published by Mr. Mason, p. 197. Instead of compiling
tables of chronology and natural history, why did not Mr. Gray apply
the powers of his genius to finish the philosophic poem, of which he has
left such an exquisite specimen?]

Whether fame, or conquest, or riches, were the object or Alaric, he
pursued that object with an indefatigable ardor, which could neither be
quelled by adversity nor satiated by success. No sooner had he reached
the extreme land of Italy, than he was attracted by the neighboring
prospect of a fertile and peaceful island. Yet even the possession
of Sicily he considered only as an intermediate step to the important
expedition, which he already meditated against the continent of Africa.
The Straits of Rhegium and Messina [128] are twelve miles in length,
and, in the narrowest passage, about one mile and a half broad; and the
fabulous monsters of the deep, the rocks of Scylla, and the whirlpool of
Charybdis, could terrify none but the most timid and unskilful mariners.
Yet as soon as the first division of the Goths had embarked, a sudden
tempest arose, which sunk, or scattered, many of the transports; their
courage was daunted by the terrors of a new element; and the whole
design was defeated by the premature death of Alaric, which fixed,
after a short illness, the fatal term of his conquests. The ferocious
character of the Barbarians was displayed in the funeral of a hero whose
valor and fortune they celebrated with mournful applause. By the
labor of a captive multitude, they forcibly diverted the course of the
Busentinus, a small river that washes the walls of Consentia. The royal
sepulchre, adorned with the splendid spoils and trophies of Rome, was
constructed in the vacant bed; the waters were then restored to their
natural channel; and the secret spot, where the remains of Alaric had
been deposited, was forever concealed by the inhuman massacre of the
prisoners, who had been employed to execute the work. [129]

[Footnote 128: For the perfect description of the Straits of Messina,
Scylla, Clarybdis, &c., see Cluverius, (Ital. Antiq. l. iv. p. 1293, and
Sicilia Antiq. l. i. p. 60-76), who had diligently studied the ancients,
and surveyed with a curious eye the actual face of the country.]

[Footnote 129: Jornandes, de Reb Get. c. 30, p. 654.]

Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation Of Territories By
Barbarians.--Part V.

The personal animosities and hereditary feuds of the Barbari