CHAPTER IV.

Mount Etna--Its Appearance and Height--Ancient Eruptions--Pindar's Allusion--Virgil's Description--Subordinate Cones and Craters--Caverns--Val de Bove--Formation of Monti Rossi--Eruption of 1852--Whirlwinds--Lava Torrents--Cascades of Lava--Description of Crater--Empedocles--Enceladus--Craters of 1865--Cyclopean Isles--Homer's Legend--Volcanic Origin--Other Basaltic Groups