144 



MY LIFE 



[Chap. 



regular surveying, but only the insertion of any new roads, 

 buildings, or divisions of fields, and taking out any that had 

 been cleared away. As these changes are not numerous and 

 the new fences were almost always straight lines, it was easy 

 to mark on the map the two ends of such fences by measur- 

 ing from the nearest fixed point with a ten or fifteen-link 

 measuring-rod, and then drawing them in upon the plan. 

 Sometimes the direction was checked by taking an angle 

 with the pocket sextant at one or both ends, where one of 

 these could not be seen from the other. As the whole plan 

 was far too large to be taken into the field, tracings were 

 made of portions about half a mile square, which were 

 mounted on stiff paper or linen, and folded up in a loose 

 cover for easy reference. In this way a whole parish of 

 several thousand acres could be examined and corrected in 

 a week or two, especially in a country like Wales, where, 

 from a few elevated points, large tracts could be distinctly 

 seen spread out below, and any difference from the old map 

 be easily detected. I liked this kind of work very much, 

 as I have always been partial to a certain amount of solitude, 

 and am especially fond of rambling over a country new 

 to me. 



New Radnor, though formerly a town of some importance, 

 was then, and I believe is still, a mere village, and a poor one, 

 Presteign being the county town. It is situated on the 

 southern border of Radnor Forest, a tract of bare mountains 

 about twenty square miles in extent, the highest point being 

 a little over two thousand feet above the sea. Over a good 

 deal of this country I wandered for about a week, and enjoyed 

 my work very much. One day, when I had a little time to 

 spare, I went a mile or two out of my way to see a rather 

 celebrated waterfall, called Water-break-its-neck. I de- 

 scended into the valley and walked down it, as I knew the fall 

 was on one side of it in a small lateral valley, but owing to 

 the glare of the afternoon sun, I did not see the opening 

 in the shadow, and came down to the end of the valley. 

 But I determined to see it, so turned back as fast as I 

 could, and soon found it just out of sight, owing to a curve 



