It was at this inn that I was, for the first time since my arrival in Wales, entertained with the music of the harp, the indigenous instrument of this country.

In the thirteenth century a battle was fought near Bangor Ferry, which none of the historians have mentioned. It is, however, described by a bard who lived about the time, Llywarch Brydydd y Moch, in a poem on the death of Llewelyn ap Iorwerth. His language is animated and expressive, and may be taken as a specimen of the Welsh bardic style of that period. "Dark ran the purple gore over the breasts of the warriors loud was the shout; havoc and carnage stalked around. The blood-stained waves flowed over the broken spear, and mournful silence hung on the brows of the warriors. The briny wave, rolling into the channel, mingled with waves of blood. Furiously raged the spear, and the tide of blood rushed with force. attack was sudden and fierce. Death was displayed in all its horrors. Noble troops, in the fatal hour, trampled on the dead, like prancing steeds. Before Rodri was subdued, the churchyards became like fallow ground.'

Our

CHAP. XI.

EXCURSION FROM BANGOR FERRY THROUGH NANT FRANGON.

Port Penrhyn-Fine Situation.-Writing-Slate Manufac tory.-Iron Rail-Road-Lord Penrhyn's Slate Quar ries.Cottages of the Workmen:-Ogwen Bank.-Carnedd Llewelyn-Nant Frangon-Rude Landscape.-Falling of a Rock.-Waterfalls of Ben Glog.-Y Trivaen.-Anecdotes respecting two upright Stones on the Summit of Trivaen.Llyn Ogwen.New Road.

On the following morning I rose early in order that I might have sufficient time to examine the romantic vale of Nant Frangon, The Beaver's Hollow, and the different commercial undertakings of Lord Penrhyn and others in its neighbourhood. The boundary of my excursion I had fixed at Llyn Ogwen, about twelve miles distant, and the principal objects were to be Port Penrhyn, Lord Penrhyn's slate quarries, and the waterfalls of Ben Glog.

I therefore repassed the town of Bangor, and took an early breakfast at the Penrhyn Arms, a comfortable and most delightfully situated inn that overlooks

PORT PENRHYN.

This was built by his lordship from a design of Mr. Benjamin Wyatt; and had it been large

enough for general accommodation, would be a most eligible place for every traveller on pleasure. One end of the house, that commands a view over Beaumaris bay towards the sea, is occupied by a subscription news-room for the inhabitants of Bangor and its neighbourhood, and few places of this nature possess so much either of internal or external elegance. Mr. Wyatt's taste is here very conspicuous, not only in the neat design of the room, but in the choice of a situation commanding an uncommonly beautiful prospect of land and water. This is the same in general character as that I have described from Mr. Lloyd's cottage in Lord Penrhyn's grounds*: but, in addition to all the elegance of that scene, the towers of Penrhyn castle from hence appear in front, rising above the dark surrounding woods. Immediately below the bowling-green, into which the room opens, the observer has the busy scene of the port. Here the appearance of the numerous vessels with which this is at all times crowded, and the bustle and noise that necessarily attend the shipping of goods, form a singular contrast with the other mild and beautiful features:

From the inn I descended to the quay. On one side of this there is a long yellow building, in which is carried on one of the most extensive manufactures of writing-slates in Great Britain. This belongs to Messrs. Worthington and Co. of Liverpool: and Mr. Worthington (to whose civility and attentions in himself conducting me through all his concerns in this neighbourhood,

* See p. 106.

I acknowledge myself greatly indebted) informed me that as many as between three and four hundred dozen were, on an average, manufactured here every week. A few inkstands, and some other fancy articles, are also made, but these are found not to answer to any extent. The slates used are of the finest quality that the quarries afford. The process of smoothing and framing them is extremely simple, and unnecessary here to be described.

Port Penhryn is principally used by vessels coming from different parts of the kingdom for the slates obtained from lord Penrhyn's quarries, between five and six miles distant. About six hundred tons are shipped per week. These, for many years, were conveyed to the port at an enormous expence, by means of carts and horses, but there is now an iron rail-road which extends all the way from the quarries to the quay. In consequence of this, two horses are able, in fifteen waggons chained to each other, to draw upwards of twelve ton weight of slates. Pursuing this rail-road, I arrived, after a walk of about two hours, at

LORD PENRHYN'S SLATE QUARRIES,

Which are at Braich y Cafn, in the mountains on the south-west side of Nant Frangon. Here I found several immense openings, with sides and bottoms as rude as imagination can paint, that had been formed in the getting of the slate. On first surveying them, a degree of surprize is excited how such yawning chasms could have

been formed by any but the immediate operations of nature.

As a place to engage the attention of the tourist, few will be found more worthy than these quarries, which, even in singularity of appearance, great depth, and the rude forms of the remaining rocks, will scarcely be found inferior to the copper mines in Anglesea. The bustle of the workmen on the various ledges, the breaking up of the strata, and the noises of splitting and shaping, with at intervals the loud explosion from the blasting of the rocks, and the subsequent crash of the pieces thrown in every direction, will be novel to most of the travellers through this country.

Nearly opposite to the quarries there is a small public house, where the traveller may obtain such poor, yet acceptable refreshment, as the neighbourhood affords, viz. bacon, eggs, and ale and he will find the inhabitants, at least equally cleanly, with any among the mountains.--In different parts around are scattered the white-washed cottages of the workmen, built from the designs of Mr. Wyatt, and on the exterior, affording at a little distance, an air of considerable neatness and comfort; but from the broken windows, and the ragged and filthy appearance of the children of two or three into which I ventured to put my head, nothing but the extreme of wretchedness and poverty could be supposed to reign within.

*

By the road-side, not far distant, there is a large mill for the purpose of sawing the slate into slabs, for grave stones, cottage hearths, mantle pieces, fences, &c.