antiquity that I remember to have read, who has assigned this danger its true situation, and not exaggerated its effects. Many wonderful stories are told respecting this vortex, particularly some said to have been related by the celebrated diver Colas, who lost his life here. I have never found reason, however, during my examination of this spot, to believe any of them.'-p. 124. Etna. The altitude of this pillar of heaven and eternal nurse of snows,' Captain Smyth estimates at 10,874 feet, which gives about 150 miles for the radius of vision. The present crater, which has been stated, absurdly enough, on the authority of Pliny, to be twenty stadia, or two miles and a half in circumference, (and by some travellers to be nearer four,) our author describes as an oval, stretching from E. and by N. to W. and by S., with a conjugate diameter of 493 yards; the transverse he was prevented from ascertaining by a dense cloud that arose before his operations were completed.' The following is an account of its interior : 'From the edge of the crater, the interior, through successive strata of volcanic substances, is incrusted with various coloured efflorescences of ammonia, sulphur, and martial vitriolic salts, to the depth of about a hundred yards on the east, but considerably less on the west side. The efflorescences of a beautiful orange yellow are the most predominant. The bottom of the crater is plain, and tolerably hard, though, from being composed of loose cinders, the feet sink in some places; near the centre, are two mounds of scoria and ashes, each with a large aperture at the summit, and several fissures around, from whence, at intervals, issue volumes of thick smoke, with a rumbling noise and hissing sound. There is, also, a light thin vapour, occasionally oozing from the bottom and sides of the huge amphitheatre in every direction. I endeavoured to look into the principal chasm, but the rapid ejection of the cinders, and the strong sulphureous vapours that exuded, prevented me from attaining my object; and, indeed, I could not but feel apprehensive that a nearer approach, where the footing was so frail, might prove too hazardous; besides which, the heat and smoke had increased to such a degree, that it was high time to regain the summit." Captain Smyth accordingly ascends, and makes some remarks on the exterior of the cone. When on a sudden the ground trembled under our feet, a harsh rumbling with sonorous thunder was heard, and volumes of heavy smoke rolled over the side of the crater, while a lighter one ascended vertically, with the electric fluid escaping from it in frequent flashes in every direction. The shortness of the time that had elapsed since I was in the crater, rendered me thankful for so providential an escape; but even from the spot on which we stood it was necessary to remove with the utmost expedition, and before we could effect our retreat, we were overtaken by a disagreeable, cold, humid cloud that annoyed and retarded our progress.'-p. 152. We We will here correct Captain Smyth upon one point in which he errs with almost every traveller in Sicily, and indeed with the Sicilians themselves. He seems to consider (p. 149.) that the ascent of Ætna is not practicable in winter. In defiance of the difficulties started by the people of Catania and repeated by the Nicolosi guide, we gained the summit of Etna on the 27th January, 1819.* That it is a work of severe labour at such a season cannot be denied, the snow extending ten or twelve miles down the mountain, and mules being consequently so far useless. But the labour is not such as need deter a stout pedestrian from undertaking it; and splendid indeed is the reward which awaits him when he seems to descry at once from that proud pinnacle 'all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them.' Such is the nature of the climate at Syracuse,' says Cicero, (who would fain insinuate that Verres had changed it for the worse,) that there is no day in the year, wherein the sun is not visible at one time or other. For the truth of all this, every classical traveller could vouch; and, of course, be prepared to deny all pretensions in scholarship to a plain man who might assure them that he had been very wet or very cold in Italy or Sicily. The thing is manifestly impossible-there is an innubilus æther over both these countries! What, however, says Captain Smyth? "In the year 1814, there were one hundred and twenty-one overcast and cloudy days, on eighty-three of which rain fell-thirty-six misty days-and one hundred and fifty-nine fine bright days.'-p. 4. To count,' observes Johnson, is a modern practice; the ancient method was to guess, and when numbers are guessed, they are always augmented.' The last chapter of the present volume is occupied with an account of the Eolian or Lipari islands; scenes which, owing to the untoward circumstances usually attending sea-voyages, have seldom been visited; but which Captain Smyth had every facility for exploring, and of which he gives a very minute and pleasing description. Nearly all these islands are inhabited; (Lipari, the largest, containing upwards of 12,000 souls;) and the * We have stated this fact for the benefit of future travellers in Sicily, whose wanderings may fall out in the winter months. If they wish in earnest to ascend Ætna, we charge them not to be discomposed by the è impossibile, Signori,' of every Sicilian they may meet; and we further advise them to signify to their guide that they shall graduate his pay by the altitude to which he leads them. With these provisos, we venture to predict, that they will reach the summit. It is singular enough, that it was on the 28th of January that Swinburne relinquished all thoughts of gaining the summit, in compliance with the idle counsel of his conductor. Possibly when the spring is further advanced, and the snow is beginning to melt, the ascent may not be feasible; in January the surface of the snow is hard, (at least early in the morning) and will support the foot. smaller smaller ones appear to be chiefly governed by the moral influence of popular and patriarchal priests. In Lampedusa, it seems, a Mr. Fernandez, an English gentleman, settled ten or twelve years ago, on a commercial speculation; and when Captain Smyth last visited the island he found his family living in almost deserted/ solitude, without the slightest protection from rovers, or, what is worse, from infected vessels putting in there, which has ever been a common practice.' The other inhabitants were twelve or fourteen Maltese peasants scattered about in different caves. What strange beings are Englishmen! We should have imagined, had the supposition been consistent with the date of Mr. Fernandez' exile, that he might be some good whig, who had withdrawn from the impolicy and misery of his country, to take refuge under the genial shadow of a Neapolitan monarchy, and judge for himself how grievously our Bohemia differs from your Sicilia.' This, however, does not appear. These islands are in general cultivated with care, and yield grapes, currants, figs, prickly pears, cotton, olives and pulse; while, at the same time, they carry on a considerable trade in bitumen, pumice, nitre, pozzolana, cinnabar, coral and fish. Stromboli is the only one still active as a volcano-volcano, properly so called, which threw up flames, smoke, and red-hot stones when D'Orville visited it in the seventeenth century, now only emitting sulphureous and heated vapour from a crater a mile and a quarter in circumference, and nearly a quarter of a mile deep. 