HISTORICAL SKETCH 141 



two years previously by the Portuguese. The 

 colonists on the island related how, in one par- 

 ticular direction, there hung perpetually over the 

 sea a thick, impenetrable darkness, which was 

 guarded by a strange noise which occasionally 

 made itself heard. With the usual superstition of 

 the age, various reasons were ascribed to these 

 mysterious signs. We are told " by some the place 

 was deemed an abyss, from which whoso ventured 

 thither would never return ; by others it was called 

 the Mouth of Hell. Certain persons declared it to 

 be that ancient island Cipango, kept by Providence 

 under a mysterious veil, where resided the Spanish 

 and Portuguese Christians who had escaped from 

 the slavery of the Moors and Saracens. It was 

 considered, however, a great crime to dive into the 

 secret, since it had pleased God to signify His 

 intention to reveal it by any of the signs which 

 were mentioned by the ancient prophets who spoke 

 of this marvel." 



Being less superstitious and more adventurous 

 than these benighted colonists, Zargo determined 

 to fathom the mystery of this so-called impene- 

 trable darkness. Setting sail one morning with a 

 fair wind, by noon his hopes were fully realized, 

 and he found the mysterious veil to be nothing 



