18. After another long interval of more than three centuries and a half, the mountain again entered into eruption. In February, 1169, occurred one of the most disastrous eruptions on record. A violent earthquake, which was felt as far as Reggio, occurred about dawn, and in a few minutes Catania was a heap of ruins. It is estimated that 15,000 persons were buried beneath the ruins. It was the vigil of the feast of S. Agatha, and the Cathedral of Catania was crowded with people, who were all buried beneath the ruins, together with the Bishop and forty-four Benedictine monks. The side of the cone of the great crater towards Taormina fell into the crater. At Messina the sea retired to some distance from the shore, and then suddenly returned, overwhelming a portion of the city, and sweeping away a number of persons who had fled to the shore for safety. The clear and pure fountain of Arethusa at Syracuse became muddy and brackish; while the fountain of Ajo, near the village of Saraceni, ceased to flow for two hours, and then emitted water of the colour of blood. Ludovico Aurelio states that the vines, corn, and trees were burnt up over large districts. 19. According to Nicolo Speziale, there was a great eruption from the eastern side of the mountain in 1181. 20. A stream of lava is said to have burst from the eastern side of the mountain in 1285, when Charles of Anjou was on his death-bed, and to have flowed fifteen miles. 21. In the year 1329 Niccolo Speziale was in Catania, and witnessed the eruption of which he has left us an account. On the evening of June 28th, about the hour of vespers, Etna was strongly convulsed, terrible noises were emitted, and flames issued from the south side of the mountain. A new crater--Monte Lepre--opened in the Val del Bove above the rock of Musarra, and emitted large quantities of dense black smoke. Soon afterwards a torrent of lava poured from the crater, and red-hot masses of rock were projected into the air. These effects continued till the 15th of July, when a second crater opened ten miles to the S.E. of Montelepre, and near the Church of S. Giovanni Paparometto. Soon after four other craters opened around it, and emitted smoke and lava. The sun was obscured from morning till evening by the smoke and ashes, and the adjacent fields were burnt up by the hot sand and ashes. Multitudes of birds and animals perished, and many persons are said to have died from terror. The lava streams were divided into three portions, two of which flowed towards Aci, and the third towards Catania. The ashes were carried as far as Malta, a distance of 130 miles. 22. Four years afterwards an eruption is recorded by Silvaggio. 23. A manuscript preserved in the archives of the Cathedral of Catania mentions an eruption which occurred on the 6th of August, 1371, which caused the destruction of numerous olive groves near the city.