rs, ee en Ebel’s Manuel du Voyageur en Suisse ; 
SL 's Voyage Pittoresque en Suisse. ; 
; "GLADIATORS is the name given to persons usual- 
~__ lyslaves, or condemned criminals, who were com om 
_ out to fight one another for the amusement of the 
man e, See Rome, — > oJ 
. GLAMORGANSHIRE, a maritime county in South 
Wales, is bounded on the north by Caermarthenshire 
and. Brecknockshire ; on the south by Merionethshire ; 
on the east by Monmouthshire, from which it is sepa- 
rated by the river Rumsey ; and on the south and west 
by the Bristol Channel. The greater part of its sea- 
coast swells into a semicircular sweep ; but the west 
extremity is formed into a narrow beak, between the 
n channel and an arm running round the coast of 
ermarthen. The county measures from east to west 
__ 48 miles; from north to south, at the broadest part, 26 
nd miles: its circumference is 125 miles. It contains $22 
square miles, or 526,680 acres. There is in it one city, 
Landaff; one county town, Cardiff ; ten hundreds, viz. 
Caerfilly, Cowbridge, Dinas Powis, Kibber, Langwe- 
lack, Miskin, Neath; Newcastle, Ogmore, and Swansea ; 
eight market towns, and 118 parishes. It returns two 
members to parliament, one for the county, and one for. 
Cardiff, and.is in the province of Canterbury ; three parts 
of it are in the diocese of, Landaff, the.remaining part 
in the diocese of St David’s. There are in it two deane- 
» ries, Landaff and Cowbridge; and it pays one part of the 
land-tax. - The north, of the county is very moun- 
tainous and barren; thinly inhabited, and serving chief- 
ly for the feeding of cattle and sheep. In this part va- 
rious rivers take their rise, which run to the south 
through vales, gradually enlarging; thus forming a 
middle district tolerably adapted for cultivation, and at 
last terminating in the great level or vale of Glamor- 
7 gan. This is a tract extending along the sea-coast to 
tgan. the distance of eight or ten miles inland, the most fer- 
_ tile part in Wales, rich in corn and pasture, and well 
__~ furnished with coals, lead, iron, and limestone: it is 
open, but not a dead flat: it has an undulated surface, 
on a dry substratum of limestone. The land is in- 
closed with good hedges,, mostly hawthorn. To the 
north and north-east, the vale. is well sheltered by 
mountains, To the south, it has the dry, rocky shores 
of the Bristol channel, without any fens. Another dis- 
triet of Glamorganshire deserving particular notice, is 
what is termed Gowerland: it is a tract of coun 
bounded by the Neath and Loughor rivers, Its circuit 
is between 40 and 50 miles; in point of landscape, it is 
inferior to most other parts of the county ; but the ori- 
gin and habits of the People, and its antiquities. and cu- 
riosities, render it highly worthy of attentive examina- 
tion. It abounds in many places with deep pits.. The 
east side is remarkably. fruitful and well cultivated. 
The south-west is.inhabited by the successors of a co- 
lony of Flemings, probably planted there at the same 
period that the Flemings were settled in Pembroke- 
shire. They do not understand the Welsh language ; 
but are distinguished by their dialect and provincial 
dress, and rarely intermarry with the Welsh. They 
wear what is a whittle, made of fine wool, dyed 
scarlet, nearly a yard square, with a fringe at bottom. 
This garment is thrown across the shoulders, and fas- 
tened.with.a pin or broach ; anciently it was fastened 
with the prickle of the black thorn, which is. still used 
Mages of the old women. 
gu imate of the higher. parts of Glamorganshire 
is of course rather severe ; but in the lower districts it 
is uncommonly mild, so that myrtles, magnolias, and 
287 
GLA 
other tender exotics, grow luxutiantly in the open 
air, ~ 
The principal rivers are the Lower Taafe, which 
rises in the mountains that separate Glamorganshire 
from Brecknockshire, and traversing a wild district to- 
wards the south, falls into the Bay of Glamorgan, near. 
Swansea. The Neath, a much more considerable river 
than the former, rises in the same mountains, more to 
the eastward ; descending from these with great rapi- 
dity, it forms a deep valley, through which it flows to 
the south-west to Neath, where, it meets the tide; 
and after several windings in the marsh, below that 
town, falls into the Bay of Swansea. The Avon, the 
Ogmore, and the Ewenny, are three small rivers 
which cross the vale of Glamorgan, ‘each falling sue- 
cessively into Glamorgan Bay. ‘The Taafe rises within 
the limits of Brecknockshire, considerably to the east- 
ward of the source of the Neath; soon after passing 
Merthyr Tydvil, it precipitates itself’ into the deep 
abyss ofa vale, forcing its way with great fury be- 
tween mountains and woods, till, not far from Caerfil- 
ly, it is crossed by the wonderful structure of the Pont- 
y-Pryd—a stone bridge of a single arch, supposed one 
of the widest, constructed of masonry, in the world: 
this bridge springs from rock to rock, with indescriba- 
ble lightness and beauty, Several miles lower, the 
Taafe emerges into a spacious.and well-inhabited plain, 
in which Landaff and Cardiff are situated: flowing 
through their bridges, it meets the tide, and traverses 
a broad marsh to-fall into the sea, opposite to the high. 
rock of Pennarth. 
Gl 
Rive 
jamorgan- 
shire, 
Ts, 
The level and more cultivated parts of Glamorgan- woods. 
shire are rather destitute of wood; but its eastern and 
western extremities are well wooded. The magni- 
ficently clothed hills of Margam, Bagland, Briton Fer- 
ry, and the vale of Neath, unite the beauties of cultiva~ 
tion with the luxuriance of forest scenery. ‘The wood, 
which rises immediately from the church of Margam, 
covers the breast of a mountain 800 feet in height, and 
more than a mile in circumference ; the value of the 
oak timber has been estimated at L. 60,000. 
The agriculture of this county presents little that is- 4 pricut. 
interesting ; it is behind many other counties in Wales, ture. 
although the vale of Glamorgan offers many facili- 
ties to the husbandman. It is naturally fertile, and 
lime is every where to be found in abundance, and 
with ease, On the mountains, a breed of sheep, some- 
what similar to those on the Cotswold hills, is kept. 
The cattle of this county, which resemble those of. 
Normandy, are in high repute for draught. 
But. it is its mineral productions, and its manufae- 
Mineral 
tures depending upon them, which distinguish and produc- 
enrich G 
and coal. With respect to that most extensive bed of 
limestone, of which nearly the whole of Glamorgan- 
shire forms only a part, it commences with the eastern 
extremity of the county, and, taking. a direction due 
west, runs in a straight line to Swansea Bay, appearing 
again in Gewerland, and, having passed under Caermar- 
then Bay, is seen. to. occupy the test part of the 
south and west of Pembrokeshire. The neighbour- 
hood of Merthyr Tydvil abounds with excellent coal, 
iron ore, mill-stones, and limestone recks. Excellent 
flag-stone for paving, and a very good kind of slate, are 
found in this neighbourhood, and, indeed, throughout 
the mountainous district. of Glamorgan. On the left 
of the road about Pentyrch are very extensive coal- 
eries, and abundance, of iron ore. In some respects 
this county is interesting to the geologist, On the top 
4s 
organshire. It abounds in limestone,,iron; tions. 
