52 LOCALITIES OF RARER BRITISH PLANTS 
We started from this genuine Welsh village for Maentwrog 
about half-past five on the morning of the 18th, under a dull 
grey sky. The fogs never cleared away from the summits of the 
hills before us. This was accounted a bad sign—a prognostic of 
rain in the course of the day. We expected to reach as far as 
Pen-y-gwryd that evening, but our expectations were not realized. 
Spirea salicifolha was noticed not far from Maentwrog, grow- 
ing plentifully in the hedge, as we had previously seen it in 
Montgomeryshire on our way to Cann Office from Meivod. The 
village and vale of Maentwrog form, with the adjoining neigh- 
bourhood of Ffestiniog, Tan-y-bwlch, and the fashionable water- 
ing places of Tremadoc and Port Madoc, with the celebrated 
falls Rhaiadr-du and the Raven falls, some of the most charming 
scenery in Wales, and, for a temporary or prolonged sojourn, 
cannot be surpassed even in the Principality. We have not seen 
any spot in North Wales so desirable for a permanent residence. 
The situation is on the small river Dwyryd, which, below Maen- 
twrog, forms an estuary which reaches to Cardigan Bay. The 
beautiful grounds, woods, and hills of Tan-y-bwlch, with the 
mansion and the inn, are about half a mile distant on the north- 
west, and Ffestimiog, with its beautiful vale, hes behind it on the 
east. The railroad is another attraction. This work is carried 
through rocks, over ravines and other obstructions, a distance of 
fourteen miles. It is employed im the conveyance of slates to 
Port Madoc from the Ffestiniog slate quarries. If we had time 
and other requisites which need not be mentioned here, we would 
spend ten days or a fortnight at Dolgelly as a centre, and from 
thence visit Cader Idris, Machynlleth, Towyn, Barmouth, Bala, 
and other interesting places. We would spend as long at Maen- 
twrog, visiting Harlech, Tremadoc, Ffestiniog, the cataracts, and 
other notabilities of this charming spot. We sojourned here just 
an hour, and passed by T'an-y-bwlch inn and up the hill, the 
nearest way to Beddgelert, ten miles distant. 
The road from Maentwrog to Beddgelert is not very interesting 
to the picturesque seeker, for, with the exception of about a mile 
from Tan-y-bwlch and a mile and a half before reaching Bedd- 
gelert, the scenery is not very striking. ‘To a dweller im London, 
where brick walls, blue or red roofs, and the unvarying dingy 
chimney-pots, with the muddy or dusty streets below, are the 
only stationary objects, the extensive, open, long views over 
fields, moors, woods, and water, with the fine hills and mountains 
