and land, that he could not help dreading some
mischief, even in this pleasant and seemingly
solitary spot. For two days, therefore, the poor
weather-worn voyagers kept quiet, and either
staid on board of their vessel, or merely crept
along under the cliffs that bordered the shore;
and to keep themselves alive, they dug shellfish
out of the sand, and sought for any little rill of
fresh water that might be running towards the sea.

Before the two days were spent, they grew
very weary of this kind of life; for the followers
of King Ulysses, as you will find it important to
remember, were terrible gormandizers, and pretty
sure to grumble if they missed their regular
meals, and their irregular ones besides. Their
stock of provisions was quite exhausted, and
even the shellfish began to get scarce, so that
they had now to choose between starving to
death or venturing into the interior of the island,
where perhaps some huge three-headed dragon,
or other horrible monster, had his den. Such
misshapen creatures were very numerous in those
days; and nobody ever expected to make a
voyage, or take a journey, without running more
or less risk of being devoured by them.

[[163]]

p162 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p163w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p164

v?