234 WATERSIDE SKETCHES. 



valley, and almost happy; the drawback was a herd of 

 Welsh cattle which, led on by a scoundrelly little bull, chased 

 me with most malicious intent, and interfered sadly with the 

 peace of mind which would otherwise have invested me like 

 a mantle. For skirmishes of this nature the angler in North 

 Wales must be prepared ; they are much too generally part 

 of the sport. 



Llyn Ogwen as the bonne bouche had been reserved for a 

 long day. They never fish on Sundays in Wales, but the 

 quarrymen take long walks into the country, and come home 

 in the evening with something moist in their handkerchiefs. 

 On Whit-Sunday, walking up to reconnoitre, and order a boat, 

 I myself saw a few movements by Ap-Evans, Ap-Jones, Ap- 

 Williams, and Co., which fully explained the odour of fried 

 fish that pervaded Bethesda at night. A lovelier day than 

 this never dawned ; the wild hyacinths, primroses, buttercups 

 and daisies, bloomed fresh and fair in the private grounds 

 through which you are permitted to cut off a long turn in 

 the high road ; the birds sang out of the fullness of their 

 holiday heart ; the fleecy clouds ran lightly before the wind 

 over the hills ; the air, soft and amorous, cooled you with a 

 fan of balmy perfume. 



The craggy mountains and stupendous rocks at the upper 

 end of this valley seem made for storm and gloom only, but 

 they did not take this clear June sunlight amiss, and made 

 no opposition to its beams searching out and revealing 

 weird clefts and chasms said in legend to be the abode of 

 devils and imps ; one precipice by Llyn Idwall was and is 

 believed by the superstitious to be the main entrance to 

 Satan's kitchen, and is named Twll-ddu accordingly. The 

 fish in Lake Idwall, says Welsh tradition, were, in memory of 



