Evening star., 1925-08-30
THE LAND OF LOTUS EATERS
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN

Biase New York. scurrying TO bust
ness through the subway. over the
elevated or atop q bus, was startled
the other morning at a little news
item 1t appeared i'll the New York
World. This dispatch, carrying the
aroma Of romance and Legend. ap-
peared beneath a report Of society
wedding, to the right Of political
story and to the left OF crime story.
These three companions in front Se
importance might have looked askance
and wondered how 1t happened.
The dispatch hsd no reference to
divorce or scandal 1t said nothing
Of graft in the seats Of the mighty.
There were no passages referring to
brutal robberies or shastly murders.
It contained nothing about careless
driver who had run anuck at Forty
second and Broadway and killed sew
eral pedestrians. For front-pa ge
story IL was a little exotic.
II was under London date hne
and was an exclusive story Ii car
ried the information that treasure
galley. laden heavily. had been found
living across one af the streets OF
submerged city. The discovery. said
the story, was made between the
Island Of Jerba and the African main
land
Ii YOU Sla nee al 2 map Of Northern
Africa, begin at the City Of Tripoli
and follow the coast westward pasi
the Jefara Plain until you come TO the
Gulf of Gabes Then cross the gulf
on a line which would take you
through the City of Tunis and YOU viii
stumble over Jerba. also known as
Gerba. Gerbi and Djerba. Then. If
YOU are further interested, you VIII
And in the encyclopedia that Jerba
is 42s square miles in area. is level
and has fertile soil: that the natives
are engaged in the cultivation OF dates
and olives and the manufacture OF
silk and woolen fabrics: that 1t is
large sponge market and large fruit
export point and that the population
is about $4,000. consisting largely OF
Berbers. The chief town OF Jerba is
Haumt-es-Suk, possessing about 5000
souls. 1t has been occupied by the
French since 1881 and there are Ro-
man ruins and an Old Spanish castle
TO be found on IL.
Not of Great Importance.
But .Jerha. Just Jerba as is. mea ms
little or nothing TO the world It's
commerce is not enough 10 hecome
excited about. and its military posi-
ton is not overly important. True.
IL does command. in = measure. the
Gulf OF Gabes. but II could be reduced
easily in these days OF mighty siege
gums There seems to have been a
massacre there at some time during
the later Middle Ages. but there is lit
tie written about II, save one sma u
brochure by Spanish author. Other
than this incident Jerba has offered
little.
In ancient times .Ierbs was called
Meninx. Meninx was the land OF
those apostles OF idleness. the lotus
eaters. II is strange that nothing
has been written Of Meninx.
perusaI of records Of antiquity fails
.Ierba. But from what is given by
Greek writers about the lotus eaters IT
Is almost definitely established that
this is where they idled away their
lives.
These people. whoever they were,
famed in classic myth and epic poem,
lived A life utterly free from worldly
care and strife. Their halcyon ex-
istence was untroubled by outside In
reference. for any who CHANGED to
visit them became addicted to the
mode of living and never left. They
ate the fruit of the lotus, genus
which IL confused In the cIassifca-
tion Of plants. there being no definite
information as to what 1t was. There
are several trees and plants which
are said to be the ancient lotus.
These people made wine from the
Juice Of the lotus or ate the fruit
whole. 1t is said to have been sweet
and palatab bic beyond description, and
after once tasting it the individual
cared no more about the world with
hat - iva q
life in indolent pleasure.
There was no property. no insti-
tutions, no government. no organized
society. Everything was free and
peaceful. No laws hampercd the
habits OF the lotus eaters. Surrounded
and laved by the beautiful azure
waters Of the Mediterranean. lulled by
it's warm and gentle btst-ss and
soothed to indifference ~ the Juice OF
the delicious lotus, they played and
dreamed.
Some Truth In the Legend.
That there must have been some
truth to the legend is evinced by it's
recurrence in the accounts Of various
Greek writers. Witness the Odyssey
wherein Homer describes the visit Of
Ulysses to the island. Forewarned,
the wary 1thacan wanderer would
have nothing to do with the lotus
fruit and neither would most OF his
sailors Two of them. however, par
took of IL, and at the taste were
straishtwAy overcome by it's effects.
They were bound by the rest Of the
crew and conducted TO the black ship.
weeping violently because they were
compelled to leave, but offering no
resistance.
Herodotus knew of Meninx. Al
though his geography is often obscure
and inaccurate. his accounts of the
land Of the lotus reveal that 1t was
the same place described by Homer.
He refers to II ana the land Of the
Hyperboreana At one point In his
writings in almost the same breath.
The Hyperboreana we're Z mythical