THE ANGLERS SOUVENIR. 



191 



stone bridge, with its angular buttresses, whence 

 we used to " dip " for the large trout that lived in 

 the deep, black pool below, known as Llyn Dhu, 

 we hired a couple of donkeys, and mounting the 

 two ladies thereon, we breasted the hill. A strong 

 wind blew, and when it caught us sideways it 

 seemed as if donkeys and all must be blown over, 

 so that we men hat/ to lend our aid to prop up the 

 animals ; and, speaking for ourselves, we can say 

 that at certain critical moments, when we were 

 " tT?M> rounding exposed corners, the Gipsy's grip upon 

 ) our coat collar would not have disgraced a Cornish 

 wrestler. The summit gained, we sought a sheltered 

 corner under the lee of the ruins, whence we could 

 gaze on the valley of the Dee, spanned in the dis- 

 tance by the aerial flight of the aqueduct. Meadow, 

 wood, and stream in their most beautiful aspect 

 met our view, but our gaze lingered more on the 

 rocks to the left. On the opposite side of a valley, 

 three-quarters of a mile broad, rose the stupendous 

 terraced cliffs of the Eglwyseg rocks, rising in snow- 

 white steps, severed by green moss and greener 

 fern, reminding us of the old time when we used to 

 find the nests of the rock-dove and the kestrel in 

 the clefts of the crags, or in the dark yew bushes 

 that clung to the face of the cliff. The ring-ouzel 

 and the stonechat were also common there, and we 

 frequently found their nests. Then if we wandered 

 away over the wild moorland that stretches in one 

 unbroken mass of purple heather from the summit 



