These rains are caused by Mount Ætna, which attracts the clouds from all quarters. The showers are sometimes so heavy that the streets of the city which run up and down the mountain, become rivers of water, rushing down to the sea with such rapidity that it is impossible to ford them. For this reason all the streets which lie upon a slope are provided with movable iron bridges, for crossing. There are also abundant springs of water under ground, which often burst out the sides of the mountain. I saw one of these which had sprung up through the pavement of one of the principal streets, and had been flowing for many weeks, a stream of beautiful clear water. The longest street is called Strada Ætnea. It runs up the mountain several miles, exactly in the direction of the crater, and the prospect upward is terminated by the magnificent snowy cone of the mountain, thirty miles distant. No other street in the world is equal to this in singularity. Many times has this city been destroyed by torrents of lava from the mountain, but the beauty and advantages of the situation are such, that the inhabitants have always been willing to rebuild it, rather than seek another spot. The seashore is a black, craggy lava rock, on which the surf is always beautifully dashing. The prospect through some of the streets is terminated by columns of white spray perpetually flying into the air, as the city is built directly on the open sea, and has no harbor except an artificial dock, about as large as the space between two of the common wharves in Boston. The soil of all the neighborhood is black, hard lava, which looks like cast iron; notwithstanding which the country is most beautiful, abounding in gardens, orchards, olive-groves, and everything rich and ornamental. Large numbers of the Sicilian nobility live here, attracted by the beauty of this delicious spot.