ATHENS. 345 
fate from the unerring dart of Diana, which she 
had given to her husband Cephalus*. A temple 
of Venus stood upon the spot; and near to it 
there was a fountain whose water was believed 
to conduce to pregnancy, and to facilitate par- 
turition. The modern superstition with regard 
to the fountain, which is close to the Convent, 
confirmed his opinion in a manner that he does 
not appear to have noticed : the priest told him, 
that " a dove is seen to fly down from heaven, 
to drink of the water annually, at the Feast of 
Pentecost" It is remarkable that an ignorant 
superstition should thus have selected the bird 
which was peculiarly sacred to Venus: and 
Chandler also adds, that the Greek women still 
repair to the Monastery at particular seasons. 
Being earnest in the pursuit of antiquities, we 
neglected to attend, as we ought to have done, 
to the traditions of the inhabitants ; but we 
found enough to convince us that this was the 
site of some antient temple. We observed hi 
the church of the Monastery several Ionic 
columns ; also the shaft of a pillar of granite; 
and at the fountain we saw the head of a bull, or 
of a cow b , sculptured upon a white marble Soros, 
(4) See Chandler's Trav. in Greece, p. 145. Oxf. 1776. 
(5) The VENUS of Egypt and of Phanice had this form. The 
image 
