Demetrius then related, that about Britain there
were many small and desolate islands, some of which were
called the Isles of Daemons and Demi-gods; and that he
himself, at the command of the Emperor, sailed to the
nearest of those places for curiosity's sake, where he found
few inhabitants; but that they were all esteemed by the
Britains as sacred and divine. Not long after he was
arrived there, he said, the air and the weather were very
foul and tempestuous, and there followed a terrible storm
of wind and thunder; which at length ceasing, he says,
the inhabitants told him that one of the Daemons or Demigods was deceased. For as a lamp, said he, while it is
lighted, offends nobody with its scent, but when it is extinguished, it sends out such a scent as is nauseous to everybody; so these great souls, whilst they shine, are mild and
gracious, without being troublesome to anybody; but
when they draw to an end, they cause great storms and
tempests, and not seldom infect the air with contagious
distempers. They say farther, that Saturn is detained
prisoner in one of those islands, and guarded by Briareus,
being in a sound sleep (for that is the device to hold him
captive), and that he has several of those Daemons for his
valets and attendants.
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