1 8 State of Charyhdis. 



were lighter remained on the furface, but were foon driven out of the revolving circle by- 

 the agitation of the wrater. 



Though from thefe obfervations 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 fubftanccs ; I determined to found the bottom with the plummet, and 

 found its greateft depth did not exceed five hundred feet. I was likewife informed, to my 

 no fmall furprlfe, that beyond the Calofaro, towards the middle of the ftrait, the depth 

 was double. 



I could not therefore but conclude from thefe fafls, that at that time there was no 

 whirlpool in Charybdis. I fay at that t'nm, fince the cafe might be very different when the 

 fea waa^tempeftuous. I therefore made enquiry relative to this of the pilots, thofe, efpe- 

 cially, who, from their tried experience, were appointed by the public to give affiflance in 

 ftorms to foreign veflels, and who had frequently feen Charybdis in its greateft fury. The 

 following is the fubftance of the anfwers they gave me : 



When the current and the wind are contrary to each other, and both in their greateft 

 violence, efpecially when the fcilocco, or fouth wind, blows j the fwelling and dafliing of 

 the waves within the Calofaro is much ftronger, more impetuous, and more extenfive. It 

 then contains three or four fmall whirlpools, or even more, according to the greatnefs of 

 its extent and violence. If, at this time, fmall veflHs are driven into the Calofaro by the 

 currenty.'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 veflels of a larger fize are forced into it, whatever wind they have they cannot 

 extricate themfelves; their fails are ufelefs; and after having been for fome time tofled, 

 about by the waves, if they are not affifted by the pilots of the country, who know how to 

 bring them out of the courfe of the current, they are furioufly driven upon the neighbour- 

 ing fhore of the Lanterna, where they are wrecked, and the greater part of their crews 

 perifli in the waves *. 



If we confider maturely thefe fa£ls, we (hall find that a great part of what has been» 

 ^written relative to Charybdis is very erroneous. We have feen how many authors, from ' 

 Homer to the prefcnt time, have defcribed it as a real whirlpool, or great gulph revolving in 

 itfelf, within the circumference of which (hould 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 rcfemblance to truth. Charybdis is then perfeftly inno- 

 cent, as I have been fully convinced by my own obfervations j and even when it is agitated 



• The following account of the fliipwreck of a vclTel in the Calofaro was fent me, after my return from 

 Sicily, by the Abbate Granofrom Melfina : 



" About three vveeks ago, we were fpc£lators of the finking of a Neapolitan polacca in the Calofaro, on its 

 paffage from Fuglia, laden with corn. A moft violent fouth-eafterly wind blew, and the veflll, 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 u(e of 

 her fails, fhe remained for fome time tolTed about by the waves, which at length, cither 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 affiftance given by our mariners in two fmall barks, who had the courage to encounter 

 the danger. You will perceive from this, in what manner the waves may fink fliips in Charybdis, without the 

 ileceflity of fuppolbg a whirlpool." 



and 



