Aug. 1, 1884.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE 



05 



conditions. The granite spine or ridge that divides the 

 peninsula with its successive peaks — Brown Willy, 1,368 

 feet; Caradon Hill, 1,208 feet; Kit Hill, 1,067 feet ; and 

 Hensbarrow Beacon, l,03i feet — help to complete the re- 

 semblance of Cornwall to a miniature Italy ; and the fact 

 that the Balm of Gilead — a species of tree flourishing in 

 Arabia and Abyssiuia — grows out of doors sufficiently 

 establishes the softness of the climate. Marazion in par- 

 ticular, known as Market Jew, has special salubrity, being 

 at the foot of a hill on St. Michael's Bay, and entirely 

 sheltered from every cold wind. Marazion, by the way, is 

 supposed to be the most ancient town in Cornwall, and is 

 very near the famous Ictis, the great Tin Mart of ancient 

 story. 



Svveeping round northwards, and facing the Irish Sea, 

 we find the Devonian heights on the one haud and the 

 seaward ending of the W elsh mountains have, between 

 them, formed a coast abounding in picturesque features and 

 in noble scenery. Proceeding northwards along the Cornish 

 coast, under the shelter of the high lauds, we pass numerous 

 points of interest like Padstow, Tintagcll, and, reaching the 

 Devonian shores, pass Bideford, on the banks of the Tor- 

 ridge, Barnstaple, and reach Ilfracombe, standing among 

 picturesque and irregular hills, and having a harbour 

 formed by veritable ramparts of rock. Here begin the 

 special beauties of the Bristol Channel, the extension, in 

 fact, of the magnificent estuary of the Severn. This is the 

 grandest estuary of all Great Britain, and has a most irre- 

 gular coast-line of 220 miles ; and here may be seen tides 

 that rise to heights ranging at Bristol from 35 ft. to 70 ft. 

 at Chepstow. The phenomenon of the boro is also a special 

 marine feature, and shows the ocean advancing like a wall 

 of water, as much as nine feet above the normal level. It 

 is this bore or tidal wave that rushes up the broad mouth 

 of the Severn, which, by the way, at its junction with the 

 Wye, presents one of the most famous water views of the 

 kind in all England. On the north of the Bristol Channel, 

 Glamorganshire (in Welsh, Gwlad Morgan)hasa coast-line of 

 full ninety miles, and includes the land of Gower, that re- 

 markable peninsula projecting into the Bristol Channel 

 with deeply indented and highly precipitous coast. Then 

 comes the wild Caermarthen coast, the birthplace of Merlin, 

 and having in Tenby what has been generally allowed to be 

 one of the most beautiful and romantic places in these 

 islands. It stands on a kind of promontory, and three 

 miles away is Caldy Island, with many interesting archaeo- 

 logical associations. The lodging-houses here are mostly 

 on a high clitf, and the view across to Pembroke, on the 

 shores of Milford Haven, is certainly unsurpassed for 

 beauty. The grand approach to Pembroke is bv water, and 

 this enables its castle, which is justly rankedjamong the most 

 splendid monuments of antiquity in South Wales, to be 

 seen to advantage. The town principally stands on the 

 ridge of a long rock. Under the chapel of the castle is the 

 famous natural cavern known as the Wogan, which commu 

 nicates with the harbour. One matter worthy of special note 

 for the tourist is that in Pembrokeshire, originally settled 

 by Flemish emigrants, English is generally spoken, and, 

 indeed, this county has sometimes been called the Little 

 England beyond Wales. Milford Haven is a truly wonder- 

 ful expanse of sea, landlocked by steep hills, rich with 

 vegetation and abounding in splendid views from all points 

 of the compass. As a harbour, the Haven is hardly 

 equalled in the world, and it is entirely protected from 

 winds by its green girdle of hills. It is full seventeen 

 miles by two or three. Proceeding onward by the coasts 

 we reach St. David's, once a splendid, and still an interest- 

 ing place. Off Whitsand Bay there are six singular islets, 

 quaintly known as the Bishop and his Clerks. Next we 



reach Fishguard, and thence to Cardigan on the mouth of 

 the Tyvi. This was anciently Aherteif — i.e., the mouth of 

 the Teif or Tiyvi. The scenery here is highly romantic, 

 and the coast-line is marked by rocks of great grandeur. 

