THE THREE REGIONS.

"OUR ride to-day," said Mrs. Elwood, "has presented us with a variety of objects; and I was particularly struck by the contrast between the spots that were fertile and those that were almost unproductive. What a change, too, may we observe in the air! The morning, so bright and promising, has been succeeded by a dull and chilly evening."

“Your remark, my dear," said Mr. Elwood, "has wafted my thoughts, in a moment, to a far-distant spot; and I have been musing on the peculiar circumstances of Etna, the far-famed burning mountain of Sicily. It is divided into three districts, or regions, each having its characteristic differences. They have distinct climates, corresponding with the gradations of ascent, and divided naturally into the torrid, the temperate, and the frigid. The mountain, however, has been usually divided according to other differences; and thus we have described to us the fertile region, the woody region, and the barren region."

"How I should like to see them!" said Emma; "would not you, Frederick dear?"

"I think I should, Emma," said Frederick: "but papa is sometimes so kind as to let us hear about curious things which we are not likely to see; and perhaps he will now."

Mr. E. The fertile region extends, my dears, fifteen miles from the city of Catania, whence the traveller usually begins his journey, and from which part the ascent commences. The surface of this region is reckoned at upwards of two hundred and twenty square leagues. It abounds in pasture-grounds, orchards, and fruit-trees, of great and rich variety; and there the vine especially flourishes. The next advance is to the woody region, which begins about three miles above the latter place, and extends upwards of eight or ten miles. The vegetation of this part is said to decrease as you advance, the trees gradually diminishing in size, till they become comparatively dwarfish and insignificant. This region is estimated at from seventy to eighty miles in circumference, with a surface of about forty or fifty square leagues, forming a girdle round the mountain of vivid green, composed of oaks, beeches, and other trees, in a soil of vegetable earth. The climate is here most agreeably mild, the air is cool and reviving, and every breeze is filled with delicious odours. It reminds us of the scene in the Antediluvian world, which Montgomery has so beautifully described:

U

218

SNOW GROTTO-THE DESERT REGION.

"So pure! so fresh!-the woods, the sky, the air!-
It seemed a place where angels might repair,

And tune their harps, amidst these tranquil shades,
To morning songs, and moonlight serenades."

E. It must, indeed, be beautiful, papa: is any thing

else interesting?

The

Mr. E. Yes: there is a curious snow grotto. snow, which is drifted from the higher parts of the mountain, is stopped, by a wall erected for the purpose, a little above the grotto, whence it is thrown down by two openings, and is protected from the heat of summer by a thick crust of lava, which forms a natural ceiling to the cave. Snow is exported from this receptacle in large bags, into which it is put, after being wrapped in leaves; and, thus preserved, it has the appearance of transparent crystal. The knights of Malta hire this, and other grottos of a similar description, for the use of their island: hence snow becomes an important article of trade, the nature of the climate always occasioning a large demand. As the desert region is approached, vegetation becomes thin and small. Wintry blasts now sweep along a wild and desert path. Here and there, indeed, clumps of trees and tufts of herbage are to be seen; but even these become more and more scarce, till they entirely disappear; and the traveller must encounter a space, from eight to ten miles in extent, overspread with a flat expanse of snow and ice, and abounding in dangerous

REMARKABLE CHESNUT-TREE.

219

torrents of melted snow. Beyond this, the great crater rises; and, at the highest summit of the mountain, there is, according to Brydone, an ample recompence for toil and danger, in the most wonderful and sublime sight in nature.

Mrs. E. Is there not, in the woody region, a remarkable chesnut-tree?

The eastern side of

Mr. E. There is, my dear. that part abounds particularly in chesnut-trees, of the largest dimensions, which become a very profitable article of trade, by furnishing hoops for casks; on which account, the inhabitants attend very carefully to their cultivation. One tree has long been celebrated above the rest, for its extraordinary size, and is called the chesnut-tree of a hundred horse, from its supposed capacity of containing that number; but particularly from the fabulous tradition that the Queen of Spain once found shelter, with a hundred attendants, under this tree. Carrera says that there is wood enough in it to build a large palace. At the surface of the earth, it measures a hundred and ninety-six feet; and its height and size would have been like its dimensions, but for the practice of lopping off its branches for fuel. Some travellers have dug about it, to see if it were a cluster of several trees, or only one; and they have found that, although divided, at or near the surface, into five branches, they are all united in one root. From the main stems, a multitude of branches spring,

220

CHESNUT OF TORTWORTH.

each of prodigious size, and having the peculiarity of no bark on the inside. A hut is built in the hollow of the trunk, to accommodate those who are engaged in collecting and preserving the fruit. The use of ovens, for drying the nuts, is thought to account for the want of bark on the inner side of the branches. Other vegetable wonders are found in the neighbourhood; and particularly one, with an undivided trunk, measuring fifty-seven feet at the height of fifteen feet from the surface of the ground.

Mrs. E. It is, indeed, a most extraordinary spot. But the chesnut thrives well in most parts of Britain. Several large trees have been described to us. FitzStephen, who lived in the reign of Henry II., speaks of an extensive forest of chesnuts, which sheltered the north side of London. A tree of this kind, at Tortworth, in Gloucestershire, is said to have stood there in the year 1150; and in the same county there was another, in the hollow of which there was "a pretty wainscotted room, enlightened with windows, and furnished with seats." The former has been called for ages, "the great chesnut of Tortworth;" it measures fifty-two feet round, and still continues to bear fruit.

F. What a fine horse-chesnut-tree that is, papa, near the park-gate! Its bunches of large white flowers are very beautiful. How many there were this year! I was quite sorry when they were gone. Is not this a different tree?