


TREACHERY. 
BILBERRY. 
Tus species of whortle-berry is an elegant 
and also a fruit-bearing plant. “ The young 
fresh green leaves, and wax-like red flowers, 
appear in May, and towards autumn the leaves 
grow darker and firm, and the ripe berries are 
gathered in the north for tarts;’? and in the 
Highlands they are eaten with milk ; and also 
in Derbyshire, where they are found in great 
quantities. 
The bilberry has been made the symbol of 
treachery from the following fable :—“ Gino- 
maiis, father of the beautiful Hippodamia, had 
for his charioteer the young Myrtilus, son of 
Mercury. Cnomaiis offered the hand of his 
daughter to any one who should outdo him in 
a chariot race. Pelops, anxious to obtain 
Hippodamia, bribed Myrtilus to overthrow his 
master’s chariot, and Cinomaiis was killed. 
In dying, he cried for vengeance, when Myr- 
tilus was changed into the shrub which has 
ever since borne his name.” 


































