is stowed, and all ready for sea, and they wash and put on all
their bravery of attire. Ashore they go, their faces long with
piety, and seek some obscure temple whose God has little flavour
with shore folk, and here they make sacrifice with clamour and
lavish outlay. And, finally, there follows a feast in honour of
the God, and they arrive back on board, and put to sea for the most
part drunken, and all heavy and evil-humoured with gluttony and
their other excesses.

The voyage was very different to my previous sea-going. There
was no creeping timorously along in touch with the coasts. We
stood straight across the open gulf in the direction of home, came
up with the band of the Carib Islands, and worked confidently
through them, as though they had been signposts to mark the sea
highway; and stopped only twice to replenish with wood, water, and
fruit. These commodities, too, the savages brought us freely, so
great was their subjection, and in neither place did we have even
the semblance of a fight. It was a great certificate of the
growing power of Atlantis and her finest over-sea colony.

Then boldly on we went across the vast ocean beyond, with
never a sacrifice to implore the Gods that they should help our
direction. One might feel censure towards these rugged mariners
for their impiety, but one could not help an admiration for their
lusty skill and confidence.

The dangers of the desolate sea are dealt out as the Gods will,
and man can only take them as they come. Storms we encountered,
and the mariners fought them with stubborn endurance; twice a
blazing stone from Heaven hissed into the sea beside us, though