At the end of the two years they sailed, in company with the envoys of the pope and the emperor, to the isle of Sicily, to the town of Syracuse, and thence to Catania, and so to the city of Regia, in Calabria; and thence to the isle of Vulcano, where is Theodoric's Hell[42]. And when they arrived there, they went on shore to see what sort of a hell it was; and Willibald especially, who was curious to see the interior, was wishful to ascend to the summit of the mountain where the opening was; but he was unable to accomplish his wish, on account of the cinders which were thrown up from the gulf, and settled in heaps round the brim, as snow settles on the ground when it falls from heaven. But though Willibald was defeated in his attempt to reach the summit, he had a near view of the column of flame and smoke which was projected upwards from the pit with a noise like thunder. And he saw how the pumice-stone, which writers use[43], was thrown with the flame from the hell, and fell into the sea, and was thence cast on the shore, where men gathered it and carried it away. After having witnessed this spectacle, they sailed to the church of St. Bartholomew the apostle, which stands on the sea-shore, and came to the mountains which are called Didymi. Thence they went by sea to Naples. FOOTNOTES: [22] Probably Terracina. [23] Probably this is a corruption of Neapolis, or Naples. [24] Now Reggio. [25] This evidently corresponds to the Πυγελα (or Pygela) of Strabo, which he calls πολίχνιον, a little town. Stephanus and Pomponius Mela also write Pygela, but Pliny has it _Phygala_. The site is now, according to Hamilton, (Trav. vol. ii. p. 22,) covered with fragments of Roman tiles and pottery; and near the road is the foundation of a large marble building, apparently a temple. [26] Mr. Ainsworth, with whom I have consulted on this name, observes, "I can only suppose that we must read Trogilium for Strobolem, or that the latter was the native corruption of Trogilium, the name, according to Ptolemy, of the promontory which lies between Ephesus and the Meander, and which is opposite the island of Samos." In the Acts of the Apostles, xx. 15, it is written, "And we sailed thence, (Mitylena,) and came the next day over against Chios; and the next day we arrived at Samos, and tarried at Trogyllium; and the next day we came to Miletus." [27] _i. e._ Miletus. [28] The passage in the original is rather obscure. The later anonymous life of St. Willibald says that they came to the mount of the Galani, which having been ravaged by war, they were distressed for want of provisions. "Navim demum ingressi, ad montem Galanorum transfretarunt; quo bellorum tempestate tunc temporis depilato sævam passi sunt inediam." [29] June 24, 722. [30] Tortosa, now called Tartus.