Apennine Mountains  

"Leaving the gay scenes of Paris, we return to those of the gloomy Apennine, where Emily’s thoughts were still faithful to Valancourt."--The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) by Ann Radcliffe

"The boisterous winds rolled over the Appenines like the mountain-waves of the ocean; and the aged oaks bowed their lofty heads to the storm. Rinaldo and Altaverde had kindled a fire beneath a projecting rock, and sat sheltered in a narrow dell. The night was dark, thick clouds concealed the moon and no cheering star twinkled in the heavens."--Rinaldo Rinaldini (1797) by Christian August Vulpius

"Such was my physical and moral state as we were crossing the Apennines. This vast mountain chain dividing the peninsula along its length holds much of interest for the inquiring traveler; as the road rises, the most extraordinary prospects greet the eye: on the one side stretches the great Plain of Lombardy and on the other lies the Adriatic Sea; a spyglass enables one to see to a distance of fifty leagues. We dined at the wayside inn at Pietra Mala, with the intention of visiting the volcano. Profoundly devoted to all the irregularities of Nature, adoring everything that characterizes her disorders, her caprices, and the gigantean horrors whereof she gives us renewed examples every day, I had of course to observe this phenomenon; and so, after a meal that was poor despite our policy of always sending a cook ahead of us, we set out on foot across the little stretch of blasted terrain at whose farther end the crater is situated." --Justine, tr. Austryn Wainhouse