Outside the tongue of land, or Braccio di St. Rainiere, that forms the
harbour of Messina, lies the Galofaro, or celebrated vortex of
Charybdis, which has, with more reason than Scylla, been clothed with
terrors by the writers of antiquity. To the undecked boats of the
Rhegians, Locrians, Zancleans, and Greeks, it must have been formidable;
for, even in the present day, small craft are sometimes endangered by
it, and I have seen several men-of-war, and even a seventy four gun
ship, whirled round on its surface; but, by using due caution, there is
generally very little danger or inconvenience to be apprehended. It
appears to be an agitated water, of from seventy to ninety fathoms in
depth, circling in quick eddies. It is owing probably to the meeting of
the harbour and lateral currents with the main one, the latter being
forced over in this direction by the opposite point of Pezzo. This
agrees in some measure with the relation of Thucydides, who calls it a
violent reciprocation of the Tyrrhene and Sicilian seas; and he is the
only writer of remote antiquity I remember to have read, who has
assigned this danger its true situation, and not exaggerated its
effects. Many wonderful stories are told respecting this vortex,
particularly some said to have been related by the celebrated diver,
Colas, who lost his life here. I have never found reason, however,
during my examination of this spot, to believe one of them.
[187] Bourn’s Gazetteer.
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_For the Table Book._