, at every turn, the most romantic scenery, stands Taormina, at an elevation of a thousand feet above the level of the sea; and far even above this is the little town of Mola, perched among precipitous crags, one of which is crowned by the picturesque ruins of an old castle. Among the remains of Taormina-the ancient Taurominium-is one entire side of a Naumachia, more than three hundred and fifty feet in length; five reservoirs which probably supplied it with water; the church of S. Pancrazio, evidently formed out of the cella of some Grecian temple; part of an aqueduct near the church; some slight vestiges of what is supposed to have been the temple of Apollo Arcagetes, the tutelary deity of the Naxians*; and, above all, the ruins of its theatre-both in its construction and its situation one of the finest existing monuments of antiquity. The shape is that of a semicircle. The cavea, and great part of the proscenium, are still in very tolerable preservation. The circumference of the upper gallery, which was double, and supported by three rows of pillars, exceeded six hundred feet. The rows of seats in the cavea were divided into three tiers, and the whole edifice, pit and galleries together, was capable of affording accommodation to 40,000 spectators. Yet, notwithstanding its great size, the building was constructed with * After the destruction of Naxos by Dionysius, a remnant of the inhabitants were settled on these heights of Mount Taurus by Andromachus, father of Timæus the historian. so much attention to the conveyance of sound, that, even in its present state, the mere tearing of a piece of paper may be distinctly heard throughout its whole extent. Behind the seats of the upper gallery is a row of niches, intended either for the reception of statues, or, as some suppose, for the insertion of those echeia, or brazen vessels, which were sometimes used for the purpose of assisting the voice of the performer. In the construction of this theatre, advantage was taken of a natural recess in the hill on which it stands, commanding a magnificent prospect of the Neptunian and Heræan chains, and more especially of Etna himself, whose varied declivities may be here surveyed in all their enormous extent. “Here, as the spectators sat in the spacious semicircle, they may have beheld him exhibiting the real terrors of an eruption, whilst they were listening to the scenic sufferings of that Typhoeus, from whose convulsive movements these fiery throes were imagined to arise*:"— Degravat Ætna caput; sub quâ resupinus arenas OVID. MET. lib. v. While Ætna presses hard his horrid head: On his broad back he there extended lies, And vomits clouds of ashes to the skies.-MAYNWARING. The views behind the theatre, extending up the Straits of Messina, and embracing a long line of the Calabrian • Hughes. coast, though less grand than those in front, are still very beautiful. From hence we passed over the Taurominian heights, and through the important pass of Point S. Alessio, the ancient Promontory of Argennum, to Messina. On approaching the latter place, our road lay for several miles through a rich and well-cultivated country, studded with numerous villas, and displaying a scene of bustle and animation, the like of which we had not observed in any other part of Sicily. This portion of the neighbourhood of Messina, styled the Dromo, is the favourite resort during the Villeggiatura. AGRICULTURE AND PRODUCE OF SICILY. Reddit ubi Cererem tellus inarata quotannis, Et imputata floret usque vinea; Germinat et nunquam fallentis termes olivæ, Suamque pulla ficus ornat arborem.-HOR. "NEXT to Etna, the principal mountains of Sicily are the Madonia and Pelorian or Neptunian ranges, forming the north and north-eastern coasts, and from thence gradually shelving down to the south-west part of the island, with inferior chains diverging in various ramifications. "The coasts of the island are very romantic, and formed by nature into strong positions of defence; while the interior presents a combination of mountains, ravines, and valleys, the latter of which frequently branch out into extensive plains, affording a pleasing assemblage of rural scenes, possessing a soil exuberantly fertile, and animated by numerous flocks and herds. The hilly regions present, alternately, undulating slopes, bold crags, and rugged elevations, with woody declivities, abounding with elms, chesnuts, pines, oaks, ash, and other forest trees*. All accounts, ancient as well as modern, agree in re * Smyth's Memoir. |