173 NATURAL HISTORY OF 



ing-stone, the trilithon, and the remains of a 

 British town on the peaked summit of Pen Mon- 

 nedd. The rocking-stone is a long flat mass 

 of lime-stone, called, from its form, St. Tudno's 

 cradle, and may be moved by a gentle force. 

 The trilithon is composed of irregular masses of 

 rock, like some of these relics often met with in 

 Britain, and seems to have served the purpose 

 of an altar. The upper stone has been thrown 

 from its place, and lies shattered at a distance. 

 Of the town may still be seen the foundations of 

 nine circular huts, and a small portion of the 

 fortified wall. They are less distinct than those 

 of the famous Old Sarum, which I have exa- 

 mined, but in no other respect differ from them.* 



The chief natural curiosity of this district, is 

 the cave of the lesser Orme's-Head. This is a 

 long narrow cleft in the rock, approachable only 

 at very low water. Its name Eglwys wen, or 

 white church, has been derived from a singular 

 phenomenon, periodically exhibited in it. At 

 the seasons of the higher spring tides, the waves 

 successively approaching the mouth of the ca- 



• The situation of this place, which is called by the natives 

 Dinas, or fortified place, agrees nearly with Ctesar's description 

 of a British town. Oppidum, autem, Britanni vocant, quum 

 silvas impeditas vallo atque fossS, munierunt quo, incursionis 

 hostium vitandae caus^, con venire consu^runt. — Lib. V. c. 11. 



