reatened calamities, commanded that the expedition should at once quit
that melancholy shore. After passing the rugged cliffs of Ithaca, and
uttering maledictions on the land that bred Ulysses, the most cunning
enemy of Troy, the exiles arrived in safety at the harbor of Leucadia,
where the ships were anchored, and the travelers landed to rest awhile
after the fatigues of the voyage. Here they celebrated the games of their
country; and AEneas hung on the door-posts of an ancient and famous temple
of Apollo a suit of armor, which he had taken from a Greek warrior slain
before Troy, placing above it an inscription, "These arms AEneas won from
the victorious Greeks."

AENEAS IN THE LAND OF THE CYCLOPS

By Charles Henry Hanson

A day's sail over the blue Mediterranean brought AEneas and his followers
in sight of the southeastern shores of Italy; and as they saw the swelling
hills and grassy plains of the promised land, they broke into cries of
joy. The ships were run into a secure harbor, and sacrifices offered up
for the propitiation of Minerva and of Juno; after which, mindful of the
injunctions of Helenus to avoid those parts of Italy which lay nearest to
Greece, the adventurers resumed their voyage. Keeping near the coast, they
passed the Bay of Tarentum and the lofty promontories of Calabria. Now
came in sight the immense bulk of Etna, lifting its fire-crowned head into
the clouds; and the roaring of the terrible Charybdis could be distinctly
heard. Remembering the warnings of Helenus, they hastily turned to the
left, and avoided the perilous strait, but sought refuge in a place
scarcely less dangerous; for they landed in the country of the Cyclops,
where, only a little while before, Ulysses had been with his comrades, and
had endured great sufferings at the hands of the giant Polyphemus. The
Cyclops, it will be remembered, were a race of savage shepherds, of
immense stature, having each but one eye in the middle of his forehead.
They dwelt in caves, and kept great flocks and herds. Polyphemus was the
largest and fiercest of them all; and when Ulysses and his companions
entered his cave he kept them prisoners, and devoured several of them. The
hero himself and the rest of his followers had escaped him by making him
drunk with wine they had brought on shore from their ships, and then
putting out his eye with a sharpened stake, the point of which they had
hardened in the fire. The knowledge of this adventure cam