66 



CONTINENT OF GREECE. 



Nov. 20. — The river Hercyna flowed with a noisy course through 

 stupendous rocks, whose fallen fragments often impeded its stream, 

 and formed so many natural cascades ; in winter its torrent, swelled 

 with rains, sometimes overflowed the bridge. Four species of fish 

 are found at Livadea in the Hercyna; all, I suspect, of the genus 

 Cyprinus ; in the morning two of these species were brought to us, 

 one of which was called o-a^wjeoij/afo, the same with our chub ; the 

 other 7ra(TKo(2ou<rot was distinguished by a dark golden stripe along the 

 sides, and was a species of Cyprinus unknown to me. * 



We walked out to examine the town of Livadea. A grotto or rather 

 a cavern was shown us as the grotto of Trophonius ; this, from the 

 description of Pausanias, I should rather suppose to have been the 

 place where the image of the god was kept. The suppliant proceeded 

 to the grotto, which was probably a cavern in the rock above in the 

 opposite side, where there is a Greek chapel. Near to this place we 

 observed frequent stumps of laurel, probably remains of the wood 

 which Pausanias describes as being under the grotto. The hole ex- 

 cavated below the rock, where we suppose the image of the god to 

 have been kept, was too shallow to have been the grotto ; near it are 

 to be seen the two springs of Lethe and Mnemosyne : these contri- 

 bute to swell the river Hercyna. 



June 28. — In the morning we ascended to the castle ; its state of 

 defence arises from the natural situation. The cannon are dismantled, 

 and the fortifications neglected. After dinner I walked out with a 

 shepherd's boy to herborise ; my pastoral botanist surprised me not 

 a little with his nomenclature ; I traced the names of Dioscorides 

 and Theophrastus, corrupted, indeed, in some degree by pronunci- 

 ation, and by the long series annorum which had elapsed since the 

 time of these philosophers ; but many of them were unmutilated, and 

 their virtues faithfully handed down in the oral traditions of the 



* The extracts which follow, are selected from a part of Dr. Sibthorp's Journals 

 describing another visit to this district of Greece. 



