among the black ones it became black, and when he threw a black sheep
among the white ones, it became white instantly. The voyagers thought of
landing, but when Maelduin saw this, he said, "Let us throw something on
shore to see if it will change color. If it does, we will avoid the
island." So they took a black branch and threw it toward the white sheep.
When it fell, it grew white; and the same with a white branch on the black
side. "It is lucky for us," said Maelduin, "that we did not land on this
island."

They came next to an island where there was but one man visible, very
aged, and with long, white hair. Above him were trees, covered with great
numbers of birds. The old man told them that he like them had come in a
curragh, or coracle, and had placed many green sods beneath his feet, to
steady the boat. Reaching this spot, the green sods had joined together
and formed an island which at first gave him hardly room to stand; but
every year one foot was added to its size, and one tree grew up. He had
lived there for centuries, and those birds were the souls of his children
and descendants, each of whom was sent there after death, and they were
all fed from heaven each day. On the next island there was a great roaring
as of bellows and a sound of smiths' hammers, as if striking all together
on an anvil, every sound seeming to come from the strokes of a dozen men.
"Are they near?" asked one big voice. "Silence!" said another; and they
were evidently watching for the boat. When it rowed away, one of the
smiths flung after them a vast mass of red-hot iron, which he had grasped
with the tongs from the furnace. It fell just short, but made the whole
sea to hiss and boil around them as they rowed away.

Another island had a wall of water round it, and Maelduin and his men saw
multitudes of people driving away herds of cattle and sheep, and shouting,
"There they are, they have come again;" and a woman pelted them from below