540 REMARKS ON PARTS OF GREECE. 



full and constant. The rapid little river Hercyna has its rise in 

 Helicon above Lebadea, and after being augmented by the fountains 

 Lethe and Mnemosyne, near the supposed site of the cave of Tro- 

 phonius, flows through the rice grounds, and discharges itself into the 

 Lake Copals. The Cephissus has its rise in Mount CEta, fertilizes 

 the plain of Phocis, then entering that of Chserona^a, through a 

 narrow gorge between a part of Parnassus and the country of the 

 Locrians, meets the lake Copais in the neighbourhood of Orcho- 

 menus. This lake has subterranean communications with the sea : 

 in summer, instead of a sheet of water, it has the appearance of an 

 extensive green meadow. Topoglia, the supposed ancient Copae, 

 is a small insulated eminence at the north-east extremity, and is 

 approachable from the plain by a causeway. The lake is about 

 twelve miles in circuit. Boeotia with its rich soil, and a continual 

 supply of water, had local advantages which Attica did not possess ; 

 there was greater opulence, more numerous cities, and a larger 

 population than in the latter. 



Lebadea, now pronounced Livadea, is placed at the entrance of a 



rocky ravine, on the north side of Helicon. From some small masses 



of ancient foundations, it is imagined that the site of the original 



city was a short distance from the present town, and immediately on 



the plain. The little river Hercyna rushes through the rocky 



irreo'ular bottom of the ravine, and receives an increase of water 



from the fountains near the cave of Trophonius. On the left side of 



the river above the town, and at the foot of a rocky height surrounded 



by a Turkish fortress in a very ruinous state, is an artificial excavation 



about twelve feet square, and eight in height: on the upper part are 



still seen the remains of an ancient coloured border similar to that 



which is observed on the walls of the Parthenon, and in the temple 



of Theseus at Athens. In front of the grotto is a powerful spring 



discharging itself by eleven artificial pipes into a small basin ; the 



water of which afterwards overflows and joins the river ; on the 



opposite side is another fountain which bubbles up from the ground, 



