174 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



time the temple of Hera has been found, and in it a 

 beautiful statue of Hermes, which is attributed, on 

 the authority of Pausanias, to Praxiteles. If this be 

 so, it is the only genuine work of that master which 

 has come down to us. 



Between the temple of Zeus and Mount Kronion 

 lay the altis or sacred grove, which, in old times, 

 literally bristled with altars and statues. Pausanias's 

 description of them and he expressly tells us that 

 he only notes the most conspicuous occupies some 

 hundred pages ; and at the end of it one feels quite 

 bewildered at the thought of one small spot of earth 

 containing so rich an art-treasure. Though such a 

 collection must have suffered greatly at the hands of 

 time, of nature, and of man, it can hardly be that 

 excavations in this spot should turn out quite fruit- 

 less. "While from the unlooked-for success of the 

 work hitherto, one is tempted to form high hopes 

 for the future. 



III. 



B A 8 8 X. 



The next point in our journey was to be the temple 

 of Apollo Epikourios, at Bassse, near Phigaleia, from 

 whence Mr Cockerell brought the Phigaleian frieze, 

 now in the British Museum. But Bassae, perched 

 high up in the mountains of southern Arcadia, was 



