were lighter remained on the furface, but were foon driven out of the revolving circle by the agitation of the water.

Though from these observations I was convinced that there was no gulph under the Calofaro; as otherwife there would have been a whirlpool, which would have carried down into it the floating fubftances; I determined to found the bottom with the plummet, and found its greatest depth did not exceed five hundred feet. I was likewife informed, to my no small surprise, that beyond the Calofaro, towards the middle of the ftrait, the depth was double.

I could not therefore but conclude from these facts, that at that time there was no whirlpool in Charybdis. I fay at that time, fince the cafe might be very different when the fea was tempeftuous. I therefore made enquiry relative to this of the pilots, thofe, efpecially, who, from their tried experience, were appointed by the public to give affistance in forms to foreign vessels, and who had frequently feen Charybdis in its greatest fury. The following is the substance of the answers they gave me :

When the current and the wind are contrary to each other, and both in their greatest violence, especially when the fcilocco, or fouth wind, blows; the fwelling and dafhing of the waves within the Calofaro is much flronger, more impetuous, and more extensive. It then contains three or four small whirlpools, or even more, according to the greatness of its extent and violence. If, at this time, small veffels are driven into the Calofaro by the current, or the wind, they are feen to whirl round, rock, and plunge; but are never drawn down into the vortex. They only fink when filled with water, by the waves beating over them. When veffels of a larger fize are forced into it, whatever wind they have they cannot extricate themselves; their fails are useless; and after having been for fome time toffed about by the waves, if they are not affifted by the pilots of the country, who know how to bring them out of the course of the current, they are furiously driven upon the neighbouring fhore of the Lanterna, where they are wrecked, and the greater part of their crews perifh in the waves *.

If we confider maturely these facts, we fhall find that a great part of what has been written relative to Charybdis is very erroneous. We have seen how many authors, from Homer to the present time, have defcribed it as a real whirlpool, or great gulph revolving in itself, within the circumference of which fhould any fhip enter, it is immediately drawn to the centre and fwallowed up. When the current is dying away, or when there is no current, this defcription has no resemblance to truth. Charybdis is then perfectly innocent, as I have been fully convinced by my own obfervations; and even when it is agitated

• The following account of the fhipwreck of a veffel in the Calofaro was fent me, after my return from Sicily, by the Abbate Grano from Mellina :

"About three weeks ago, we were fpectators of the finking of a Neapolitan polacca in the Calofaro, on its paffage from Puglia, laden with corn. A moft violent fouth-easterly wind blew, and the veffel, with all fails fet, endeavoured to reach the harbour, ftanding off from the Calofaro; but the head of the current from the entrance by the faro took her, and drew her impetuoufly into it; where, without being able to make use of her fails, the remained for fome time toffed about by the waves, which at length, either breaking over her, or opening her fides by their furious beating, fent her to the bottom. The crew, however, and a part of the cargo were faved by the fpeedy afiiftance given by our mariners in two finall barks, who had the courage to encounter the danger. You will perceive from this, in what manner the waves may fink fhips in Charybdis, without the neceffity of fuppofing a whirlpool."

and

and dangerous, it still contains no incavation, or gulph of the nature of a vortex; but merely a strong agitation and dashing of its waves, which produces thofe fmall whirlings of its waters, which are only accidental and not to be feared. So far likewife is Charybdis from drawing to itself and swallowing veffels, that it rather repels them, and throws them to a distance.

This error has arifen like many others with refpect to the productions of nature. Homer, in relating the voyage of Ulyffes through the Strait of Meffina, was the first who defcribed Charybdis as an immense vortex, which absorbs and rejects the water, and the fhips that approach it; exemplifying his account by the fate of fome of the companions of his hero, who were carried away by the whirlpool. The writers who came after him, whether poets, orators, hiftorians, or geographers, have followed him in this defcription, without any one of them taking the pains to repair to the place and examine it himself. Even Fazello the Sicilian, who was fo induftrious in afcertaining facts, and whofe accounts of his country are fo accurate, clearly fhews in his description of Charybdis, that he had never observed it himself; and concludes his narration with the erroneous fuppofition above cited, that the things fwallowed up by Charybdis are conveyed by fubmarine currents to the shores of Taormina.

Among all who have written on this fubject, we only find Cluverius who seems, at least at first view, to have vifited the place. I fhall transcribe his words:

"Ego fane, cum, Charybdis nofcendæ gratia aliquot dies Meffanæ fubfifterem, et ab hominibus ejus loci, maximè vero nautis, non Siculis modo, fed et Belgis, Britannis et Gallis, qui hoc fretum frequentes navigant, diligentius cam rem fcifcitarer, nihil omnino certi ipfis perdifcere potui, adeo fcilicet totum negotium omnibus obfcurum et incognitum erat. Tandem tamen reperi Charybdim, quæ incolis, patriis vocabulis, dicitur Calofaro, fub prædicta ad Meffanenfem portum pharo effe mare rapidè fluens, atque in vortices actum: quod non reis ex' hμalı ut tradit Homerus, id eft fingulis diebus ter, abforbet ingenti gurgite, revomitque aquas, fed quoties vehementiori fluctu fretum comitatur."

