Evening star., 1928-03-25
BY RICHARD HALLIBURTON.

w 8 : '; r.: !: !. :: s.; ;: IS
Then launching our fishing
smack, we sailed once more beneath
the lava cliff. away from AeoluS roar
Ing island. AS 1t had beloved greet
iug 20 us. il beloved farewell ana
with unexpected generosity turned its
smoking weather -vane 10 the south. un-
leaShing q breeze that blew us past
the other islands that belonged to
AeoluS' sons and safely into the snug
harhor. Cefalu. generally thought to
have been the city Of the baeStrygones
those cannibal giants who Speared
Ulysses followers for food.
Ulysses didn't tarry long at Cefalu
and neither did We. The train took
us TO Palermo, ship 70 Naples, and
more trains TO Terracina, rs miles up
the coast. and the point on the main
land where one takes q vehicle TO
reach San Felice. the village on the
island" OF Circe Mount Circeol 10
miles away across the marshes. 1t IS
now q rocky promontory rising 100
feet above the Sand-1atS. In HomerS
time il stood alone In the sea.
San Felice boasts no hotel. No visi-
ogistS. But Leon and ! meant to stay.
e not a year like Ulysses, at least
several DAYS and We needed shelter,
Passing beneath balcony where the
windows were wide open, We heard
a woman singing in a sweet voice.
II was more than sweet voice. it was
a haunting voice We stopped TO listen.
She was singing carelesSly to herself
as she sat In chair by the window
6arning socks.
There she is" Leon said with a
tone Of flnality.
There who iS?"
"Circe, my child"
s'She certainly sings like it,
"And she's weaving q magic web"
~And look. Leon! There are pigs all
aroundi"
Her father took us in as boarderS
and we explored the land where Circe
gave the Greeks strong drink and
changed them TO pigs, but, unlike
Ulysses We had no year 70 spend IN
6allsance Ny companion, Leon. had
TO so on to Rome, and I was due, IN
following Ulysses course, at the Islands
a. the Sirens. who sang 50 Sweetly that
no man could resist them. AS the
Sirens dwelt either on the Islands
called Ii CALI near Sorrento, or IN the
Blue Grotto at Capri, ! visited both,
and then went on to the Straits Of
Messina, where Scylla and Charybcis
once filed the Greeks with terror.
Scyila was a six-armed female mon
ster. who leaned out Of her cave over
loog 7g the sea and snatched men up
from the boat decks Her cave was on
the italian side Of the straits. Charyb-
dis was sucking whirlpool on the
Sic1lian side Ulysses had 70 pass near
one or the other. and chose Scylla, be-
cause while this way he would lose
scme men, Charybdis would destroy his
entire ship.
The picturesque little town Of Scilla
(uaoden Italian spclling) is built partly
On a high naked proniontory Of rock
that fllrusts itself boldly into the sea.
This great rock was the home Of the
voracious Scyila. II took small i'm
agsnafion to look over the brink Of this
rock and picture Ulysses ship coasting
fearfuliy along its base 70 avoid the
rearing Eharybdis: or 70 picture the
CONSERVATION among the crew when
the stx-aTmed monster fen like a
thunderbolt upon them and horribly
devoured six wTithang Greeks before
Ulysses very eyes
It was a sparkling afternoon as the
U1zs$ kt<&eAAC1 away &&1A2 ES<AAA@ &0& A&IS~
Kina, and for me. sparkling moment
Here was the channel famed Ia song
and story-notorioukly treacherous and
violent. Except II Troy. and Ithaca
Itself, have never felt 50 close 70
Ulysses as IN this channel Never had
be seemed 50 real, SO tangible.
I thought II would be sport to swim
l. tsae channel and Immediately be-
gan 10 investigate distances. currents,
etc I found that unless the whirlpool
had changed its position since Homeris
time, the poet had been slightly misin-
formed IN regard % the topography Of
the straits, for CharybdiS, instead Of
being directly opposite Scylla's Rock,
Les eight miles 20 the south, just out
SIDE the .xiekle-lfke peninsula that pro-
tscfS the haroor Of MeSsina
From the top o. the lighthouse that
rises above the sickle, one enjoys
splendid view Of the whirlpool only
hundred yards o4Shere 1t is called