Apostle continued his discourse till the dawn of day. The ship was now ready to sail, and the Apostle’s companions went on board. It was arranged, however, that he himself should join the vessel at Assos, a little more than 20 miles distant, and thus secure a few more hours with the disciples at Troas. To Assos, therefore, he proceeded by land, and there embarking, sailed with the rest of his companions to Mitylene, the chief city of Lesbos, and separated from Assos by a narrow channel. Another day’s sail brought them to Chios, whence having put in at Samos they lay to for the night at Trogyllium, a cape and town on the Ionian coast. The following morning they got as far as Miletus, the ancient capital of Ionia, about 50 miles south of Ephesus. Here they landed, and St Paul, who was hastening forward to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by Pentecost, sent a messenger to Ephesus to request the elders of the Church to meet him there. They quickly obeyed his summons, and the Apostle took leave of them in an affecting and impressive address, in which he reminded them of his past labours amongst them (Acts xx. 18–21), expressed his conviction that bonds and imprisonment awaited him at Jerusalem (Acts xx. 22–24), and in the most solemn manner warned them to tend the flock over which the Holy Spirit had made them overseers, and to defend the Church of God, which He had purchased with His own blood, against _grievous wolves_, which he too surely foreboded would enter in among them (Acts xx. 25–31). Having given them these warnings, and finally commended them _to God and the word of His grace_, he knelt down on the shore and prayed with them, and then with an outburst of natural grief they fell upon his neck and kissed him again and again[1057], _sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more_ (Acts xx. 38). CHAPTER IV. _THE RETURN TO JERUSALEM――THE TUMULT IN THE TEMPLE._ A.D. 58. DEEP as was the grief of the brethren at the departure of the Apostle, no long time could be devoted to its indulgence. The wind blew fair[1058], and the vessel was ready to depart. With sorrowing hearts, therefore, they accompanied him to the water’s edge, and there tore[1059] themselves away from him and his companions. The voyage was now resumed, and running before the wind the vessel soon reached Cos[1060], off the coast of Caria, and on the following day the island of Rhodes. Thence they proceeded to Patara[1061] in Lycia, where the vessel in which St Paul had been hitherto sailing apparently finished its voyage, or was bound for some place further east along the coast of Asia Minor.