i8 4 ; A SPRAINED FOOT 107 



We paddled along and admired the glorious scenery 

 of the lakes, and the Pass of Llanberis, with Snowdon 

 in the clouds, and that old grey tower below. Then, 

 ever and anon, Sir H. and I landed to tap the rocks, 

 chaining the boat with its fair freight to the banks till 

 our return. We pulled to the bottom of the lake, and 

 walked a mile farther, picking the ladies up on our 

 return, as well as a lot of cockles Sir H. had bought. 

 We loitered to gather a hundred or two of white and 

 yellow water-lilies. We then tied a shawl to an oar 

 for a sail and crept up the lake, dragged the boat into 

 the other lake, and so home at half-past six. 



In descending from an excursion to the top of 

 Glydyr fawr he sprained his foot an accident which, 

 though he made light of it at the time, proved serious 

 enough in its effects to prevent him from further field- 

 work for some weeks. Much of the subsequent occu 

 pation of the party was done by driving from point to 

 point, so that the disabled geologist had an opportunity 

 of taking a general survey of the whole region. In 

 this way they visited Caernarvon, struck the southern 

 coast at Pwllheli, crossed to the west side of the 

 peninsula, drove to the promontory of Aberdaron, 

 and thence back by Tremadoc to Llanberis. In these 

 preliminary traverses, favoured by good weather, 

 Ramsay was enabled in some degree to grasp the 

 physical features and broad geological structure of a 

 region into the detailed study of which the Geological 

 Survey was now about to enter. There is an additional 

 interest in these excursions, for one of them included 

 a visit to Anglesey, where Ramsay now saw for the 

 first time the island about which in after years he was 

 to think and write so much, where he was to find his 

 wife, where, wearied with the turmoil of official life, he 



