{They sounded} (olisantes). First aorist active
participle of oliz(935c) rare verb only here and in Eustathius who
says it was familiar in ancient Greek. Apparently from olis, a
missile or dart, and so to throw down the lead into the sea, to
heave the lead, to take soundings. The inscriptions give
olimos for "leaden." {Twenty fathoms} (orguias eikosi). This
old word, from oreg(935c), to stretch, means the distance from one
outstretched middle finger tip to the other likewise
out-stretched. {After a little space} (rachu diast(8873)antes).
Literally, "standing apart a little" (second aorist active
participle of diist(886d)i), that is, the ship going a short
distance further on. A ship today approaching St. Paul's Bay by
the rocky point of Koura would pass first twenty, then fifteen
fathoms (Furneaux).