Page:History of Art in Primitive Greece - Mycenian Art Vol 1.djvu/60

The Country. 39 enacted against any person convicted of defrauding a neighbour, in momentary possession, of his rightful quantity of water. The decemviri were said to have brought from Athens to Rome the whole portion of the laws of Solon which dealt with this matter.^ By these salutary regulations, barren plains, such as those of Attica, were transformed, at least in places, into fertile fields and gardens. The marked difference of organization which meets us on crossing from the high valleys to the sea-shores, from districts turned towards the Archipelago to those in sight of the Ionian sea, from tracts open to the sea-winds to land-locked valleys, is no less notable in regard to the climate, and borne home with peculiar force to the most casual tourist. I have good reason to remember the ascent, towards the end of March, of the Parnon range on my way to Laconia, and the difficulties, nay, actual dangers which I had to encounter in crossing the passes. I came near to being lost in a snow-drift along with my horse and belongings. The path to Sparta, where I arrived two days after, was through undergrowth ablaze with golden broom and snowy whitethorn, with here and there patches of blushing wild roses and honeysuckle which filled the air with their perfume. A day's ride had brought us from the depths of winter to the full tide of spring. In the islands however, and around the bays, difference between the mean temperature of warm and cold seasons is slight enough ; whereas, in the interior, in secluded valleys such as those of Thessalian Peneus and Lake Copais, freezingly cold winters are succeeded by scorchingly hot summers. Storms are frequent all over Greece during certain seasons of the year, in the lowlands and the hilly districts alike. Towards the evening the mountain tops are suddenly shrouded in thick dark clouds, and by and by the roll of thunder is heard in the distance ; tropical rain falls for two or three hours ; then a northern blast sweeps away the mist ; a radiant sun reappears, and even those on whom the deluge has discharged itself would scarcely credit the testimony of their senses, but for the swollen torrent below, whose bed had been dry for months, but which now, with full stream, tumbles its turbid waters charged with grasses and broken timber. There are countries, the lower valley of the Nile and the ^ The like regulations, whether imported by the decemviri or not, are still in force throughout Italy ; save that penalties are practically non-existent. — Trans.