50 HESIOD.

Ten days and nights exposed the clusters lay, Basked in the radiance of each mellowing day. Let five their circling round successive run, Whilst lie thy grapes o'ershaded from the sun ; The sixth express the harvest of the vine, And teach thy vats to foam with joy-inspiring wine." E. 851-858. When the Pleiads, Hyads, and Orion set, it is time to plough again. But not to go on a voyage ! Though, as we have before stated, and as Hesiod seems particu- larly anxious to have it known, lie was no sailor, our poet gives now directions how to keep boats and tackle safe and sound in the wintry season, by means of a rude breakwater of stones, and by taking the plug out of the keel to prevent its rotting. The best season for voyaging is between midsummer and autumn, he says ; only it requires haste, to avoid the winter rains. The other and less desirable time is in spring, when the leaves at the end of a spray have grown to the length of a crow's foot a compara- tive measurement, which Mr Paley observes is still retained in the popular name of some species of the ranunculus crowfoot ; but Hesiod calls this a "snatched voyage," and holds the love of gain that essays it foolhardy. He concludes his remarks on this head by prudent advice not to risk all your exports in one venture, all your eggs as our homely proverb runs in one basket : " Trust not thy whole precarious wealth to sea, Tossed in the hollow keel : a portion send : Thy larger substance let the shore defend.