he was to expect at Susa.

One night he had a dream which greatly disturbed him. He awoke in the
morning with an impression upon his mind, which he had derived from
the dream, that some temple had been robbed by his soldiers in the
course of his expedition, and that the sacrilegious booty which had
been obtained was concealed somewhere in the fleet. He immediately
ordered a careful search to be instituted, in which every ship was
examined. At length they found, concealed in one of the galleys, a
golden statue of Apollo. Datis inquired what city it had been taken
from. They answered from Delium. Delium was on the coast of Attica,
near the place where the Persians had landed, at the time of their
advance on Marathon. Datis could not safely or conveniently go back
there to restore it to its place. He determined, therefore, to deposit
it at Delos for safe keeping, until it could be returned to its proper
home.

Delos was a small but very celebrated island near the center of the
AEgean Sea, and but a short distance from the spot where the Persian
fleet was lying when Datis made this discovery. It was a sacred
island, devoted to religious rites, and all contention, and violence,
and, so far as was possible, all suffering and death, were excluded
from it. The sick were removed from it; the dead were not buried
there; armed ships and armed men laid aside their hostility to each
other when they approached it. Belligerent fleets rode at anchor,
side by side, in peace, upon the smooth waters of its little port, and
an enchanting picture of peace, tranquillity, and happiness was seen
upon its shores. A large natural fountain, or spring, thirty feet in
diameter, and inclosed partly by natural rocks and partly by an
artificial wall, issued from the ground in the center of the island,
and sent forth a beautiful and fertilizing rill into a rich and happy
valley, through which it meandered, deviously, for several miles,
seeking the sea. There was a large and populous city near the port,
and the whole island was adorned with temples, palaces, colonnades,
and other splendid architectural structures, which made it the
admiration of all mankind. All this magnificence and beauty have,
however, long since passed away. The island is now silent, deserted,
and desolate, a dreary pasture, where cattle browse and feed, with
stupid indifference, among the ancient ruins. Nothing living remains
of the ancient scene of grandeur and beauty but the