The snow continued to fall so thick that we could see only a few yards before us; but the mules, who always follow a beaten path, continued to keep in the track till the middle of the afternoon, when the ground became so deeply covered that there seemed to be danger of their missing the way, and I began to feel some small apprehension that we might encounter an accident of the kind which had been related of the young Englishman, though I did not believe a word of the story. Luckily, about this time, the snow ceased to fall, and before sunset the sky grew clear. The prospect around me was desolate in the extreme. The whole surface of the mountain above was covered with snow, diversified here and there with huge red and black spots, where hills of burnt rock and volcanic sand, or craggy masses of lava, lifted their heads above the white expanse. Just as daylight shut in we reached a little hut called the “Englishman’s House,” which had been erected here for the accommodation of travellers. The shelter it afforded us was exceedingly welcome, for we were almost frozen to death with the keen air of the mountain. Luckily, the building, though destitute of furniture, contained a considerable quantity of dry sticks, which enabled us to make a good fire; else we should have passed a sleepless night, for my limbs were stiff with cold and fatigue. I lay down to rest as soon as I had eaten my supper, in order to be awake before daylight the next morning, as I was determined if possible to get to the top of the mountain before sunrise. I gave my companion strict injunctions to waken me as soon as his eyes should be open. But we both slept so soundly that it was broad daylight before we knew anything about it; and by the time we were fairly on our journey, the sun rose. I was much disappointed in not witnessing this spectacle from the mountain-top, as it would have afforded me something to boast of all my life; but the sight, as it was, might be thought enough to compensate for the fatigue and trouble of climbing so far. The snowy cap of the mountain, on the lower edge of which we were standing, glowed with the pure rosy tints of morning. Next to this was the green belt of forest, which first appeared dark and gloomy, but by degrees brightened into livelier tints, as the advancing sun threw his beams more directly upon the thick masses of leaves. Further down, the eye expatiated over the diversified surface of the skirts of the mountain, with its red cones, spots of green vegetation, and countless villages and towns, scattered right and left down to the water’s edge. The prospect to the east was bounded by the broad expanse of the ocean, which the brilliant morning sun had brightened up into a mirror of fire. Further to the north, the eye reposed on the dark mountains of Calabria, whose snowy summits glimmered with a faint roseate hue in the distance.