strength of the cement used in building the edifice. In quarrying for stone in the last century, the foundation of one of the round towers was so undermined that it gave way, and about half the circumference of the base has fallen in, the upper part of the structure, upheld by the tenacity of its parts, remaining perfect. The chasm shows like an irregular arch.

The vale of Conway is one of the most celebrated portions of Wales. Broad, rich, and beautiful in its lower part, it contracts and becomes bolder and more romantic near Llanrwst. Mr. Roscoe gives it the preference not only over the vale of Clywd, which doubtless it deserves, but over that of Llangollen, in which we hardly agree with him. On the Denbighshire side, the hills are neither lofty nor bold; to the west lies a large tract of rugged mountain, bounded by the deep vale of Nantfrangon, through which the Shrewsbury and Holyhead road is conducted from Capel Curig to Bangor. The principal summits on this elevated tract are Carnedd David (3,429 feet), and Carnedd Llewellyn (3,471 feet), not much inferior to Snowdon in height. These rise abruptly from Nantfrangon. East of these summits a considerable tract of undulating moor extends, containing many small lakes, which send their waters as tributaries to the Conway. One of these, issuing from Llyn Geirionydd, the most northerly of the lakes, crosses the road at Pont Porthlwyd, issuing from a fine wild-looking ravine.

Between Bangor and Capel Curig (fifteen miles) the Irish road passes through Nantfrangon (the beaver's hollow). Here, as in many other parts of Wales, the former existence of that long extinct animal is recorded in the name of their haunt. The first four or five miles from Bangor are cultivated, and very pretty: the road then enters the mountains, on the borders of which, on the west side of the valley, lie the immense slate quarries which have proved so lucrative to the lords of Penrhyn castle. They are well worth a visit. The immense size of the excavations, the picturesque forms which the rock assumes, the seemingly hazardous positions and employments of the workmen, the machinery, the energy and activity prevailing over this immense manufactory, the ease and precision with which the rude material is reduced into plates of all dimensions, from tombstones to writing slates, render these works a singularly curious and attractive spectacle.

As the road advances up the valley, the mountains become loftier, and the glen more savage and more contracted. To the east the Carnedds rise with a high steep slope, their summits being invisible from this part of the road. To the west an extensive tract of hill separates this valley from Nantberis, contracting in breadth as it advances to the southward, and rising, toward the head of Nantfrangon, into the lofty summits of the Glyders and Trivaen. About ten miles from Bangor, Nantfrangon is abruptly closed by a steep rocky barrier, which extends completely across it, from the Glyders to the opposite hill. In Pennant's time, the way from the upper valley into Nantfrangon was, he says, by the most dreadful horse-path in Wales, worked in the rudest manner into steps for a great length. Now the finest road in the island traverses the same valley, attaining the upper level by a gradual ascent, the whole of which is trotting ground for the mail. At the top of this ascent the upper valley turns sharp to the east: it is a level tract, principally occupied by Llyn Ogwen, from which the river Ogwen issues in a full and rapid stream, crosses the road, and immediately begins its descent to the vale below in a cataract broken into three distinct falls. These are called after the name of the pass, the Benglog falls; the name signifies a skull, and is thus applied probably from some fancied likeness of the naked and ghastly crags which enclose this stupendous scene. The falls are collectively of great height, devoid of wood, simple, and stern in character. They lose but little, however, in the absence of those minor elegances which form a principal attraction of many cascades: the rich feathering of birch and mountainash would be scarce noticed here, where all is on the largest scale. The glen is wide, its sides steep and high; the rocky wall, down which the river foams in full view, in a succession of bold leaps, is itself no inconsiderable elevation; while behind and far above, the Glyders circle, the dale-head, with the darkest and most awful precipice in the whole region of Snowdon. Other waterfalls may be thought more pleasing, but we doubt whether any in Wales be so grand as these.

After leaving Llyn Ogwen, famous for trout, the road traverses a level moor, attractive only from the grand outlines of the surrounding mountains. A very trifling ascent parts the waters tributary to the Ogwen from those of the Llugwy, which is soon met coming down from its source in the hills above, and followed closely by

