CHAP. IV. - Progrefs from Caernarvon through the Snowdonia, fome of its Mountains and Lakes.-Tranfient View of Y,Wyddfa, or the Peak of Snowdon.-Bethkelert.Grand Pafs of the Pont-Aberglafslyn.-Wildness of the Merionethshire Mountains, and beautiful Contrast of the Defcent into the Vale of Feftiniog.-Striking Beauty of Tan-yBwlch-Great Improvements in its District.-Excurfions to Feftiniog, Rhaidr Du, and Harlech Castle.-Intelligence of the Inhabitants in this Part of the Country, and their Attachment to the Harp.- Pleafing Accommodation at the Inn of Tan-y-Bwlch.—Cataract of Dolymyllyn.-Falls of the Cayne and Moth wage.-Dolgelly.-Comparative Height of Cader-Idris and Snowdon.-Fine Ride to Barmouth.-Lake and Town of Bala. -Pafs of Glyndiffis.-Coraven--Beauties of Glenwedwy, or the Valley of the Dee.Vale Crufis Abbey-Charming Pofition of Llangollen and its Cottage.-Dinas Braan Caftle. Pafs of the Berouin Mountain to Llanrhaidr.-Bareness and Grandeur of the Piftill Rhaidr.

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OUR grand object now was to explore the wonders of the Snowdonia, that immenfe pile of mountains, which encircle the mighty lord of this vaft domain; but the inceffant ftorms peculiar to this unequal district, and attended with strong gufts of wind, in great part fruftrated the enterprize. In vain have I at two different feafons, attempted to vifit the lake of Llanberis, and on that fide to take the moft advantageous view of Snowdon, but each time have I been baffled by the severity of the climate, which pursued me with unremitting adverfity.We were obliged therefore to content ourselves with the direct pafs by Bethkelert, and entering the great defile of the mountains, took our farewell of all the beautiful objects which had fo long attracted our attention on the coast of Caernarvonshire, together with the funfhine which had enlivened them.The great cataract of Ys-Gwyrfa foon difplayed itself before us, and we paffed in filent amazement under the vaft mountains of Moel-Eleàn, CastelCedwin, and Mwnwdd Vawr, the latter of which rofe immediately from the pool of the Cwellwyn lake, near the end of which the valley opened, and Y,Wyddfa, the lofty peak of Snowdon, appeared high in view above its fubordinate fummits. It was in vain again that we tried on this quarter to climb the fide of this British atlas; a misty sky and a tempeftuous day continued to refift our efforts; and obliged us, after a fruitlefs wandering about its rocky bafe, to take fhelter in a miferable hovel at Bethkelert. From thence the wild afpect of the country frowned on us with the utmost afperity, and the rigor of an inclement feafon added fresh horror and majefty to the grand pafs of Pont-Aberglafslyn. The vaft ridges of mountains, ending in an immense perpendicular chain of rocks, which reared their aspiring heads far above the clouds, here impended over a deep hollow, through which rolled with favage impetuofity, that prodigious torrent which divides the counties of Caernarvon and Merioneth. Inceflant fiffures in the fides of these mountains prefented an infinite variety of gufhing cataracts, and increased the turbid stream, which, precipitating itself in an abrupt fall under the arch of the bridge connecting the rocks and forming the pafs, rufhed with redoubled violence towards the fea. The grandeur of this fcene is indefcribable, and it was followed by a continued feries of wild and rocky heights, fcarcely to be furmounted by the rude unequal track we purfued, while feveral vaft torrents perpetually croffing it, threatened to interrupt its courfe. Agriculture feemed entirely banifhed from these tremendous wastes, and a few goats and fheep, the only denizens of this favage coun

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try, were obferved browfing on precipices to which few human fteps could venture to follow them.--In the midst of such a defert, extending far around it on either fide, the beautiful valley of Feftiniog disclosed suddenly the strong contraft of its charms, and the pleafant inn of Tan-y-bwlch afforded us a welcome refuge from the ftorms with which we had been perfecuted.

This enchanting valley fmiles with the moft luxurious cultivation, rich woods decorate its fwelling hills, neat villages adorn its plains, and the gentle river Drwydd, winding in perpetual meanders through a range of fine paftures and meadows, flows in tranquil beauty towards the rocks that encircle the coaft. Elevated on a high terrace, beneath a profufion of fpreading groves fronting the fouth, the handfome manfion of the Griffith family at Tan-y-bwlch, enjoys at one view all the placid beauties of the valley, while the rugged and mifhapen mountains that encompass it, form an awful close to this fcene of delight, and forbid the eye to wander farther in fearch of pleasure. This delightful fpot has been greatly improved by the spirit and taste of Mr. Oakley, who married its heirefs; nor has his attention been confined merely to his own territory, the whole neighbourhood having profited by his exertions. On my fecond visit to this country, after an interval of fix years, I found two noble bridges with a caufeway, built across the valley, and the rugged track which led through the wilds of Merionethfhire from Dolgelly, converted into one of the fineft roads the art of man could devife, and fo ingeniously drawn as to avoid all the laborious fteeps, except one abrupt defcent into the valley. Neither was the Caernarvonfhire fide without its progreffive amendment under the fame aufpices, and in confequence of this example, the hovel at Bethkelert was converted into a decent inn, and even the pafs over the mountains from Tan-y-bwlch to the Pont-Aberglafslyn was rendered more eafy, though the heights to be furmounted in that quarter were far too arduous to be conquered with perfect fuccefs. Thus is a traveller now conducted, not only without fear, but with an incredible degree of eafe and pleasure, through the centre of the most mountainous part of our ifland, and over eminences till of late impervious to a carriage, and with difficulty furmountable by a

