se ships were thus seen
by the Corinthians first. They suspected that they were from Athens, and
that those which they saw were not all, but that there were more behind;
they accordingly began to retire. The Corcyraeans meanwhile had not
sighted them, as they were advancing from a point which they could not
so well see, and were wondering why the Corinthians were backing water,
when some caught sight of them, and cried out that there were ships in
sight ahead. Upon this they also retired; for it was now getting dark,
and the retreat of the Corinthians had suspended hostilities. Thus
they parted from each other, and the battle ceased with night. The
Corcyraeans were in their camp at Leukimme, when these twenty ships from
Athens, under the command of Glaucon, the son of Leagrus, and Andocides,
son of Leogoras, bore on through the corpses and the wrecks, and sailed
up to the camp, not long after they were sighted. It was now night, and
the Corcyraeans feared that they might be hostile vessels; but they soon
knew them, and the ships came to anchor.

The next day the thirty Athenian vessels put out to sea, accompanied by
all the Corcyraean ships that were seaworthy, and sailed to the harbour
at Sybota, where the Corinthians lay, to see if they would engage. The
Corinthians put out from the land and formed a line in the open sea, but
beyond this made no further movement, having no intention of assuming
the offensive. For they saw reinforcements arrived fresh from Athens,
and themselves confronted by numerous difficulties, such as the
necessity of guarding the prisoners whom they had on board and the want
of all means of refitting their ships in a desert place. What they were
thinking more about was how their voyage home was to be effected; they
feared that the Athenians might consider that the treaty was dissolved
by the collision which had occurred, and forbid their departure.

Accordingly they resolved to put some men on board a boat, and send them
without a herald's wand to the Athenians, as an experiment. Having done
so, they spoke as follows: "You do wrong, Athenians, to begin war and
break the treaty. Engaged in chastising our enemies, we find you placing
yourselves in our path in arms against us. Now if your intentions are to
prevent us sailing to Corcyra, or anywhere else that we may wish, and if
you are for breaking the treaty, first take us that are here and treat
us as enemies." Such was what they said, and all the