The Collaborative International Dictionary
Syrtes
Syrtis \Syr"tis\, n.; pl. Syrtes. [See Syrt.] A quicksand.
Quenched in a boggy syrtis, neither sea
Nor good dry land.
--Milton.
Usage examples of "syrtes".
By this road that I have described, rough and hard, stumbling here, falling there, getting up again to fall again, they reach the rank they desire, and that once attained, we have seen many who have passed these Syrtes and Scyllas and Charybdises, as if borne flying on the wings of favouring fortune.