CHAPTER XI 



BRECKNOCKSHIRE 



It was in the summer or early autumn of 1 841 that we left 

 Kington for the survey of a parish a few miles beyond the 

 town of Brecon. As there was no coach communication, 

 and the distance was only about thirty miles, we determined 

 to walk, and having sent our luggage by coach or waggon, 

 we started about sunrise, and after two hours' walking stopped 

 at a nice-looking roadside public-house for breakfast. Our 

 meal consisted of a large basin of bread-and-milk with half 

 a pint of good ale in it, and sugar to taste, which had been 

 recommended to my brother as the best thing to walk on. 

 I certainly enjoyed it very much. We then walked on 

 through the little town of Hay, and soon after midday had 

 dinner at a village inn and a good rest, as the day was very 

 hot and the roads hilly. In the afternoon I became very 

 tired, and while we were still some miles from Brecon, I felt 

 quite exhausted with the heat and fatigue. At length I 

 became so faint that I had to lie down in the road to prevent 

 myself from losing consciousness and falling down. How- 

 ever, with the aid of repeated rests I struggled on, and we 

 reached Brecon when it was nearly dark. 



The next morning I felt all right again, and as we started 

 for our destination I was delighted with the grand view of 

 the double-headed Beacons, the highest mountain in South 

 Wales, which, though five miles away, seem to rise up abruptly 

 into the clouds as viewed down the street by which we entered 

 the town. On leaving the town we crossed a bridge over the 

 little rocky stream, the Honddu, which here enters the Usk, 

 and gives the Welsh name to the town of Brecon — Aber- 

 honddu — aber meaning the confluence or meeting of waters. 



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