Sinbad the Sailor i: : te 245

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roasted it. _I had earnestly persuaded them not to meddle with the
egg, but they would not listen to me.

Scarcely had they made an end of their feast, when there
appeared in the air, at a considerable distance from us, two great
clouds. The captain whom I hired to manage my ship, knowing by:
experience what it meant, cried that it was the cock and-hen roc that
belonged to the young one, and pressed us to re-embark with all
speed, to prevent the misfortune which he saw would otherwise befall
us. We made haste to do so, and set sail with all possible diligence,

In the meantime the two rocs approached with a frightful noise,
which they redoubled when they saw the egg broken, and-their-young
one gone. But having. a mind to avenge themselves, they flew back
towards the place from whence they came, and disappeared for some
time, while we made ‘all the sail we could to prevent that which
unhappily befell us.

They returned, and we observed that each of them carried.
between their talons Stones, or rather rocks, of a monstrous size.
When they came directly over my ship, they hovered, and one of
them let fall a stone; but by the dexterity ‘of the. steersman, who
turned the ship with the rudder, it missed us, and falling by the side
of the ship into the sea, divided the water so that-we could see almost
to the bottom. The other roc, to our misfortune, threw the stone so
exactly upon the middle of the ship that it split into a thousand
pieces. The mariners and passengers were all killed by the stone, or .
sunk. I myself had the last fate; but as I came up again I
fortunately caught hold of a piece of the wreck, and swimming
sometimes with one hand and sometimes with the other, but always
holding fast to my board, the wind and the tide favouring me, I
came to an island, where the beach was very steep. I overcame
that difficulty however, and got ashore.

I sat down upon the grass, to recover myself a | little from my
fatigue, after which I got up, and went into the island to view it.