44 PROSERPINA. 



Now Arcadia is the Oberland of Greece ; and the crests of 

 Cyllene, Drymanthus, and Meenalus * surround it, like the 

 Swiss forest cantons, with walls of rock, and shadows of pine. 

 And it divides itself, like the Oberland, into three regions : 

 first, the region of rock and snow, sacred to Mercury and 

 Apollo, in which Mercury's birth on Cyllene, his construction 

 of the lyre, and his stealing the oxen of Apollo, are all expres- 

 sions of the enchantments of cloud and sound, mingling with 

 the sunshine, on the cliffs of Cyllene. 



" While the mists 



Flying, and rainy vapours, call out shapes 

 And phantoms from the crags and solid earth 

 As fast as a musician scatters sounds 

 Out of his instrument." 



Then came the pine region, sacred especially to Pan and 

 Ma?nalus the son of Lycaon and brother of Callisto ; and 

 you had better remember this relationship carefully, for the 

 sake of the meaning of the constellations of Ursa Major and 

 the Mons Msenalius, and of their wolf and bear traditions ; 

 (compare also the strong impression on the Greek mind of 

 the wild leafiness, nourished by snow, of the Boeotian Cith- 

 seron, " Oh, thou lake-hollow, full of divine leaves, and of 

 wild creatures, nurse of the snow, darling of Diana," (Phce- 

 nissse, 801). How wild the climate of this pine region is, 

 you may judge from the pieces in the note below f out of 



* Roughly, Cyllene 7,700 feet high ; Erymanthus 7,000; Mamalus 

 6,000. 



f March 3rd. We now ascend the roots of the mountain called Kas- 

 tania, and begin to pass between it and the mountain of Alonistena, 

 which is on our right. The latter is much higher than Kastania, and, 

 like the other peaked summits of the Maenaliaii range, is covered with 

 firs, and deeply at present with snow. The snow lies also in our pass, 

 At a fountain in the road, the small village of Bazeniko is half a mile 

 on the right, standing at the foot of the Msenalian range, and now cov. 

 ered with snow. 



Saeta is the most lofty of the range of mountains, which are in face 

 of Levidhi, to the northward and eastward ; they are all a part of the 

 chain which extends from Mount Khelmos, and connects that great sum- 

 mit with Arteinisium, Parthenium, and Parnon. Mount Saeta is cov- 



