WELSH CORACLE, OR FISHING-BOAT. 145 



Duck," about three miles from Mallwyd. A stream 

 flows out of it into the Talfolog River. There are 

 some prodigious trout in this lake : we have taken 

 them upwards of five pounds' weight. It also 

 abounds with wildfowl, and with thousands of sand- 

 pipers, which are delicious eating, and will make a 

 luxurious addition to the angler's repast. 



THE WELSH CORACLE, OR FISHING-BOAT. 



There is a remarkable number of these curious 

 vessels always to be seen on the river Teivi. They 

 are constructed of willow twigs, in the manner of 

 basket-work, and are covered with a raw hide or 

 canvass pitched in such a manner as to be water- 

 proof. They are generally five feet #nd a half long? 

 and four broad ; their bottom is a little rounded, and 

 their shape resembles the half of a walnut-shell. A 

 seat crosses just above the centre, toward the broad 

 end. The angler paddles witk one hand, and casts 

 his flies with the other; and, when his work is 

 finished, brings home his boat on his back. These 

 coracles are specimens of original British naviga- 

 tion, according to Caesar, who turned them to good 

 account in his Spanish expedition against Pompey : 

 for Caesar's bridges over the Sagre being carried 

 away by the torrent, he transported his legions 

 across it in vessels of this construction : 



" Imperat militibus Caesar ut naves faciant cujus 

 generis cum superioribus annis usus Britanniae do- 

 cuerat. Carinae primum ut ac statumina ex levi 

 materia fiebant : reliquum corpus navium viminibus 



contextum coriis integebatur." Sell. Civ. lib. i. 

 L 



