Page:Thucydides, translated into English Vol 2.djvu/14

 6 THE SCENE OF ACTION [iV Leucadian isthmus ", and, undiscovered by the Athenian ships, which were by this time at Zacynthus, reached Pylos, where their land forces had already assembled. While the Peloponncsian fleet was still on its way, De- mosthenes succeeded in despatching unobserved two vessels to let Eurymedon and the Athenian fleet know of his danger, and to bid them come at once. While the Athenian ships were hastening to the assist- 77. ,r^,.^„...,^., •..,- ance of Demosthenes in accordance prepare to attack the with his request, the Lacedaemonians Z"'^- prepared to attack the fort both by sea and by land ; they thought that there would be little diffi- culty in taking a work hastily constructed and defended by a handful of men. But as they expected the speedy arrival of the Athenian fleet they meant to close the entrances to the harbour, and prevent the Athenians from anchoring there should they fail in taking the fort before their arrival. The island which is called Sphacteria stretches along The harbour of Pylos the land and is quite close to it, making IS formed by the island the harbour safe and the entrances Sfihactcri I, ichich the ^i • i r T J ■ ^ narrow ; there is only a passage for Lacedaeniomansoccupy ' j r o with four hundred and two sliips at the onc end, which w^as twenty men. oppositc Pylos and the Athenian fort, while at the other the strait between the island and the mainland '' is wide enough to admit eight or nine. The length of the island is about a mile and three- quarters ; it was wooded, and being uninhabited had no roads. The Lacedaemonians were intending to block up the mouths of the harbour by ships placed close together with their prows outwards ; meanwhile, fearing lest the Athenians should use the island for military operations, they conveyed thither some hoplites, and posted others along the shore of the mainland. Thus both the island and the mainlands would be hostile to the Athenians ; and nowhere on the mainland would there • Cp. iii. 8i init. '' It is really very much wider.