18 SYLVAN SKETCHES. 



have been attributed to the fruit of the trees on Mount 

 Helicon, of which the Andrachne is one : 



" Nous etions alors sur Y Helicon, sur cette montagne 

 si renommee pour la purete de Fair, Fabondance des eaux, 

 la fertilit6 des vallees, la fraicheur des ombrages, et la 

 beaut6 des arbres antiques dont elle est couverte. Les 

 paysans des environs nous assuraient que les plantes y 

 sont tellement salutaires, qu'apres s'en etre nourris, les 

 serpents n'ont plus de venin. Us trouvaient une douceur 

 exquise dans le fruit de leurs arbres, et surtout dans celui 

 de T Andrachne." 



" We were then on Helicon, on that mountain so re- 

 nowned for the purity of the air, the abundance of the 

 waters, the freshness of the shades, and the beauty of 

 the old trees with which it is covered. The neighbouring- 

 peasants assured us, that the plants there are so health- 

 ful, that serpents ceased to be venomous after feeding on 

 them. They consider the fruit of their trees exquisitely 

 sweet, particularly that of the Andrachne." 



If it may be allowed to explain this figuratively, it 

 may not be so extravagant a notion as at first it appears : 

 we can believe that the productions of the Muses who 

 preside over Mount Helicon should tend to destroy the 

 venom of human passions, for 



" Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast :" 



and surely less cannot be said for poetry, of the beauty 

 of which music is but a part. 



Sannazaro describes the Arbutus as employed in the 

 celebration of the festival in honour of Pales, the goddess 

 of the Roman shepherds and pastures : 



" Si tosto come il sole apparve in oriente, e i vaghi 



