SOUTH AMERICA. 85 



Don Quixote was always of opinion that this FIRST 



JOURNEY. 



famous king did not die, but that he was changed 



into a raven by enchantment, and that the Eng- 

 lish are momentarily expecting his return. Be 

 this as it may, it is certain that when he reigned 

 here, all was harmony and joy. The browsing 

 herds passed from vale to vale, the swains sang 

 from the bluebell-teeming groves, and nymphs, 

 with eglantine and roses in their neatly braided 

 hair, went hand in hand to the flowery mead, to 

 weave garlands for their lambkins. If by chance 

 some rude uncivil fellow dared to molest them, 

 or attempted to throw thorns in their path, there 

 was sure to be a knight-errant, not far off, ready 

 to rush forward in their defence. But, alas ! 

 in these degenerate days it is not so. Should 

 a harmless cottage maid wander out of the 

 highway to pluck a primrose or two in the 

 neighbouring field, the haughty owner sternly 

 bids her retire; and if a pitying swain hasten 

 to escort her back, he is perhaps seized by the 

 gaunt house-dog ere he reach her ! 



^Eneas's route on the other side of Styx, 

 could not have been much worse than this, 

 though, by his account, when he got back to 

 earth, it appears that he had fallen in with " Bellua 

 Lernae, horrendum stridens, flammisque, armata 

 Chimaera." 



Moreover, he had a sibyl to guide his steps ; 

 and as such a conductress, now-a-days, could not 



