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THE VALLEY OF KNILL. 



By James Edward Davis. 



" Stranger, if Nature charm thee, if thou lov'st 



To trace her awful steps, in glade or gle% 



Or under covert of the rocking wood, 



That sways it's murmuring and mossy boughs 



Above thy head ; now when the wind at times 



Stirs its deep silence round thee, and the shower 



Falls on the sighing foliage ; hail her here 



In these her haunts." Bowles. 



It is a no less true than trite remark, that we seek for fine scenery, and the 

 beauties of Nature, amid the recesses of the Alps, or on the banks of the Rhine, 

 and leave the charms of our own country to be discovered and enjoyed by 

 foreigners. We certainly collect crystals from the cliffs of Snowdon, and pebbles 

 from the coast of Scotland, but we do little more ; we visit a few places pointed 

 out by a guide-book, but we do not investigate and discover beauties for ourselves ; 

 the consequence is, that a large portion of British scenery remains comparatively 

 unknown ; and I now write to call the attention of the readers of The Naturalist 

 to a spot which is well worthy the trouble of visiting. 



The Valley of Knill lies between the towns of Presteign and New Radnor, on 

 the road from Worcester and Birmingham to Aberystwith. 



The first impression on the traveller would probably be a sentiment of wonder, 

 that such scenery could have so long remained unknown and unnoticed. The 

 hills which surround this valley, although of moderate elevation, are of so pic- 

 turesque shapes, and harmonize in such a manner with each other, as to furnish 

 a variety of landscapes each worthy the pencil of a Claude, especially if viewed 

 on a summer evening, when the rocks cast a broad shadow over the more hidden 

 recesses of the Valley, while the summits of the hills are clothed in joyful sun- 

 shine, long after night has closed on the inhabitants of the vale below. 



The valley is irrigated by the river Somergil, the noisy turbulence of whose 

 rapid waters is drowned amid the various operations of the men employed at the 

 kilns, which supply a large portion of the Radnorshire agriculturists with lime. 

 The monotonous din of the iron instruments employed in raising portions of the 

 rock, is broken every now and then by the startling and terrific sound of an 

 explosion, by which some giant mass of limestone has been raised from its 

 slumbers of past ages. 



Even the cottages and farm-houses are, generally speaking, far from being 

 destitute of beauty, and have a picturesque effect which in these days few places 

 can boast of. 



No. 14, Vol. II. . j 3 h i; 



