field, opposite to the end of the house, to see the FALLS OF THE CYNFAEL. These are situated, the one about three hundred yards above, and the other three hundred yards below a rustic stone bridge over the river, to which the path led us.-The up-. per cataract consists of three steeps, over which the water foams into a deep black bason, shadowed by the adjacent rocks.-The other, which I think nearly as beautiful as this, is formed by a broad sheet of water, precipitated down a slightly shelving rock, about forty feet high, and darkened by the foliage around it, which closes in almost to the edge of the stream. After the water has reached the bottom of the deep concavity, it rushes along a narrow rocky chasm; then Raging still amid the shaggy rocks, Now flashes o'er the scatter'd fragments, now Betwixt this cataract and the bridge there is a tall columnar rock, which stands in the bed of the river, called Pulpit Hugh Lloyd Cynfael, or Hugh Lloyd's pulpit, the place from whence, the peasantry say, a magician of that name used to deliver his nightly incantations. THE VALE OF FFESTINIOG. The From the village of Ffestiniog we descended into Cwm Maentwrog, The Vale of Maentwrog. (improperly called by tourists the vale of Ffestiniog.) and wandered leisurely along, enjoying all the way the most sublime pleasure in contemplating the beauties of the scene before us. There are few vales in this country that afford such lovely prospects as this. Many of the high mountains bounding its sides are shaded with lofty oaks; and the silver Dwyryd, Two Fords, serpentines placidly and silently along the bottom, amidst the richest cultivation. sea, at a distance, closes the view; and Traeth Bach, a wide arm of it, is seen to receive the Dwyryd, a little below Tanybwlch hall, which is situated on a rising ground, and embowered in woods, at the north west extremity of the vale. The little village of Maentwrog, from whence it takes its name, is seated nearly in the middle. The character of the vale of Ffestiniog is very different from that either of Llanberis or Nant Hwynan: the former is majestic, grand, and sublime; Nant Hwynan bears a middle character, its bottom is varied by insulated rocks, and clad with trees; this is simply elegant, and principally affords charms to the admirer of nature in her most chaste and delicate attire. The bottom is open, and cultivated from end to end, with trees scattered along the walls and hedge-rows. The thick woods on the mountains to the north soften very beautifully what would be otherwise a bleak and dreary feature in the scene. "With the woman one loves, with the friend of one's heart, and a good study of books, (says lord Lyttleton to his friend Mr. Bower,) one might pass an age in this vale, and think it a day. If you have a mind to live long, and renew your youth, come with Mrs. Bower, and settle at Ffestiniog. Not long ago there died in that neighbourhood an honest Welsh farmer, who was 105 years of age. By his first wife he had thirty children, ten by his second, four by his third, and seven by two concubines: his youngest son was eighty-one years younger than his eldest; and 800 persons, descended from his body, attended his funeral.' -I can add another instance of age and fecundity in this vale, which, though far short of this in point of numbers, is still sufficiently great to prove the healthiness of the place. Jane Price, who died in the year 1694, had at the time of her death twelve children, forty-seven grandchildren, and thirteen great grand-children. We ascended, along with the road, the mountains forming the northern boundary of the vale, on the heights of which stand Tanybwlch inn. Here we dined, and from hence we went the same evening, through Beddgelert, again to Caernarvon*. * Tanybwlch will be described in the ensuing chapter. CHAP. XXIV. CAERNARVON, THROUGH BEDDgelert, TO HARLECH. Pont Aberglasllyn-Mountain Road, and New Road from EXCURSION FROM HARLECH TO CWM BYCHAN. Cylch Cyngrau, or Druidical circles.-Cwm Bychan.-Brolch Tyddiad Drws Ardudwy Cwm Nancoll-Cataract.-Sarn Badrwyg-Cantref Gwalod, or Overflowed Hundred. Cardigan Bay. HAVING remained at Caernarvon a length of time fully sufficient to enable me to visit and examine all the places deserving of notice within a circle of about thirty miles on every side of it, I now proceeded towards Beddgelert and Harlech, in my journey to the other parts of North Wales.-The road to Beddgelert, together with the scenery around that place, have already been described. I shall, therefore, in this chapter, suppose myself proceeding southward, immediately from PONT ABERGLASLLYN. From this celebrated bridge there are two roads to Tanybwlch, the low or new road, and the mountain road, the former of which occupies about ten, and the latter eight miles. Till within the last two years, carriages were usually taken along the mountain-road, a series of rocky steeps, which were considered so dangerous, that most persons preferred walking for at least five of the eight miles: and several people, to avoid it, have even gone more than forty miles round. From one very elevated situation, I had a most delightful view of all the fine and mountainous country around me: Harlech and Criccieth castles were both in sight, and the long extent of ground forming the promontory of Llyn, was visible even to its extremity. Beyond the bridge, on the new road, which is formed through the more flat and level country towards the sands, the varied scene of wood, rock, and mountain, is uncommonly fine. In some situations the view is confined to the immediately surrounding rocks, whilst in others the eye wanders over a vast expanse of mountains. On one elevation I observed no fewer than six ranges of mountain, one above another, the uppermost at a great distance. I passed on the left two conspicuous and conical summits called Moelwyn. |