BOOK II. xLvii. 125-XLV111. 128 



six days after it tlie sea calms down for the breeding 

 of the halcyons from which these days derive their 

 name. The rest of the time there is wintry weather. 

 However, not even the fury of the storms closes the 

 sea ; pirates first compelled men by the threat of 

 death to rush into death and venture on the winter 

 seas," but now avarice exercises the same compulsion. 



XLVni. The actually coldest ^vinds are those windsand 

 that we have stated to blow from the North, and their '^'^'^'■^- 

 neighbour Corus (N.W.) ; these check the other 

 winds and also drive away the clouds. The South- 

 west and especially the South are for Italy the damp 

 ■winds ; it is said that on the Black Sea the East- 

 north-east also attracts clouds. The North-west and 

 South-east are dry, except when they are falling. 

 The North-east and North are snow winds ; the North 

 brings hailstorms, and so does the North-west. The 

 South wind is hot, the South-east and West warm ; 

 the latter are also drier than the East wind, and in 

 general all the northerly and westerly winds are drier 

 than the southerly and easterly. The healthiest of 

 all is the North wind ; the South is harmful, and more 

 so when dry, perhaps because when damp it is colder ; 

 Hving creatures are believed to be less hungry when 

 it is blowing. Etesian winds usually cease at night 

 and rise at eight o'clock in the morning ; in Spain 

 and Asia they are East winds, on the Black Sea North, 

 and in other regions South. But they also begin to 

 blow at midwinter (when they are called the Bird- 

 winds), but more gently and only for a few days. 

 Two winds also change their nature \vith their geo- 

 graphical position : the South wind in Africa is fine 

 and the North-east cloudy. All the winds blow in 

 their ovm turns, usually the one opposite to the one 



267 



