This river was anciently named Syn[oe]thus; at present it is called Giarretta. It is remarkable for containing amber, which is carried down to the sea in its waters, and afterwards thrown up on the beach by the waves, for many miles along the coast. A great many persons are constantly searching along the beach for this precious material. After my arrival at Catania, I saw a fisherman who had just picked up four or five highly valuable lumps. They were of a beautiful yellow color, and of the most transparent clearness I ever saw. It is well known that this article is made into beads and other ornamental work, but the nature of its origin has never been satisfactorily shown. From the masses being often found in the shape of tears or globules, like bulbs of turpentine or gum, it was formerly supposed to be some hardened vegetable matter; but no tree has ever been discovered exuding amber. Sometimes insects are imbedded in the lumps, and this has led many persons to imagine that the insects manufacture it, as the bees make wax. It is remarkable that it is never found originally on land, and nowhere except on the sea-beach. This part of the Sicilian coast, and the Prussian shore of the Baltic, produce the most of it. It is also found on the shores of the Adriatic and the coast of Maryland. It was some time before we got ready to start from the ferry after crossing. The mules had become so antic from their squabble in the boat, that they continued to bite and kick and jostle one another, squealing and _whirrying_ most terribly. Several of them threw off their loads in the hurly-burly, and we were forced to bang them lustily with sticks before they would be quiet. At last we mounted and set off again, and I was glad to hear that there were no more rivers to cross on the way to Catania. A little boy, who sat on one of the mules between two great packs, kept singing all the way. Some of the flat marshy spots were all overgrown with canes, such as we use for fishing rods: they were fifteen or twenty feet high. The country people make use of them to prop their vines, as we set up poles for beans. I saw many laborers in the vineyards along the road, setting the vine-props; these are taken down when the grapes are gathered, and the tops of the vine-stalks are cut and dried for fuel. During the winter, the vine looks like a dead and worthless stump, but it sprouts anew in the spring, and by midsummer shoots up to the top of the pole.