SIMILE OF GHOSTS AND BIEDS. I37 



or we must recall the fact, which is told us in his life by 

 Suetonius, that he spent a great part of his time in Campania 

 and SicUy, where in an autumn walk by the sea he might have 

 seen what he here refers to. The multitude of migrants from 

 France, Holland, and England, take a south-easterly course 

 in their autumn migration, and alight on any resting-place 

 they can find, — ships, islands, or wide* sea-coasts like those 

 of South Italy and Sicily. Here Virgil, we may be faii-ly sure, 

 had seen them, and the longing of their hearts had entered into 

 his, and borne fruit in a noble simile that is his, and not another's. 

 Their journey, when he saw them, was not ended ; like the pale 

 and longing ghosts, they had yet another sea to cross, before 

 they could find a winter's home in the secure sunshine of 

 the south. 



