xxxiiiA] EXCURSIONS AND EXAMINATIONS 403 



wild road, which led us back through the village of Llandrillo 

 to Corwen, a distance of about seventeen miles, forming 

 altogether one of the wildest mountain walks I have ever 

 taken in our own country. 



The waterfall we thus accidentally came upon is called 

 Pistill Rhaiadwr, and is little known to tourists, as it is a long 

 way from any beaten track, but it is undoubtedly the finest 

 in Wales, and has a peculiar feature which is, I think, unique 

 in the British Isles. Between the upper and the lower part 

 of the fall the water passes under a natural arch of rock, 

 along which it is possible to crawl, though when there is 

 much water the arch is drenched with spray. The photograph 

 here copied shows this remarkable feature, as well as the 

 double fall, the upper one being about 150 feet high, the 

 total height being 240 feet. George Borrow, in his "Wild 

 Wales," considers this curious bridge to be a blemish, and 

 remarks, "This unsightly object has stood where it now 

 stands since the day of creation, and will probably remain 

 there to the day of judgment. It would be a desecration of 

 nature to remove it by art, but no one could regret if Nature 

 herself, in one of her floods, were to sweep it away." The 

 ancient geology and theology of this passage are very 

 characteristic. 



Two years later we had another excursion together, 

 accompanied by my friend Geach, going first to Beddgelert, 

 and then on to Pen-y-gwryd, where we found the little inn 

 crowded, and had difficulty in finding the roughest accom- 

 modation. Next morning we started at five, and had a most 

 delightful walk up Snowdon by this very picturesque route. 

 Reaching the summit with excellent appetites, we enjoyed our 

 breakfast of coffee and bacon in the little hut on the top, and 

 then, as it was a glorious day with floating clouds whose 

 shadows below us were a delight, we spent an hour or more 

 in the enjoyment of the splendid views, with the numerous 

 lakes in almost all the surrounding czvms and valleys which 

 render this mountain especially interesting to the glacial 

 geologist. Numbers of swifts were flying about over and 

 around the peak, and when Mr. Mitten climbed out on some 



