A.D. 1190. 8CYLLA AND CHABYBDIS. due fulfilment of the said contract of marriage ; or, in case, from the reasons before mentioned, the said marriage should not take place, for the repayment of the said sum of money. And that, with due confidence the Church of Rome may undertake conjointly with you to share the burden of the ss id surety, we do upon the testimony of these present letters grant to yourselves, and to the Holy Church of Rome, free power with all stringency to coerce ourselves and our heirs and territory, if either we shall contravene the terms of the said treaty of peace, or if, the marriage, from the causes before mentioned, not taking place, we, or our heirs, shall refuse repayment of the said sum of money. Tour Holiness well knows how to show due regard to the honor of us both ; and that, if through the mediation of the Church of Rome, the advantages of peace and of the intended marriage shall be duly served, numerous benefits will at a future day ensue therefrom. Witness ourselves, on this eleventh day of November, at Messina." However, before this treaty of peace was fully concluded and ratified between the king of England and the king of Sicily, Margarite, the admiral, and Jordan de Pini, members of the household of the king of Sicily, to whom he had given charge of the city of Messina, left it by night, taking with them their families and the substance which they possessed in gold and silver. The king of England, however, on their departure, seized their houses, and galleys, and other possessions, into his own hands. After this, the king of England caused a wide and deep trench to be cut through the middle of the island on which is the monastery of the Griffons, in the middle of the river del Faro, where his treasures and provisions were stored : which trench ran right across the width of the whole island, from one shore to the other, and terminated in Charybdis. It is worthy of remark, that in this river, called the Faro di Messina, are those two most noted perils of the sea, Scylla and Charybdis, the one of which, namely, Scylla, is at the entrance of the Faro, near the priory of Le Baniare, and the other, namely, Charybdis, is near the outlet of the Faro ; for the purpose of knowing which, a tower of stone was erected in the above-named island near the trench made by the king of England. It is also to be observed, that ScyBa is always vomiting forth and casting its waves on high, and consequently it is necessary that those who pass should keep themselves at a