THE EARTH. 



lity, they were always near the shore; and along 

 the shore was the only place where this ill-provided 

 mariner durst venture to sail. These were there- 

 fore dreadful impediments to his navigation ; for, 

 if he attempted to pass between them and the 

 shore, he was sometimes sucked in by the eddy ; 

 and if he attempted to avoid them out at sea, he 

 was often sunk by the storm. But in our time, 

 and in our present improved state of navigation, 

 Charybdis and the Euripus, with all the other 

 irregular currents of the Mediterranean, are no 

 longer formidable. Mr Addison, not attending to 

 this train of thinking, upon passing through the 

 Straits of Sicily, was surprised at the little there 

 was of terror in the present appearance of Scylla 

 and Charybdis ; and seems to be of opinion, that 

 their agitations are much diminished since the 

 times of antiquity. In fact, from the reasons 

 above, all the wonders of the Mediterranean Sea 

 are described in much higher colours than they, 

 merit, to us who are acquainted with the more 

 magnificent terrors of the ocean. The Mediter- 

 ranean is one of the smoothest and most gentle 

 seas in the world ; its tides are scarcely perceivable, 

 except in the Gulf of Venice, and shipwrecks are 

 less known there than in any other part of the 

 world. 



It is in the ocean, therefore, that these whirl- 

 pools are particularly dangerous, where the tides 

 are violent, and the tempests fierce. To mention 

 only one, that called the Maelstroom, upon the 

 coasts of Norway, which is considered as the most 

 dreadful and voracious in the world. The name 



