monarch had large quantities of it fent over to him, which was cut into various evnbe 
lifhments for the palace at Verjailles , and that of ‘ Trianon (particularly the fine rows 
columns at ’Trianon, and the architraves, chimney-pieces, &c. of the king’s apartments & 
Verjailles are finifhed with it). Near to Portfoy there are fome very beautiful veins o 1 ’ 
extremely rich in colour — a pure white fpread with variety of the brighteft tints, wit 
fiich infinite diverfity of configuration, refembling plants and molTes, and fuch mi nU 
elegance, as to become fiibjefls of microfcopic entertainment. 
Near the Caflle a vein of copper ore was followed and wrought with fome fuccefs^ 
but, either through want of (kill in the undertaker, or deficiency in the ore, the & 
pence exceeding the returns, the work has ceafed to be carried on, until moie intc 
gent or more fortunate adventurers fhall engage in it. 
The orchards on either hand, that ftill abound with various fruit, and rows of ag e 
trees, which fhade the avenues leading to the Caftle, and in decaying grandeur op* 
the profped of the falling towers, imprefs one with a fenfe of the early tafte and <>P 
lence engaged in adorning the environs of thefe deferted walls. Within they exh' ^ 
the mouldering memorials of many hiftorical paintings. In the largeft tower, wn ^ 
the apartments leem to have been affigned to devotion and philofophy, the painty 
have been preferved by a peculiar fortune. It appears from fome dates that about *> 
hundred years ago a new coat of plaifter had been laid over the whole, probably Wie- 
the zeal of reformation led them to obliterate every relic of the Catholic inftitution^ 
but now that coat of plaifter is dropping off, and difclofes faints and prelates p° ^ 
trayed on the walls, and in departments between them many parts of the HiftOp^ 
the New Teftament defigned. Figures alfo in devotional attitudes, with en ]P iia 
fcrolls, in Saxon characters, " furfum corda, fic itur ad aftra,” &c. But what is P ^ 
haps ftill more remarkable, the adjoining apartment is no lefs full of encomiums 
divine philofophy than that is of expreflions of evangelic piety. 
One female figure, in particular, appears intent on the coeleftial fphere, in deep n ^ op> 
tation; while an Apollo, pointing to the heavens, feems to teach its a PP llC * 
The one of thefe apartments had doubtlefs been the chapel of the Caftle, or 
tional retirement, the other perhaps the fchool of erudition, where the yout 
tutored in the paths of philofophy and knowledge. 
Behind the ruins, a grove of well-grown timber waves over the cliffs, and d e P 0 
the fhades which fall from the precipices of the glen, the windings of which 
many a fweet retirement. The variety of flowering flirubs and plants that 8 r ° W ^ jts 
along the banks of the rivulet, amid the piclurefque and rugged rocks that b°u ^ 
eourfe, add to the fflent amufements of the folitary hour, which occafional vi it° r ^ e , 
there enjoy, if pofieffed of tafte enough to take pleafure in admiring the cafual 
ments of uncultivated nature, which conftitute fo large a lhare of the inexp 
charm, which captivates the heart amid romantic fcenery. 
