After  a  short  stay  they  sailed  for  Cyprus,  and
arrived  opposite  the  Fair-Havens,  a  place  near
Myra,  a  city  of  Lycia.  Here  the  season  being
far  advanced,  and  Paul  foreseeing  it  would  be  a
dangerous  voyage,  persuaded  him  to  put  in  and
winter  there.  But  the  Roman  centurion  preferring
the  opinion  of  the  master  of  the  ship,  and  the
harbour  being  at  the  same  time  incommodious,
resolved,  if  possible,  to  reach  Phenice,  a  port  of
Crete,  and  winter  there.  But  they  soon  found
themselves  disappointed ;  for  the  fine  southerly
gale,  which  had  favoured  them  for  some  time,
suddenly  changed  into  a  stormy  and  tempestuous
wind  at  north-cast;  which  blew  with  such  vio-
lence, that  the  ship  was  obliged  to  sail  before  it ;
and,  to  prevent  her  sinking,  they  threw  overboard
the  principal  part  of  her  lading.
In  this  desperate  and  uncomfortable  condition
they  continued  fourteen  days,  and  on  the  fourteenth
night  the  mariners  discovered  they  were  near
some  coast;  and,  therefore,  to  avoid  the  rocks,
thought  proper  to  come  to  an  anchor,  till
the  morning  might  give  them  better  informa-
tion.
During  the  time  they  continued  at  anchor,
waiting  for  the  light  of  the  morning,  St.  Paul  pre-
vailed upon  them  to  eat  and  refresh  themselves,
having  fasted  a  long  time,  assuring  them  they
should  all  escape.
The  country  near  which  they  were,  was,  as  St.
Paul  had  foretold,  an  island  called  Melita,  now
Malta,  situated  in  the  Lybian  Sea,  between  Syra-
cuse and  Africa.  Here  they  landed,  and  met  with
great  civility  from  the  people,  who  treated  them
with  humanity,  and  entertained  them  with  every
necessary  accommodation.  But  whilst  St.  Paul
was  laying  a  lew  sticks  on  the  fire,  a  viper,
enlivened  bv  the  heat,  came  from  among  the
3  0*


THE  LIVES  OF  THE  APOSTLES.
