RESIDENCE AT NEATH 251 



Latin inscription, as seen in the photograph, and in a copy of 

 the letters given opposite. It reads as follows: — 



DERVACI FILIUS JUSTI IC IACIT 



meaning [The body] of Dervacus the son of Justus lies here. 

 It will be seen that the letters D, A, and I in Dervaci, and the 

 T and I in Justi are inverted or reversed, probably indicating 

 that the cutting was done by an illiterate workman, who 

 placed them as most convenient when working on an erect 

 stone. The stone itself is probably British, and was util- 

 ized as a memorial of a Roman soldier who died near the 

 place. 



One of our most memorable excursions was in June, 1846, 

 when I and my brother spent the night in this water-cave. 

 I wanted to go again to the top of the Beacons to see if I 

 could find any rare beetles there, and also to show my brother 

 the waterfalls and other beauties of the upper valley. Start- 

 ing after an early breakfast we walked to Pont-nedd-fychan, 

 and then turned up the western branch to the Rocking Stone, 

 a large boulder of millstone-grit resting on a nearly level sur- 

 face, but which by succession of pushes with one hand can 

 be made to rock considerably. It was here that I obtained 

 one of the most beautiful British beetles, Trichius fasciatus, 

 the only time I ever captured it. We then went on to the 

 Gladys and Einon Gam falls; then, turning back, followed up 

 the river Nedd for some miles, crossed over to the cavern 

 and then on to Ystrad-fellte, where we had supper and spent 

 the night, having walked leisurely about eighteen or twenty 

 miles. 



The next morning early we proceeded up the valley to the 

 highest farm on the Dringarth, then struck across the moun- 

 tain to the road from Hirwain to Brecon, which we followed 

 to the bridge over the Taff, and then turned off towards the 

 Beacons, the weather being perfect. It was a delightful walk, 

 on a gradual slope of fifteen hundred feet in a mile and a half, 

 with a little steeper bit at the end, and the small overhanging 

 cap of peat at the summit, as already described in chapter xi. 

 I searched over it for beetles, which were, however, very 



