Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1892-07-29
DREAD OCEAN TERRORs.
MONSTERS WITH WHICH THE
SSEA WAS PEOPLER
The Time When Old Ocean Was Imprao-
ticable for ships and the straits
OF Gibraltar Was the Limit
OF Navigation.

ously Interesting = the charts en-
ployed by ancient mariners says the
Washington Star which have por-
trayed upon them ever so many ex-
traordinary monsters horrible drag
ons and terrific giants scattered here
and there.
The land-locked Mediterranean
which was the only sea known 10 the
Romans and Greeks o. twenty odd
centuries ago. was filled with mystic
rious terrors while the more distant
lands bordering Oh it were the abodes
OF wonders and strange peoples. Gods
OF monstrous shape ruled the waters.
enchanting sirens dwelt on the islets
and rocks and on the dry land beyond
were to be found weird enchantresses
breathing beasts fierce pigmies
and dreaded cannibals.
Adventurous voyagers who got so
far as the pillars of Hercules. now
called the Straits OF Gibraltar brought
back intelligence that the great ocean
beyond was not uavigable. IL was
part OF the mighty river which flowed
around the fiat earth in an amending
stream.
Tradition says that there was in
those times at Gibraltar a stone pillar
100 cubits high with brass statue on
IL and an Inscription stating this 10 be
the limit OF navigation. Beyond was
'sea OF darkness, infested with
terrors beyond the power Of the inn
aglnation TO conceive. Occasionally
u bold navigator did. nevertheless
venture outside into the Atlantic but
was compelled TO turn back very
quickly. A whirlwind would arise
and threaten to swamp the vessel or
more alarming still. gigantic hand.
supposed to be that OF Satan. would
emerge from the ocean OF eternal
gloom and warn back the mariners
; Not merely on these accounts was the
ocean impracticable for ships. 1t was
! reported TO be so dense with saltness
and so crowded with seaweeds and
huge beasts that Roadway could not
! be made through it. Even up 10 the
time of Columbus such beliefs pre-
vailed and his crews were terrified
on entering the Saragossa sea by the
weeds and Gains
Sailors yarns have always been cell
e5rated for their imaginative charac-
ter. Those of to-day however have
no opportunity for favorable COMPARE
son with the stories told by mariners
of anti. uity. The latter were able to
count upon an ineXhaustible public
credulity. nothing which they could
possibly invent being too monstrous
or unusual for belief Their tales pre-
sumably did much 10 augment the
fears OF the sea which were commonly
entertained in those days giving birth
TO many OF the myths of ocean. They
told OF the strange land inhabited by
lotus eaters who fed upon the fruits
OF forgetfulne5s and lost all memory
OF country and friends
beyond was the land of the one
eyed giants. called Cyclops, they said
while elsew here were TO be found the
strange islands where the enchant-
resses Gree and Calypso lived. These
islands were In the narrow Western
Mediterranean, and beyond was the
Cimmerian land where the people
lived in darkness always inhabiting
gloomy caves.
There were the Sirens also. whose
song was death. 1t was said:
"Full many mariner their songs betray,
Who lists and fingers till he pines away"
They were condemned to die when
n man should pass them without stop
ping. Ulysses accomplished this by
putting wax in his ears So they
were changed into rocks off Sorrento.
where they still exist terror to mar
liners. The Sirens typify the surf
whose harmonious murmurs are often
the death music of the sailor In like
manner the Cyclops represent the
Storm Fiend. as their names show.
Brontes is the roll Steropes the flash
Z and Argis the whiteness OF lightning
! Likewise the snaky Gordons are
thought to be fgurative representa-.
tives OF the white capped and angry
waves. Not less TO be feared were
the dreadful Symplegades huge NOV
ing rocks which were tabled To crush
ships passing between them. 1t has
been surmised that the tradition re.
speeding @ 80 rocks was derived from
the floating icebergs which during
the glacial period must have issued
20 from the Black sea- but this seems
hardly likely.
Scylla and Charybdis were two
terrors which guarded the straits Of
Messina. They are still there-a
3 formidable whirlpool on one side and
a surf-beaten rock on the other. The
{ surf waves were the dogs which
barked about Scylla's waist Charyb-
dis was the more dreaded OF the two
because it would swallow the ship
whereas Scylla would only grab a
man with each Of her six heads. The
great maelstrom of Norway was for
merly thought to be an abyss passing
into the center of the earth.
The Chinese fire cannon balls at a
whirlpool in the Canton river.
Water spouts were anciently sup
posed o be dragons. In the Arabian
Nights they re spoken OF rs genii
Chinese sailors beat drums and gongs
TO drive them away. The devil is
considered 10 be water fend by
many people. Davy Jones' the mari
n