texture, as the wind now blew cool and somewhat chilly; for the
temperature of this spot was about 50°, while that of Catania, which
we had only left a few hours ago, was about 84° Fahr.

The road, on leaving our resting-place, became tedious and cheerless;
hardly any vegetation was discoverable, and still wilder regions
appeared above us. The path now lay over masses of rough lava; so much
so, that at times it became necessary to dismount and actually drag
our jaded animals over the rugged precipices which obstructed our
progress: the intricacy of the path required us to follow one another
very closely, that we might not lose the track, which became so
tortuous in its course, as would puzzle any one but a muleteer
accustomed to the road to find the clue of this volcanic labyrinth in
the darkness of night.

After much anxious travelling over wastes of cinders and black sand,
we seemed to be approaching near the wished-for summit; when, about
two o'clock, A.M., the moon, now shorn of her beams, queen like, arose
behind the bifurcated summit of Etna; her cheering light was very
grateful to us in this wild spot. The awful cone of the mountain
pillowed against the heavens, and emitting clouds of silvery white
smoke from its burning crater, had a grand effect at this solemn hour
of the night.

At three o'clock, arrived at the Casa Inglese, a rude hut built by the
English troops when stationed in Sicily, during the late war. Here it
became again necessary to halt a little to put on some extra clothing.
As soon as this was accomplished, the signal for the ascent was made
by the guides giving each person of the party a long staff, to assist
him in clambering the steeps, as the mules could not proceed any