"I remained fome days at Meflina, with a view to obtain fome information relative to Charybdis; but though I made every enquiry of the people of the place, and principally the failors, not the Sicilian only, but the Italian, Dutch, English, and French, who frequently navigate that Strait, I could learn nothing fatisfactory, fo little was known by them on the fubject. At length however I found Charybdis, which the natives call Calofaro, under the lighthouse before mentioned near the harbour, to be a fea rapidly flowing, and forming vortices. It does not abforb the waters in its vaft gulph, and reject them thrice in a day, as Homer tells us; but as often as the fea runs high in the Strait,"

From the expreffion" I found Charybdis" we might be induced to believe, that he made his obfervations on the spot. It is certain however that he does not explicitly tell us fo: and when treating of a phenomenon, of which he was fo anxious to obtain an accurate knowledge, which he could not procure even from the Meffinese failors, it is ftrongly to be prefumed, that he would not have fuppreffed a circumstance of that importance. As Charybdis may be feen from the fhore, if he only went thither and turned his eyes towards it, he might with truth affert that he had difcovered it. The other adjuncts to his account, that Charybdis is a rapid fea, and that it abforbs and rejects the water in D 2 a ftorm,

a ftorm, convince me that he had not a juft idea of it, but fatisfied himself with the old tradition concerning Charybdis.

It may be obferved, that the fituation of Charybdis, as it has been hitherto described, does not exactly agree with that affigned it by Homer. Let us refer to the poet. The goddess Circe gives the following directions to Ulyffes, with respect to the navigation of the Strait of Melina :

Οι δε δυω σκοπελοι, ο μεν ουρανον εύξυν ικανεί . . .
Τον δ' έτερον σκοπελον χθαμαλωτερον οψει Οδυσσεύ,
Πλησίον αλλήλων, και κεν διοιςεύσειας.

Τῳ δ' εν ερινεος εστι μέγας φυλοισι τεθήλως,
Τῳ δ' ύπο δια Χαρυβδις αναρῥοι δει μελαν ύδωρ.

High o'er the main two rocks exalt their brow

Close by, a rock of lefs enormous height

Hoм. Odyff. XII.

The first of the rocks here mentioned by Homer is Scylla, which he describes at length; and near the other, according to this poet, Charybdis is fituated. The distance from one of these rocks to the other is an arrow's flight, xai xev dioisevσeias, which does not at all accord with the present fituation of Scylla. How are we to explain this disagreement? Shall we fay that Homer, availing himself of the licence in which poets are indulged, has spoken hyperbolically? I know not whether the connoiffeurs in poetry will permit fuch a licence. Or fhall we fuppofe that Charybdis was once much nearer to Scylla; but that in a long feries of ages it has changed its place, and removed under Meffina? Such a fuggeftion might, perhaps, be favourably received, if in remote times any confiderable change had taken place in the Strait: but we know not of any; and it is not probable, that a change fo remarkable as the removal of Charybdis from its place would have been paffed over in filence by Sicilian writers. Within the present century, it is true, this Strait, of which fo much has been faid, has become narrower; but at the fame time we know, that long before this event Charybdis was fituated where it is at present. The ancient and uninterrupted tradition of the Meffinese respecting this fact is confirmed by the authority of the most celebrated Italian, Latin, and Greek writers. Fazello tells us, "Charybdis ex parte Siciliæ paulo fupra Meffanam." "Charybdis is fituated on the fide of Sicily, a little beyond Meffina."-Ovid fays,

"Hinc ego dum muter, vel me Zanclea Charybdis
"Devoret !"

"Let dire Charybdis in Zanclean feas,

"Devour me if I change !"

And it is well known that Zancle was the ancient name of Meffana, now Meffina. Tzetzes in Lycophron fays, Η Χαρυβδις περί Μεσήνην ει. « Charybdis is fituated near Melo 'H

fina." Strabo likewife, after having mentioned Meffina, proceeds, Aɛixvurai nai Xagubdis, μικρον προ της πόλεως, εν τω πορθμῷ. " Charybdis is feen in the frait a little before we reach the city." Several other writers might be cited to the fame purpose.

From all these reafons and hiftorical teftimonies we must then conclude that Homer was not exact with refpect to the fituation of Charybdis; nor can it be a great offence to say, that in this paffage of his long poem he has certainly nodded. The accuracy of feveral of his defcriptions of various places in Sicily cannot be denied. It is fuch that we must either fuppofe that he had himfelf travelled in thofe parts, as is the opinion of many; or at leaft that he had procured very faithful and circumftantial information from others. Of this the rocks of Scylla are an example. But, as to the fuppofed whirlpool of Charybdis, and its fituation, I think we may venture to affirm he never faw it himself, and that the accounts he had received of it led him into error.