'The crater of Stromboli,' says Captain Smyth, who climbed to a summit which commanded a view of it, and there waited the approach of night, is about one-third of the way down the side of the mountain, and is continually burning, with frequent explosions and a constant ejection of fiery matter-it is of a circular form and about 170 yards in diameter, with a yellow efflorescence adhering to its sides as to those of Etna. When the smoke cleared away, we perceived an undulating ignited substance which at short intervals rose and fell in great agitation, and when swollen to the utmost height burst with a violent explosion, and a discharge of red-hot stones in a semi-fluid state, accompanied with, showers of ashes and sand, and a strong sulphureous smell. The masses are usually thrown up from the height of sixty or seventy to three hundred feet; but some, the descent of which I computed to occupy from nine to twelve seconds, must have ascended above a thousand, In the moderate ejections the stones in their ascent gradually diverged, like a grand pyrotechnical exhibition, and fell into the abyss again, except on the side next the sea, where they rolled down in quick succession, after bounding from the declivity to a considerable distance in the water; a few fell near us, into which, while in a fluid state, we thrust small pieces of money as memorials for friends, friends. I enjoyed this superb sight till near ten o'clock, and as it was uncommonly dark, our situation was the more dreadful and grand: for every explosion showed the abrupt precipice beneath, and the foam of the furious waves beating against the rocks, so far below us as to be unheard; while the detonations of the volcano shook the very ground we sat on. At length the night getting very cold I determined to descend; and in about an hour we entered the cottage of one of my guides, the hospitable Saverio.'--p. 256, This part of the work is the most novel, and therefore the most agreeable of the whole; but we cannot afford room for longer extracts, more especially as Captain Smyth (which our readers will by this time have discovered) is somewhat wordy; we shall conclude therefore with saying, that to officers on the Sicilian station we doubt not the present Memoir will be of very considerable value; as independently of the close description afforded in the course of the narrative, of the entire coast of Sicily, its rocks, shallows, soundings, creeks and caricatori, it contains an Appendix of more than forty pages, embracing bearings and other particulars of practical importance to navigators of those seas-whilst the height of the principal mountains, now ascertained for the first time-the population of every town and village given in a statistical table on the best authorities-the comparative salubrity of each-the commerce of the most considerable-the produce of the districts bordering on the coasts, and the general resources of the island, are so many topics of common interest, and are handled in the present work by one from whose science and opportunities, if more might reasonably have been expected, something has unquestionably been added to the stock of useful knowledge. Nor may it be out of place to mention, that admirers of the fine arts will be gratified by several very spirited engravings, (the plates by Daniell) which adorn this volume. For such classical recollections, as a tour in Sicily is calculated to awake, we certainly can refer our friends with greater satisfaction, to that part of Mr. Hughes's first volume of Travels, which treats upon Sicily. But whilst we admit the superior scholarship of one who is a scholar by vocation,' we bear testimony with unfeigned pleasure to the respectable share of ancient lore here exhibited by a member of a profession which opposes many and serious obstacles to its attainment;-by one, who must have pursued literature out of pure love for it, not in learned leisure or under the shelter of academic bowers,' but at intervals and in active life, inter arma, Siye jactatam religarat udo ᎪᎡᎢ . ART. VI.-). An Act for Consolidating and Amending the Laws relating to the Building, Repairing, and Regulating of Certain Gaols and Houses of Correction in England and Wales, 4 G. IV. c. 64. 10th July, 1823. 2. First, Second, and Third Reports from the Committee on the Laws relating to Penitentiary Houses. 3. Report from the Committee on the State of the Gaols of the City of London, &c. 4. First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Reports of the Committee of the Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline. 5. Roscoe on Penal Jurisprudence. London. 1819. 6. Roscoe's Additional Observations on Penal Jurisprudence, &c. London. 1823. 7. Speech of G. Holford, Esq. on the Motion made by him in the House of Commons, June, 1814, for Leave to bring in a Bill for the better Management of the Prisons belonging to the City of London. Speech of G. Holford, Esq. in the House of Commons, June 22d, 1815, on the Bill to amend the Laws relative to the Transportation of Offenders, containing Provisions respecting the Confinement of Offenders in the Hulks. Speech of G. Holford, Esq. in Support of an Amendment, to withhold from the Visiting Justices of Prisons the Power of authorizing the Employment without their own Consent of Prisoners committed for Trial. London. 1824. Thoughts on the Criminal Prisons of this Country, &c. By G. Holford, Esq. M.P. London. 1821. A Short Vindication of the General Penitentiary at Millbank, &c. By G. Holford, Esq. M.P. London. 1822. 8. An Inquiry whether Crime and Misery are produced or prevented by our present System of Prison Discipline. By T. F. Buxton, Esq. M.P. London. 1818. 9. Correspondence on Prison Labour. By Sir J. C. Hippesley. London. 1823. 10. Thoughts on Prison Labour, &c. &c. By a Student of the Inner Temple. London. 1824. 11. Rules and Regulations of the General Penitentiary, Mill bank. 1822. 12. Report on the Penitentiary at Millbank. 1823. WE have placed at the head of our paper rather a long list of documents and publications of different dates, and very unequal importance, but all relating more or less intimately to a great subject,... |