The Cruise of the Branwen

CHAPTER XII THE FOOTSTEPS OF ODYSSEUS-ITHACA AND CORFU By many an island fort, and many a haven They sped, and many a crowded arsenal ; They saw the loves of gods and men engraven On friezes of Astarte's temple wall. They heard that ancient shepherd, Proteus, call His flock from forth the green and tumbling lea, And saw white Thetis with her maidens all Sweep up to high Olympus from the sea. OuR yacht was small enough to go through the Corinth Canal without the least difficulty; and as our time was limited, we returned by way of Patras and then steered northwards up the Adriatic. Beautiful as this journey was, it bereft us of that other voyage round Greece which is the best way to visit modern Hellas, because the towns are still turned, as Athens, Corinth, Thebes, Argos or Sparta turn, towards the east. Their real neighbours are the Cyclades and the coasts of Asia Minor, and they are re– mote, in more than mere geography, from Italy and Western Europe. Sailing from Naples, after the Calabrian coasts have faded, the next land you see is the Arcadian 146