Silvanus seems to have presided over woods and boundaries. Several altars have been erected to him along the line. Forests must at that time have covered a great portion of the country, and given shelter to beasts of chase worthy of the martial prowess of the occupants of the Isthmus. A host of female forms, denominated nymphs, haunted mountain, valley, and stream. When in the Iliad, the father of the gods calls together his council, Nor of the Floods was any absent thence Oceanus except, or of the NYMPHS Who haunt the pleasant groves, or dwell beside Stream-feeding fountains, or in meadows green. An interesting altar, dedicated to these deities, was found by the side of a spring overlooking the station of HABITANCUM. It is now in the garden of Spencer Trevelyan, esq., of Long Witton. [Illustration: Altar to the Nymphs, Habitancum] SOMNIO PRAE MONITVS MILES HANC PONERE IVS SIT ARAM QVAE FABIO NVP TA EST NYM PHIS VENE RANDIS. The inscription is roughly cut, but quite legible, no contraction is used in it, and no ligature is admitted, even in the case of diphthongs. The construction of the sentence is peculiar, and admits of two renderings. Taking _nupta est_ to signify dedicated, a peculiar use of the word, suggested perhaps by its etymological relationship with the one which it governs, _nymphis_, the inscription will read— A soldier, warned in a dream, directed the erection of this altar, which is dedicated by Fabius to the nymphs to whom worship is due. The other method of rendering it is the following,— A soldier, warned in a dream, directed her (_eam_ supplied) who is married to Fabius to erect this altar to the nymphs to whom worship is due. [Sidenote: THE GODS OF THE MOUNTAINS.] According to either interpretation the altar was erected to the sylphs of the fountain, in consequence of a dream. The lively imagination of the Roman has invested the humble spring where it originally stood with such an air of romance, as to render it a matter of regret that the altar does not still grace the spot. [Illustration: Altar to the Gods of the Mountains, Vindobala]