h
great slaughter to their ships. No sooner had they put to sea than a
wild tempest came down upon them from the north, and drove them to
seek shelter again on the mainland, where they lay for two days and
nights in constant dread of another attack from the injured Thracians.
On the third day they set sail again and got as far as Malea, the
southernmost headland of Greece. Here they were again driven from
their course, and after nine days' tossing on the waves they reached
the land of the Lotus-Eaters.

When his men had refreshed themselves, Odysseus sent three of their
number to explore the country and learn the manners of the
inhabitants. Presently these three came to the dwellings of the
Lotus-Eaters, who received them kindly and gave them to eat of the
lotus-plant. With the first taste of that magic food the men forgot
the purpose for which they had been sent, forgot their friends and
their home, and had no desire left in life but to remain there all
their days and feast with the Lotus-Eaters. In this state they were
found by Odysseus, who compelled them by force, though they wept and
complained bitterly, to return to their ships. There he bound them
fast under the benches, and bade the rest take to their oars and fly
from that seductive clime, lest others should fall under the same
fatal spell.

II

Thence they came to the land of the Cyclopes, a rude and monstrous
tribe, but favoured of the immortal gods, by whose bounty they live.
They toil not, neither do they sow, nor till the ground, but the earth
of herself brings forth for them a bountiful living, wheat and barley,
and huge swelling clusters of the grape. Naught know they of law or
civil life, but each lives in his cave on the wild mountain-side,
dwelling apart, careless of his neighbours, with his wife and
children.

It was a dark, cloudy night, and a thick mist overspread the sea, when
suddenly Odysseus heard the booming of breakers on a rocky shore.
Before an order could be given, or any measure taken for the safety of
the ships, the little fleet was caught by a strong landward current,
and whirled pell-mell through a narrow passage between the cliffs into
a land-locked harbour. Drawing their breath with relief at their
wonderful escape, they beached their vessels on the level sand and lay
down to wait for the day.

In the morning they found that they had been driven to the landward
shore of a long island, which formed a natural breakwater to a
s