.-, I 



MERIONETHSHIKE. 



MeriJe servoir, which is 2 leagues .from the town, is small, 

 II but the walls which retain the water, and the great 

 Merioneth- tower w l,i c h serves it for an aperture for air, are much 

 ._^' rf ^ fir.er. The environs of Mericla abound in corn, wine, 

 and fruits. Its population is about 4500. West Long. 

 6 3', and North Lat. 38 48. See Laborde's I'iew of 

 Spain, Vol. i. p. 34-7. 



MERIDE,a7nu.siV<7/ interval-was so named byM.Sau- 

 vcur, (see Mem. ck I'Acad, \Grno, ~\ 701, p. 407)Tas the ,\ 

 ]>:irt of the octave,= lt.27613 1 4-2 + m, = 14.28399382; 

 its common log. is .9929993,0243 ; and it is equal to 7 

 EPTAMERIDES, which see. 

 MERIDIONAL PARTS. See NAVIGATION. 

 MERIONETHSHIRE, a maritime county in North 

 Wales, is bounded on the north by Caernarvonshire and 

 Denbighshire; it is divided in part from the former coun- 

 tv, by an immense ravine, through which flows a small 

 river; on the east by Denbighshire and Montgomeryshire; 

 the division of it from the latter county is partly formed 

 by one of the most celebrated passes in Wales, called 

 the Stoney Mile ; on the west it is bounded by the Irish 

 Hitent and Sea ; and on the south by Cardiganshire, from which it 

 boundaries. i s divided by the river Dovey. Its form, is nearly that 

 of a triangle, the apex of which is to the south. Its 

 length, from the vicinity of Snowdon to the confines 

 of Montgomeryshire, is 43 miles, and from Harlech 

 to the boundary of Llangollen parish, it is about 38 

 miles broad. Its circumference is about 151 miles, and 

 Divisions its area 69! square miles, or 4-42.24.0 acres. It is divi- 

 and towns, (led into 5 hundreds, and contains one county town, 

 Harlech ; the other towns are Dolgelly, Bala, and Bur- 

 Surface, mouth. The surface of the county, though on the whole 

 very mountainous, is a good deal varied, as there are 

 some lower hills, and beautiful and fertile valleys, in- 

 terspersed with woods, lakes, rivers and cataracts. 

 These circumstances, together with the grandeur of its 

 sea views, render it one of the most romantic and pic- 

 turesque of the Welsh counties.. Some of the principal 

 Mountains, mountains and vales deserve a short notice. At the 

 north-eastern angle of the county is a long chain of 

 mountains, which branches intoDenbighshire and Mont- 

 gomeryshire ; they are called the Ferergn Mountains ; 

 their northern boundary is ths Dee, and the southern 

 the Tannad ; their. length from north to south is about 

 16 miles, and their^breadth varies from 5 to 10. There 

 are no lakes in these mountains, and no river of conse- 

 quence flows from them. The fine vale of the Dee lies 

 below them. The other most celebrated mountains are 

 Catler Idris and the two Arrans. Cader Idris is the 

 beginning of a chain of mountains which, beginning 

 near the sea, about a mile above Towyn, extends in a 

 north and north-easterly direction, and includes the 

 Arrans. It is in height the second in all Wales. Its 

 peak rises above the town of Dolgelly about 2,850 feet. 

 It is very steep and craggy on every side, and nearly 

 perpendicular on its southern, on the borders of Ta- 

 lyllyn lake. The breadth of this chain in no part ex- 

 ceeds 4| miles, and in some parts it is a mere ridge. 