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After tracing the valley by another good road to the little village of Feftiniog, which stands on an eminence beneath the mountains that enclose its head, we proceeded down it oppofite the groves and houfe of Tan-y-bwlch, till we turned to the left to vifit a farm called the Rhaidr Du, or the Black cataract. It lies in the recefs of a narrow glen, where a large ftream dashing over a high precipice of dark rocks in the midst of a thick wood, presents a very picturesque object, and adds a new ornament to a stripe of country already decorated with a profufion of every natural beauty. Our track from thence to Harlech caftle over a chain of mountains was difficult to find, but we had an intelligent guide in a young fon of our landlady; the morning alfo was fair for our excurfion, and the profpects which every afcent afforded were varied by alternate views of the fea and land.

The town of Harlech, once the capital of the county of Merioneth, is fituated almost at the extremity of a barren defert, which defolates a great neck of land projecting into the fea, whofe fands encompass it on two fides. A few miferable cottages, forming an irregular street, are all the visible remains of its former fplendour, except the inconfiderable ruin of its county hall, and the magnificent walls of its caftle. This noble edifice is the most perfect of the fortreffes made by Edward I. on this coast, and feems to have been constructed with peculiar strength to refift the attacks of enemies,

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the inclemency of its expofed fituation, and the depredations of time. It was finished in the year 1283, was befieged, and with difficulty taken by the Earl of Pem. broke in the wars of York and Lancaster, and was the last in North Wales which held out for the king in the rebellion. Before the ufe of gunpowder it muft indeed have been almoft impregnable, being founded on a high infulated rock, and acceffible only by a drawbridge and three gateways ftrongly guarded by portcullifes. Befide the four great circular towers that defend the entrance, there are others highly turretted at each of the angles of its principal court, and many of their apartments are almost entire. The remains of the chapel are alfo to be traced, and a flaircafe, yet whole, led us to a walk on the walls, from which we had an advantageous view of the coaft and country, together with the bold architecture of the inner front of the castle.

We left Tan-y-bwlch on the following morning with regret, and from the top of the fouthern barrier of the valley of Feftiniog took our farewell of a spot where we had passed several very pleasant days. The beauty of the furrounding scenery charmed us, and we were delighted firft with the rude ftate of nature, and afterwards with the fuc cefsful improvements of art; we found amufement in the intelligence, civility, and fimplicity, of the rustic inhabitants, and even here our meals were enlivened with the mufic of the harp. In South Wales this original British inftrument is much fallen into difufe, but throughout the whole of North Wales it is ftill cultivated with a degree of veneration, and fcarce a family exifts in the meaneft cottage without at least one performer. At Conway we were regaled with the ftrains of a blind harper, who seemed the reprefentative of an ancient druid, and the females of the house blended their vocal powers not unpleasantly with his notes, reciting chants which had been popular in former ages, and commemorations of their traditional heroes. The mufical exhibition at Tany-bwlch, though lefs excellent, was nevertheless highly pleafing, and our hours there paffed more agreeably than the accommodations of a fmall inn in a remote district will generally allow. These were enhanced greatly by the obliging and attentive conduct of our landlady with her family, who on my fecond vifit lamented that her powers for the reception and entertainment of ftrangers were not enlarged among the other im. provements of the vicinage. Time, however, muft effect this, as the thoroughfare be comes more frequented, and when the roads are on all fides fo far finished as to prefent an easy access to one of the most interesting spots nature can difplay, in her fhew of placid beauty, not unattended with a majestic exterior.

Our courfe now lay for feveral miles over the mountains, and the views, though wild in the extreme, were wonderfully extenfive; as the day was clear, we could easily dif cern the bold fummit of Snowdon in the north, as we approached the heights of Cader-Idris in the fouth. After paffing the miferable village of Trawfvyn-nydd, we defcended gradually into a well wooded valley, and croffing a torrent, deviated from the road by a rough and boggy ascent, to vifit the famous cafcade of Dollymyllyn. The scene amply repaid our trouble, where the Gamlan, a confiderable ftream, rufhing down a rapid flope, falls in a perpendicular cataract over the fhelving fide of an immenfe rock, from whence it is dafhed back amidst perpetual fpray arifing from the oppofite ridges of its narrow channel, and then runs foaming in a broken and impetuous torrent till it reaches the level of the valley below. This part of the country is remarkable for the ftriking scenery of its waterfalls, and the two cataracts of the Cayne and the Mothwaye, not many miles diftant, abound equally in the features fuch objects prefent, intermixed with fome peculiar points of picturesque beauty.

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