98 HIGHWAYS AKD BYWAYS. 



lime tree, nor yet the beech and the virgin laurel, and 

 the brittle hazel and the oak adapted for making spears, 

 and the fir with knots, and the holm bending beneath 

 its acorns, and the genial plane tree and the parti-col- 

 ored maple, and the tine tree with its azure berries ; 

 you, too, the ivy tree with your creeping tendrils, and 

 the elms clothed with vines; the ashes too, and the 

 pitch trees and the bending palms, the reward of the 

 conqueror ; the pine with its tufted foliage and bristhng 

 at the top, pleasing to the mother of the gods. Such a 

 grove of trees had the bard attracted round him, and he 

 sat in the midst of an assembly of wild beasts and a 

 multitude of birds." 



One of the famous oracles consulted by the priests 

 was the Talldng Oak of Dodona. It possessed miracu- 

 lous power. A staff cut from one of its branches always 

 guided the traveler in paths of safety, and conducted 

 him to desired havens. Mercury's wonderful cane must 

 have come from the tree, and it is related that the vessel 

 in which Jason went in search of the Golden Fleece had 

 her figure-head carved from a portion of one of its 

 branches, and the success of the voyage was thereby 

 assured. 



Some of the groves were sacred to the celestial gods 

 and others to lesser deities. The forest of Mount Ida, 

 the foster home of Jupiter, was one of these sacred 

 groves. The trees here were proof against the elements, 

 and vessels built from the timbers could withstand the 

 winds and the waves of the sea, and even the wrath of 

 Neptune was unable to harm the mariner in these crafts. 