We will now enquire what foundation there is for the faying, which became proverbial, that "he who endeavours to avoid Charybdis dafhes upon Scylla ;" and which was applied by the ancients to thofe who, while they fought to fhun one evil, fell into a worse.

On this fubject I likewife made enquiries of the Meffinefe pilots abovementioned, and to what better mafters could I apply for the elucidation of fuch a proverb? They told me that this misfortune, though not always, yet frequently happens, unlefs proper measures are taken in time to prevent it. If a fhip be extricated from the fury of Charybdis, and carried by a strong southerly wind along the ftrait towards the northern entrance, it will pass out fafely; but fhould it meet with a wind in a nearly oppofite direction, it would become the sport of both these winds, and, unable to advance or recede, be driven in a middle courfe between their two directions, that is to fay, full upon the rock of Scylla, if it be not immediately affifted by the pilots. They added, that in these hurricanes a land wind frequently rifes, which descends from a narrow pafs in Calabria, and increases the force with which the fhip is impelled towards the rock.

Before I began to write on Scylla and Charybdis, I perufed the greater part of the ancient authors who have written on the fubject. I obferve that they almoft all reprefent these disastrous places in the most gloomy and terrifying colours, as continually the scene of tempefts and shipwrecks. These terrors and this destruction, however, they are far from exhibiting in the prefent times, it rarely happening that any fhips are loft in this channel, either because their pilots poffefs the knowledge requifite for their prefervation, or becaufe they apply for the necessary affiftance. Whence then arifes this great difference between ancient times and the prefent? Can we suppose that Scylla and Charybdis have changed their nature, and become lefs dangerous? With respect to the former, we haye feen that this hypothefis is contradicted by fact; Scylla ftill remaining fuch as it was in the time of Homer: and with regard to the latter, from the Strait of Meflina becoming narrower, Charybdis. must be at prefent more to be feared than formerly, as it is well known that an arm, channel, or strait of the fea is the more dangerous in proportion as it is narrow. I am rather of opinion that this difference arifes from the improvement of the art of navigation, which formerly, in its infancy, dared not launch into the open fea, but only creep along the fhore, as if holding it with its hand.

Alter

22

Caufe why the Dangers of Scylla and Charybdis are diminished.

Alter remus aquas, alter tibi radat arenas,
Tutus eris; medio maxima turba mari.

PROPERT. Lib. III.

To fhun the dangers of the ocean, fweep

The fands with one oar, and with one the deep.

But time, ftudy, and experience have rendered her more mature, better informed, and more courageous; fo that she can now pafs the wideft feas, brave the most violent tempefts, and laugh at the fears of her childhood.

To exemplify and support the probability of this opinion, it will not be neceffary to recur to the early and rude ages; much more modern times will furnish us with fufficient proofs. That part of the Adriatic, which separates Venice from Rovigno in Iftria, is certainly not the most propitious fea to navigators. The danger of being hurried in fix hours from one fhore to the other, and there ftranded; the frequency of violent winds which prevail there; the fhallows and fand-banks which break the waves and render them wild and irregular, may certainly cause some serious reflection in those who embark to make the paffage. So lately as the last century, the shipwrecks in this fea were so numerous, and had so terrified the people of Rovigno, that, when any one was obliged by urgent business or any other cause to go to Venice, he confidered himself as more likely to die than live; and, if he was the father of a family, used to make his will before he embarked. The Advocate Conftantini, a native of that country, and a man of learning and ingenuity, told me when I was there, that he had read more than one of these teftaments, depofited among the public archives.

But at prefent I will not fay it is a diverfion or pleasure to make this paffage, fince, as ftorms are not unfrequent, it is neceffary to be cautious; but ferious accidents rarely happen. I have myself three times made it without meeting with any cause of alarm. To what can this difference be attributed, but to the improvement of the nautical art? Befides that the mariners of Rovigno were not then fo expert in the management of their veffels as at prefent; they made ufe of certain barks of fo improper a conftruction, as I was affured by the abovementioned Conftantini, that it was impoffible they should long refift the violence of the fea. Those on the contrary that have been built fince that time, being of a broad and flat figure and very folid, are capable of withstanding the most furious ftorms. They are there called bracere, and are in great reputation in all the neighbouring countries. We here find a part of the fea in which veffels were formerly fo frequently wrecked, and which could not be traversed but at the risk of life, now deprived of all its terrors, and rendered eafily paffable, merely by the improvements made in the art of navigation.

As a farther and still more convincing proof that the dangers of Charybdis and Scylla, though in themselves the fame that they anciently were, have been diminished, and the dread they inspired removed by the rapid advances to perfection which this art has made in modern times; I fhall adduce an example in another fea no lefs an object of terror from tempefts and fhipwrecks, I mean the Cape of Good Hope, called the Stormy Cape by the first discoverer, and, by the mariners of those times, the Raging Lion. How dreadful were the dangers of this place, where the two oceans defcending down the oppo