 It is worthy of note that this Welsh river is believed to 

 have been the very last retreat of the British beaver. Car- 

 digan Bay is a fine semi-circular bend, having a coast 

 of nearly 111 mUes, and being swept by a strong current 

 from south to north, and obstructed by bars, it is rather 

 dangerous for navigation. A great part of this grand 

 bay is believed to have been formerly dry land, and 

 had at least sixteen towns, and, tradition says, was 

 entirely submerged during fearful storms in or about 

 the year 520 a.d. This is decidedly a striking parallel 

 to the submerged Lyonesse off the Land's End, of 

 which I have spoken above. Cardiganshire, the great ma- 

 ritime county of West Wales, rests on the lower Silurian 

 slates, and sends down from its rugged hills abrupt slopes 

 to a steep beach. This county is remarkable for containing 

 full twenty lakes or Ihjiis, justly celebrated for their beauty, 

 which is of the wUd and even terrible order, and for its 

 romantic waterfalls, particularly that known as the Rheidol 

 Falls, and the Devil's Bridge. "This is a single arch, crossing 

 a chasm, and was diagonally erected by the monks of Ystrad 

 Fflur Abbey, near the source of the Tyvi, in the thirteenth 

 century. 'The stream of the Mynach descends impetuously 

 from mountains about five miles, and roars beneath the 

 bridge at a depth of Hi feet. The total fall of the 

 Mynach is no less than 322 feet. It was this county that 

 gave, in 834, a king to all Wales ; and throughout are 

 many interesting remains of British and Roman camps, 

 cairns, castles, and Druidical circles. Carnarvon is another 

 of the romantic counties of Wales, and is traversed by the 

 grandest mountains of South Britain. Here is the great 

 Snowdonian range, culminating in Snowdon, 3,571 feet 

 above the sea-level. The Menai Straits are well known 

 for such features, of course, as appear in guide-books, 

 and such glimpses of the special features as travel- 

 lers to and fi-om Ireland may obtain in transitu. 

 Ample British and Celtic remains abound here to 

 occupy the antiquary, but it is in Anglesea — which means, 

 by the way, the Englishman's island, that the richest store 

 of archaeological and very ancient historic remains are to 

 be found. This was the Mona of the Romans, and was the 

 great stronghold of Druidical power. It has a coast-line of 

 eighty miles, and possesses a milder climate than does the 

 Welsh mainland, only it must be avoided in autumn, when 

 the air is charged with very disagreeable mists. Beaumaris, 

 with its ivy-clad castle, dating from Edward I., stands on 

 a picturesque bay, and is a pleasant seaside resort in 

 summer. From the Anglesea coast near the Tal y Moel 

 ferry house, the town of Carnarvon, with the Menai 

 Straits in the foreground and the lofty mountains of the 

 Snowdonian range in the background, forms a picture of 

 striking beauty. The Bay of Beaumaris is very sheltered 

 and shallow, and at low water the Laven sands extend for 

 miles. These, again, fn parallelism to Cardigan Bay, once 

 formed dry and inhabited land, and were inundated in the 

 sixth century. In the churchyard of Abergele, a Caer- 

 narvonshire village, is a Welsh inscription, saying that 

 there lies a man whose dwelling was three miles north, i.e., 

 where now roll the breakers of the Irish Sea. Another 

 pretty conclusive evidence of the fact that a great strip of 

 land was here entirely submerged arises from the 

 fact that the boles of some vast oaks have 

 been discovered during extraordinaiy low tides. The 

 lofty mountains of Wales, broken by the Bristol Channel 

 to reappear as the Devonian, and then the Cornish high- 

 lands save in their hard declivities on the west a new coast- 



