13 OCTOBER 1944, Page 10

" And there," I said, " in the cleft of

the hills lies the site of Calydon, famous because of Atalanta." They strained their aching necks to look northwards, these hapless Hellenic Travellers to whom travel had suddenly been denied. What was Atalanta to them, or they to Atalanta? A half-forgotten melody from As You Like Ii?— "Helen's cheek, but not her heart,

Gleopatm's majesty, Atalanta's better part, Sad Lucretia's modesty."

Or perhaps a more relevant passage from Swinburne:—

" I would that with feet, Unsandalled, unshod, Overbold, overfleet, I had swum not nor trod,

From Arcadia to Calydon northwards, a blast of the envy of God.- And next morning we were towed into Patras. But I cannot tell N■U even now how the name of that harbour should be pronounced.