HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



97 



A DAY'S MOUNTAIN RAMBLING IN NORTH WALES. 



By WILLOUGHBY GARDNER. 



^I&BsSsS^HE 5th of Sep- 

 tember dawned 

 drearily enough, 

 with a strong 

 east wind blow- 

 ing ; but as I 

 had just arrived 

 at Conway in 

 North Wales for 

 a short holiday, 

 I was not to be 

 deterred by this 

 fact from setting 

 out on a long- 

 projected expedi- 

 tion. 



Forming a tri- 

 angular space 

 upon the map 

 between Conway, 

 Bangor, and 

 Bettws-y-coed, lies a wild and barren tract of moun- 

 tains, the highest of which, Carnedds Llewellyn 

 and Dafydd, are only a few feet lower than Snowdon 

 itself. From its recesses flow Afons Dolgarrog, 

 Porthlwyd, Dhu, Llugwy, and various smaller streams 

 into the Conway river, which forms its eastern 

 boundary ; on its south-west side it is abruptly bor- 

 dered by the pass of Nant Francon, running from 

 Capel Curig to Bangor, and to the north-west lies 

 the sea. The principal lakes of the district are 

 Llyns Dulyn, Melynllyn, Eigiau, Cwlyd Crafnant, 

 and Geirionydd. 



This large and almost pathless expanse of country 

 is, with slight exceptions, quite in its primeval state, 

 and completely without cultivation, beyond perhaps 

 a mile inward on an average from the high roads 

 which surround its three sides. The southern corner 

 is crossed by a mountain track running from Trefriw 

 to Capel Curig, and the only other roadway cutting 

 through it is one from Aber to Tal-y-cafn Ferry or 

 Llanbedr, through the lonely pass of Bvvlch-y- 

 ddeuvaen. This road has been in use from "time 

 No. 221. — May 1883. 



immemorial," and in days gone by was doubtless one 

 of the principal thoroughfares in this part of the 

 country, starting as it did in Roman times from Deva 

 (Chester), traversing Flintshire and Denbighshire, 

 via Varium, and'over the Conway to Conovium (a 

 Roman station still traceable near Tal-y-cafn), it 

 crossed the mountains through the pass of Bwlch-y- 

 ddeuvaen to Aber, and then followed the coast to 

 Segontium (Carnarvon). Earlier than the Roman era 

 it was doubtless a British trackway, and at either end, 

 at Aber and Tal-y-cafn, may still be seen an artificial 

 mound, possibly a tumulus, covering the remains of 

 warriors slain in some great battle for the possession 

 of this, one of the chief highways into Snowdonia. 

 At a later period these mounds were used as the sites 

 of fortified posts for the defence of this important 

 pass, and at Aber, so late as the time of Llewellyn 

 the Great, a castle stood upon the spot. Besides 

 these defensive mounds, the road is overshadowed at 

 Aber by the strongly-fortified bluff of Moel-y-Gaer, 

 and at the other end, above Llanbedr, the Celto- 

 British intrenchments, perched on the top of Pen-y- 

 gaer, frown over the plain below. 



It was this ancient road that I purposed following, 

 if not its whole length from Aber] to Tal-y-cafn, at 

 any rate for some distance, branching off afterwards 

 into the high lands to the right ; eventually, however, 

 I abandoned the old roadway for the more enticing 

 fields of exploration in the mountains towards 

 Carnedd Llewellyn. 



The day was not a very desirable one, owing to the 

 cold east wind above mentioned, but still it had the 

 advantage of being dry, which for mountain explora- 

 tion is everything. I armed myself with satchel, 

 containing provisions for the day, insect net, pill and 

 other boxes for natural history specimens, sheets of 

 blotting-paper for ferns, and (being a bit of a dabbler 

 in the fine arts) paints and sketching block ; over my 

 shoulders I also slung my mackintosh, rolled up tight 

 in a strap. In my pocket I carried a small telescope, 

 ordnance map and compass, the two latter highly 

 necessary ; and hoping to find some wonderful 

 stream or lake in which to ply the avocation of the 



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