l6 - Anc'ienl Jccounts of Charyhdls. ^ 



which I expeftcd every moment would be fwallowed up in the waves ; I beheld with 

 wonder and pleafure the addrefs and bravery of the MeiTu'iefe mariners, who had under- 

 taken to fleer fefely through fo ftormy a fea the fhip entruiled to their care. 1 hey extri- 

 cated it from the current, which impelled it towards deftruflion ; changed the helm to this 

 fide, or to that; reefed or fet the fails, as the wind increafed, or abated; avoided the 

 impetuous fhocks of the waves, by meeting them .with the prow, or oppofmg to them the 

 fide, as either method appeared mod proper to break their violence; and by thefe and other 

 manceuvres, which I am unable to defcrlbe, thefe'brave mariners, amid this dreadful con- 

 flict of the fea and the wind, fucceeded in their undertaking, and brought the veflel fafe 

 into the harbour. 



But enough of Scylla : — we will now proceed to Charybdis. This is fituated, within the 

 Strait, in that part of the fea which lies befween a projection of land named Punta Seccti, 

 and another projection on which ftands the tower called Lantcrna, or the Hght-houfe, si 

 light being placed at its top to guide veffeJs which may enter the harbour by night. 



On confulting the authors who have written of Charybdis, we find that tliey all fuppofed 

 it to be a whirlpool. The firft who has afferted this is Homer, who has reprefented Cha- 

 rybdis as a monller, which three times in a day drinks up the water, and three times vomits 

 it forth. 



— — — — s(a Xafu?(Ji; avafpoiS^si [j,sXav loui^, 



TpiS i^ev ya.0 r'aytrja-iv tit rJ^oi.a7i, rpts S'a.va-fpoi'SSBi 



AciMx. , HoM.Odyir. XIL 



Beneath Charybdis holds her boifteroiis reign 

 'Midft roaring whirlpools, and abforbs the main ; 

 Thrice in her gulphs the boiling feas fubfide, 

 Thrice in dire thunders {he refunds the tide. Pope. 



The defcription of Virgil above cited, differs' from that of Homer only in placing a deep 

 gulph below. Strabo, Ifidorus, Tzetzes, Hefychius, Didymus, Euflathius, &c. repeat the 

 fame. The Count de Buffon adopts the idea of Homer in full confidence, and places 

 Charybdis among the moll celebrated whirlpools of the fea. " Charybdis, in the ftrait of 

 Meffina, abforbs and rejeCls the water three times in twenty-four hours*." Strabo tells 

 us, that the fragments of ihips fwallowed up in this whirlpool are carried by the current 

 to the (horc of Tauromenium (the prefentTaormina) thirty miles diftant from Charybdisf. 

 In confirmation of this tradition, an amufing though tragical anecdote is related of one 

 Colas, a Meffmean diver, who, from being able to remain a long time under water, had 

 acquired the furname of Pef-e (the fifh). It is reported -that Frederic, king of Sicily, com- 

 ing to Meflina purpofely to fee him, made trial of his abilities with a cruel kind of liberality, 

 .by throwing a golden cup into Charybdis, which if he brought up was to be the reward 

 K>f his refolution and dexterity. The hardy diver, after having twice aftoniflied the fpec- 

 • tators by remaining under water a prodigious length of time, when he plunged the third 

 ^time appeared no more; but, fome days after, his body was found on the coail, near 

 Taprnaina. " 



• Buffon, Hi ft. Nat. tom.ii. in iimo. 



From 



^ V 



