340 



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 Copais. The Cephissus has its rise in Mount (Eta, fertilizes 

 the plain of Phocis, then entering that of Chseronsea, 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 Copse, 

 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. Bceotia 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 

 irregular 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, 



