philosopher (Constant Prevost) who christened her Julia; but it is
hard to divine what prompted him to act so ungallantly. Perhaps, at
the moment, he may have had in his eye some Julia of his
acquaintance, with very red hair and a very fiery temper.

This volcanic island rose out of the Mediterranean, about midway
between the Island of Pantellaria and the village of Sciacca on the
southern coast of Sicily. From about the 28th of June to the 2nd of
July 1831, the inhabitants of Sciacca felt several slight shocks,
which they imagined to have proceeded from Etna. On the 8th of July
the crew of a Sicilian ship, which was sailing at a distance of
about six miles from Sciacca, suddenly observed in the sea a jet of
water about 100 feet high. It rose into the air with a thundering
noise, sustained itself for about ten minutes, and then fell down.
Similar jets continued to rise in succession, at intervals of about
a quarter of an hour, and produced a thick mist overspreading the
surface of the sea, which was much agitated and covered with a
reddish scum. Shoals of dead fishes were drifted on the waves. On
the third day the jets were between 800 and 900 feet in diameter,
and between 60 and 70 feet in height, while the steam from them
rose to nearly 1800 feet.

On the 12th of July the inhabitants of Sciacca had their nostrils
assailed by a strong smell of sulphur, and beheld the surface of
the sea covered with black porous cinders, which, being drifted
ashore, formed a bed of some thickness on the beach. So great was
the drift of volcanic ashes, that boats could hardly struggle
through the water, and multitudes of dead fishes floated on its
surface. Next morning they saw rising out of the sea a column of
dark vapour, which, however, towards night became lurid red. From