Myra is termed by the pilgrim Saewulf (as I learn from Dr. Tomaschek) " the harbour of the Adriatic Sea, as Constantinople is of the ^Egean Sea"; and this importance is hardly intelligible till we recognise its relation to the Syrian and Egyptian traffic. The prevailing winds in the Levant throughout the season are westerly ; and these westerly breezes blow almost with the steadiness of trade-winds. Hence the ancient ships, ever though they rarely made what sailors call " a long leg " across the sea, were in the habit of running direct from Myra to the Syrian, or to the Egyptian coast On the return voyage an Alexandrian ship could run north to Myra, if the wind was nearly due west ; but, if it shifted towards north-west (from
1 Paton and Hicks' Inscriptions of Cos, p. xxxiii. 1 should hardly venture to speak so strongly ; but Mr. Hicks is an excellent authority on that period.
Sec. 5. The Voyage to Casareia. 299
which quarter the Etesian winds blew steadily for forty days from July 20), the ships of Alexandria ran for the Syrian coast. The same steady winds, which favoured the run from Myra to Tyre, made the return voyage direct from Tyre to Myra an impossibility. Hence the regular course for ships from Syria was to keep north- wards past the east end of Cyprus till they reached the coast of Asia Minor ; and then, by using the land winds which blow off the coast for some part of almost every day, and aided also to some extent by the current which sets steadily westward along the Karamanian coast (as it is now called), these traders from Syria worked their way along past Myra to Cnidos at the extreme south-western corner of Asia Minor.
It may, then, be safely assumed that Myra was visited by Paul's ship, as the Bezan Text asserts. But the addition of " and Myra" is a mere gloss (though record- ing a true fact), for it implies that the transshipment took place at Myra. We need not hesitate to accept the authority of the great MSS. that Paul and his company found at Patara a ship about to start on the direct Syrian course, and went on board of it (probably because their ship did not intend to make the direct voyage, or was a slower vessel). Luke then hurries over the direct voyage, mentioning only the fact which specially interested him, that they sighted the western point of Cyprus. He did not mention Myra ; he was giving only a brief summary of the voyage, and for some reason the visit to Myra did not interest him.
Many circumstances might occur to deprive the visit of interest and to make Luke omit it (as he omits many other sights) from his brief summary of the
3<X> The Voyage to Jerusalem. Chap. XIII.
voyage. Formerly I illustrated this by my own experi- ence. I was in the port of Myra in the course of a voyage ; yet I never saw either the town or the harbour, and would probably omit Myra, if I were giving a summary description of my experiences on that voyage.
At Tyre the vessel stayed seven days unloading ; it must therefore have been one of the larger class of merchant vessels ; and probably only that class ventured to make the direct sea voyage from Lycia by the west side of Cyprus. Small vessels clung to the coast. As the same ship1 was going on as far as Ptolemais, and as there was still abundant time for the rest of the journey, Paul remained until the allotted time of its stay was over, v. 5 . None of the party seems to have known Tyre, for they had to seek out the Brethren there. The hearty welcome which they received from strangers, whose sole bond of union lay in their common religion, makes Luke dwell on this scene as showing the solidarity of feeling in the Church. There took place a kindly farewell on the shore at Tyre, as at Miletus ; but the longing and sorrow of long personal friendship and love could not here be present to the same extent as there. The scenes are similar, and yet how different ! Such touches of diversity amid resemblance could be given only by the eye-witness.