VOYAGE FROM INEADA, 
Scarcely had we made the land, when a heavy 
rain fell: this continued till mid-day; and we 
were involved in such darkness, that those 
in the poop could hardly see the forecastle. 
About noon, the wind having abated, and a pro- 
digious sea rolling, the weather again cleared : 
we then discovered the light-tower on the 
European side of the Canal, at no great distance. 
The boatswain first gave us the agreeable 
intelligence from the mast-head : soon after, we 
all saw it from the deck, stationed at the base of 
an immense range of mountains. At the same 
time, the whole coast, both upon the European 
and the Asiatic side, appeared with a degree of 
grandeur not to be described ; like a vast wall 
opposed to the great bed of waters, in which 
the mouth of the Canal could only be compared 
to a small crack, or fissure, caused by an earth- 
quake. Soon afterwards, a fog covered us again, 
and we once more lost sight of land. We were 
then enveloped in such thick darkness, that we 
began to despair, and to dread another scene of 
trial in that terrible sea, so properly termed by 
the Antients, aeenos, inhospitable'. The supersti- 
tion of the crew served however to amuse us, 
even in this state of suspense. Our old pilot, a 
(1) “ Frigida me cohibcnt Euxini littora Ponti ; 
Dictus ab antiquis Axenus illc fuit.” 
Ovid. lib. iv. Trisl. Eleg. IV. 
