ond the Atlantic, to
the ocean which has no shore."

Then they blest the magic bough, and sailed southward along the land.
But ere they could pass Ierne, the land of mists and storms, the wild
wind came down, dark and roaring, and caught the sail, and strained the
ropes. And away they drove twelve nights, on the wide wild western sea,
through the foam, and over the rollers, while they saw neither sun nor
stars. And they cried again: "We shall perish, for we know not where we
are. We are lost in the dreary damp darkness, and cannot tell north from
south."

But Lynceus the long sighted called gayly from the bows: "Take heart
again, brave sailors; for I see a pine-clad isle, and the halls of the
kind Earth mother, with a crown of clouds around them."

[Footnote A: Britain.]

But Orpheus said: "Turn from them, for no living man can land there:
there is no harbour on the coast, but steep-walled cliffs all round."

So Ancaios turned the ship away; and for three days more they sailed on,
till they came to Aiaia, Circe's home, and the fairy island of the West.

And there Jason bid them land, and seek about for any sign of living
man. And as they went inland, Circe met them, coming down toward the
ship; and they trembled when they saw her; for her hair, and face, and
robes, shone like flame.

And she came and looked at Medeia; and Medeia hid her face beneath her
veil.

And Circe cried, "Ah, wretched girl, have you forgotten all your sins,
that you come hither to my island, where the flowers bloom all the year
round? Where is your aged father, and the brother whom you killed?
Little do I expect you to return in safety with these strangers whom you
love. I will send you food and wine: but your ship must not stay here,
for it is foul with sin, and foul with sin its crew."

And the heroes prayed her, but in vain, and cried, "Cleanse us from our
guilt!" But she sent them away and said, "Go on to Malea, and there you
may be cleansed, and return home."

Then a fair wind rose, and they sailed eastward, by Tartessus on the
Iberian shore, till they came to the Pillars of Hercules, and the
Mediterranean Sea. And thence they sailed on through the deeps of
Sardinia, and past the Ausonian Islands, and the capes of the Tyrrhenian
shore, till they came to a flowery island, upon a still, bright summer's
eve. And as they neared it, slowly and wearily, they heard sweet songs
upon the shore. But when Medeia heard it, she started, and cr