340 ON MOUNTAINS AND MANKIND. 



Parnassus, for the home of poetry. They found in the cliffs of 

 Delphi a dwelling for their greatest oracle and a center for their 

 patriotism. One who has lately stood on the top of Parnassus and 

 seen the first rays of the sun as it springs from the waves of the 

 vEgean strike its snows, while Attica and Birotia and Eulwa still lay 

 m deep shadow under his feet, Avill appreciate the famous lines of 

 Sophocles, which I will not quote, as I am uncertain how you may 

 pronounce Greek in this university. You may remember, too, that 

 Lucian makes Hermes take Charon, when he has a day out from hell, 

 to the twin-crested summit and show him the panorama of land and 

 sea, of rivers and famous cities. The Vale of Tempe, the deep gap 

 hetv.een Olympus and Ossa, beautiful in its great red clitfs, fountains, 

 and spreading ])lane trees, Avas part of a Eoman's classical tour. 

 The superb buttresses in which Taygetus l)reaks down on the valley 

 of the Eurotas were used by the Spartans for other purposes besides 

 the disposal of criminals and weakly babies. The middle regions — 

 the lawns above the Langada Pass, " virginibus bacchata Lacamis 

 Taygeta " — are frequented to this day as a summer resort by Spartan 

 damsels. The very top, the great rock that from a height of S,000 

 feet looks down through its woods of oaks and Aleppo pines on the 

 twin bays of the southern sea, is a place of immemorial pilgrimages. 

 It is now occupied by a chapel framed in a tiny court, so choked with 

 snow at the beginning of June that I took the ridge of the chapel 

 roof for a dilapidated stonemaii. I have no time to-day to look for 

 evidence in classical literature, to refer to the discriminating epithets 

 applied in it to mountain scenes. 



A third race destined apparently to play a great i)art in the 

 world's history — the Japanese — are ancient mountain lovers. AVe 

 are all aAvare that Fusiyama to the Japanese is (as Ararat to the 

 Armenians) a national symbol; that its ascent is constantly made 

 by bands of ])ilgrims; that it is tlepicted in every aspect. Those who 

 have read the ])leasant book of Mr. Weston, who, as English chai)lain 

 for some years at Kobi, had exceptional oppoi'tunities of travel in 

 the interior, will remember how often he me< with shrines and tem- 

 ples on the sunnnits of the mountains, and how he found pilgrims 

 who frequented them in the belief llial they fell there more readily 

 into spiritual trances. The flapanese minister wIumi lie attended 

 Mr. AVeston's lecture at the Ali)ine Club, told iis that his countrymen 

 never climbed mountains without a sei'ious -that is to say, a relig- 

 ious — object. 



India and China would add to my evidence had T knowledge and 

 time enough to refer to their literature. I reuKMubei' Teiniyson 

 pointing out to me, in a volume of translatu)ns from the Chinese, a 

 poem, written about the date of our King Alfred, in praise of a 

 picture of a mountain landscape. But 1 nutst return to the six- 