 The loftiest of the Arrans is said to be only 1 20 feet be- 

 low Cader Idris. Beyond this mountain, towards the 

 sea, are round smooth hills, which form a rich and ex- 

 cellent sheep walk, and then meadows and bogs. To 

 the north or Dolgelly there is a mountainous tract, con- 

 taining several lakes ; this tract extends to the north 

 part of the county, which is celebrated for the beautiful 

 Vle of vale of Festiniog. This vale is scarcely 3 miles long, 

 Fetlnio. and not one in breadth. There are few vales which at- 



Cader 

 IdiU. 



ford such delightful prospects; the hills which bound Met 

 it are covered with oaks, and a small and beautiful ri- th ; n-. 

 ver flows in a serpentine course through it, in the midst """""^ "~^ 

 of rich cultivated fields. Near the vale arc the falls of 

 the Cynfaol : the upper consiets of three steep rocks, 

 over which the water falls into a black bason, which is 

 overshadowed by other rocks ; the other is formed by 

 a broad sheet of water precipitated about forty feet. The 

 principal lake in this county, and indeed the largest Lakes, 

 lake in all Wales, is Pemblemoer, or Bala Pool, on Bala Pool, 

 the banks of which stands the town of Bala ; from 

 north-east to south-west it is 4 miles long; its greatest 

 breadth is 1,200 yards. Its water is said to be so pure 

 that the most delicate taste cannot detect any admix- 

 ture. The scenery around it is mountainous, but not 

 grand or picturesque. In stormy weather its waters are 

 raised S or 9 feet, covering the adjoining vale, and 

 sometimes threatening destruction to the town of 

 Bala. The river Dee flows through this lake. There 

 are several other lakes of smaller size, some of which 

 are remarkable for the beauty of the surrounding 

 scenery. 



The principal rivers are the Dee, the Descenny, the Rivers. 

 Dyssi, the Avon, and the Dynvhydd. The Dee has two 

 spring heads, in the eastern part of the county, near the 

 sides of the Arran mountain ; these, after uniting and 

 passing through the lake of Pemblemoer, run by a north- 

 east direction into Denbighshire. The Descenny rises 

 about 3 miles to the south of Dolgelly, and falls into the 

 Irish sea a little to the west of Towyn, the Dyssi or 

 Dovey rises in the west part of the county, and falls into 

 the Irish Sea at Aberdovey. The Avon rises to the 

 south-west of Bala, passes by Dolgelly, and falls into 

 the Irish sea, a little below Barmouth. The Dyrwhydd 

 rises in the north of the county, on the borders of Caer- 

 narvonshire, and falls into the Irish Sea about 3 miles 

 north from Harlech. The coast of this county pos- Sea coast, 

 sesses only one port, Barmouth, which stands on a lit- 

 tle arm. of (he sea, and is of difficult entrance, the bar 

 admitting only Vessels that draw 8 or 9 feet, even at 

 high water. On the northern part of the coast adjoin- 

 ing Caernarvonshire, are two inlets of the sea, Troeth 

 Bach and Troeth Maivr, having one entrance, and each 

 receiving a small stream ; the greatest part of them are 

 dry at low water, and become quicksand. 2000 acres of 

 the latter have lately been recovered by embanking. 

 Tradition states, that a whole division or hundred of 

 this county has been swallowed up by the sea, and there 

 are appearances that strengthen it. This hundred is said 

 to have stretched north and south 12 miles, and to 

 have been about 5 in breadth ; and to have been si- 

 tuated between Harlech and Barmouth. About half 

 way between these towns is a causeway, 24 feet thick, 

 which runs for a considerable way into the sea, the end 

 of which is met by another causeway, which stretches 

 out from a point to the north-west of Harlech. The 

 space between these is supposed to have been the hun- 

 dred. The inundation is said to have happened about 

 the year A. D. 500. The natural history of this conn- Mineralo- 

 ty, so far as its mineralogy is concerned, is rather inter- 9J- 

 eating. The mountains consist principally of granite, 

 porphyry, and other unstratified rocks. The secondary 

 hills are composed of mixed schistus; the valleys con- 

 tain schistose clay, and the level parts of the county a- 

 bound with peat earth. The Ferwyn mountains are 

 composed of primitive schistus, in thick irregular lami- 

 nae, intersected in places with veins of quartz. There 



