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j)earance of the liotel, or the admirably-served meal with 

 which you will be regaled. The lessee of this estabb.sh- 

 ment — who also holds tlie sporting riglits over the whole of 

 the mountains which form the water-shed of Lake Yyrnwy 

 — 'is one of the best iiostesses in the United Kingdom and 

 tliose who visit here are treated upon those generous terms 

 which are calculated to induce you to come an-ain. The 

 hotel is, in truth, replete with all the comforts of a well- 

 ordered house, and a man who comes here on fisli.ing bent, 

 can be talcen in and done for at an inclusive charge of three 

 and a-half guineas per week. Of this comfortable hostelry 

 some grateful anglers have ■Nviitten, with poetic fervour : 



" We -n-ere out for a spin, and we stopped at tliis inn, 

 Wliere tliere's plenty of grub for inflating the skin. 

 The fishing was splendid ; Miss Davies was good ; 

 Stop if you can ; we would if we could." 



The lady immortalised in the foregoing verse is the 

 manageress and lessee of the establishment, and a real good 

 (uie she is, too, as every grateful brother of the rod will 

 testify who visits Lake Vyrnwy Hotel. It is perched on 

 tlie top of a bold bhiff promontory, a thousand feet above 

 sea-level, and from your bedroom windows you command 

 a view of the whole lake. So much for the hosteby ; but 

 let me add that it contains all the resources of a good family 

 hotel, including a ladies' drawdng-room, and a first-class 

 billiard table. 



Now let me briefly describe the lake. 



To begin with, this noble sheet of water fills a bottle- 

 shaped valley, with the neck end blocked by a mighty dam 

 of solid masonry, which looks like a bridge of many arches, 

 as seen from the lake itself. The hotel is situated at this 

 narrow end, and the distance to the other extremity of the 

 water is five miles. The lake covers an area of eleven hun- 

 dred acres. At the upper end are three sequestered bays 

 shut in by mountains clothed with pine woods, dwarf oak, 

 and heather. The shores are covered with verdure, and 

 ferns abound everywhere in great profusion. In one or 

 other of these deep indentations from the main lake you can 

 always find plenty of sheltered fishing water when the lake- 



