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Dawn. Transport off the Island of Ivica [Ibiza]

September 13 1811

My dear Mother

You will perceive by the date of this
letter that we have left Sicily; our destination we do not exact
-ly know and therefore being unable at this time to give
you much information on that head I determine to
write you a short account of an excursion I made in
June last to the summit Mount Etna.

Having long talked of visiting this celebra-
-ted Mountain two Officers of the Regiment and myself ob
-tained leave of absence for ten days, and embarked on board
a country vessel going to Catania, a City I believe about
sixty Miles distant from Messina. We set sail on the last
day of June, and found ourselves in a few minutes on
the no longer formidable Charybdis with winds perfectly
suited to the scene which laid before us. On our right
was Sicily with its Hills undulated like the Waves, and Mes-
-sina rising from ruins to its ancient magnificence
on the left lay the Mountains of Calabria, together with
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[? page missing before this]
Philosopher Empedocles. But what it really was, must be left to the virtuosi
to determine, for nothing now remains but a few bricks.

We now set out again on
our return. As the day advances the Clouds began to dispel, and we
were assisted in our way down by a variety of rich scenery. On ar-
-riving at Milos our Host was surprised to see us so little fatigued –
We remained there a few hours, and then pursued our Way to Catania.
In the villages we passed through we saw the Children with Snow Balls
in their Hands, tho' in the height of summer. Mount Etna supplies the
surrounding countries with the Luxury of ice and brings in an immense
revenue. We took an other road to Catania and avoided that by which we
came, and by so doing [avoided] much of the rugged Lava we had before to ride over
This distructive [destructive] lava becomes in a series of years a soil very conge
-nial to the vine. As soon as it begins to crumble into dust the pea
-sants pick out the larger stones, of which they form walls, and thus in
the highest cultivated grounds you have the lava presented to the
view, as a memorial of its Course.

In the Evening we reached Catania
heartily tired, and most happy to alight from our Mules, which we had
never been enabled to get out of a Walk, during our whole journey, a dis-
-tance upon the whole of about sixty miles – A journey which all who
speak from experience will allow to be one of those things much better
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