to baptize some one, and had therefore dug up a heathen giant who had
been, for some reason, buried on the blessed isle. Not only had he dug the
giant's body up, but St. Malo had brought him to life again sufficiently
for the purpose of baptism and instruction in the true faith; after which
he gave him the name of Mildus, and let him die once more and be reburied.
Then, facing homeward and sailing beyond the fog, they touched once more
at The Island of Delights, received the benediction of the abbot of the
monastery, and sailed for Ireland to tell their brethren of the wonders
they had seen.

He used to tell them especially to his nurse Ita, under whose care he had
been placed until his fifth year. His monastery at Clonfert grew, as has
been said, to include three thousand monks; and he spent his remaining
years in peace and sanctity. The supposed islands which he visited are
still believed by many to have formed a part of the American continent,
and he is still thought by some Irish scholars to have been the first to
discover this hemisphere, nearly a thousand years before Columbus,
although this view has not yet made much impression on historians. The
Paradise of Birds, in particular, has been placed by these scholars in
Mexico, and an Irish poet has written a long poem describing the delights
to be found there:--

"Oft, in the sunny mornings, have I seen
Bright yellow birds, of a rich lemon hue,
Meeting in crowds upon the branches green,
And sweetly singing all the morning through;
And others, with their heads grayish and dark,
Pressing their cinnamon cheeks to the old trees,
And striking on the hard, rough, shrivelled bark,
Like conscience on a bosom ill at ease.