the Irish road as far as Bettws, near its junction with the Conway. The inn of Capel Curig lies half a mile off the great road, in the direction of Beddgelert. About a mile further on, the Llugwy forms three step-like cascades of some height, which present a grand appearance from the road when the stream is full. Here begin the chief beauties of this short but very lovely vale. A little further on lies Rhaiadr Wennol (the fall of the swallow). A fantastical building, planted on the very point of a tall conical hill, immediately above the fall, indicates its position from a distance; and the upper fall is partly visible from the road, which runs close by. It consists of three divisions, seemingly each from twenty to thirty feet in height; but the river, if we recollect right, falls in a slanting direction, so as to render it difficult to obtain a complete view of the whole. The breadth of the stream and the body of water are considerable, the rocks grand, and the woods rich and beautiful; and there is a mixture of cheerfulness and sublimity in the whole scene, which renders this one of the most attractive waterfalls in the country. The vale continues to. wear its rich and romantic aspect to Bettws, where it unites with the vale of Conway. Half a mile further the road crosses that river by a noble iron bridge, one hundred feet in span, and ascends its eastern bank toward Cernioge and Corwen. The road to Llanrwst crosses the Llugwy by the singular bridge called Pont y Pair, consisting of five arches, based on the bare rocky bed of the stream. Beneath it the river forms a cascade of no considerable height, but very striking from its rapidity and volume. In general one arch is amply sufficient for the passage of the waters, which have excavated a deep and narrow chasm in the rock. But the breadth of the bare rock testifies to the extent of the stream in time of flood; and at such seasons the rush of waters is said to be most grand and imposing.

A range of hills, of which Snowdon is the highest (3,570 feet), traverses North Wales from south to north, terminating at Baumaris bay in the tremendous steep of Penmanmawr, whose hanging fragments threaten to bury him who travels by the difficult path which has been formed along its almost perpendicular sides. This hilly district comprehends a few tarns, or mountain lakelets, full of delicious fish. The general bleakness is delightfully relieved by the intervening vales, the largest of which is that of Clwyd, in Denbighshire, twenty miles long by about four or five in breadth, and presenting a brilliant picture of fertility. Among the lesser vales, the most famed for beauty is that of Llangollen, "where the Dee, winding through cultivated and pastoral scenes, presents at every step a varying landscape." Festiniog, in which a number of streams unite to form a little river, amid verdant and wooded scenes, is also celebrated by tourists.

Logging stones, of which there are several in Wales, are explained by natural causes. The largest is one situated upon a cliffy promontory, near the Land's End. It is a mass seventeen feet in length, of irregular form, and believed to be about ninety tons in weight, resting by a slight protuberance upon the upper surface of the cliff, and so nicely poised, that a push from the hand, or even the force of the wind, causes it to vibrate. It appears that these logging stones are simply prismatic masses of the rock, which have chanced to be left in their present situation after adjoining masses of a similar character had been removed.

CHAPTER XI.

ANTIQUITIES.

PERHAPS the earliest objects of antiquity in England are the barrows or tumuli, with which the Britons were accustomed to cover their dead. Several of these still exist. Druidical remains rank perhaps next in point of antiquity. The most simple of these are the cromlechs and kist-vaens.

Cromlechs are large stones placed in the fashion of a table, but in an inclining position, upon others smaller, commonly three in number. The reason for this number of supporters is ingeniously conjectured by Borlase to be, that it was found easier to

place and fix securely an incumbent weight on three supporters than on four or more because in the latter case all the four supporters must be exactly level at the top, and the under surface of the stone must also be planed and true, in order to bring the weight to hear exactly on every supporter; whereas, three supporters obviate occasion for this nicety, the incumbent weight easily inclining itself and resting on any three props, although not exactly level at the top; and accordingly, we find the covering stone not horizontal, but more or less shelving, the weight naturally subsiding to the point where the lowest supporter is found. Unequal supporters would also be more easily procured than those of the same height.

The name cromlech is interpreted to mean an inclining stone, from the British words crum, bowed, and llech, a broad flat stone.

Cromlechs are sometimes found isolated, but more usually in the centre of, or in some other way connected with, the druidical circles. When found in this situation, an upright stone is often standing near. For examples of these cromlechs, see the accompanying engraving, which represents the two most considerable of this class of monuments remaining in Great Britain. They are at Plas Newydd, in Anglesea.

The upper stone of one is twelve feet seven inches long, twelve feet broad, and four feet thick, supported by five tall stones. The other, but barely separated from the first, is almost a square of five feet and one half, supported by four stones. These are not only the most magnificent cromlechs, but the highest from the ground, for a middle-sized horse may easily pass under the largest. It is seen, however, that they do not afford the usual characteristic of three supporters.

Concerning the use of these cromlechs there has been much controversy. Borlase and others contend that they were sepulchral monuments. It is true that human remains, ashes, bones, have been found under some of them; but seeing that the human sacrifices by the Druids were notorious, these appearances might equally belong to them as altars or sepulchres. It is even possible that entire human bodies should be deposited there under peculiar circumstances, as a particularly honorable place of sepulture. In many no such remains have been found; and Sir R. C. Hoare records a remarkable example (in a field on the road from Newport to Fishguard) of five kist-vaens placed in a circle, with a cromlech in the centre, and an outer circle of upright stones. Bones, charcoal, etc., were found under each of the kist-vaens, but none under the cromlech. This, under all the circumstances of allocation, is a remarkable testimony that cromlechs were not sepulchres in the primary intention,