118 Excursion through 
the world for the arduous but honour¬ 
able occupation which he has chosen: 
he speaks English very well; strongly 
tinctured, however, with.the somewhat 
musical brogue of the Cymry—is some¬ 
thing of a traditional antiquary, and 
thinks no country so good and beautiful 
as his own, and none of his countrymen 
so wise and worthy as himself. Thus 
much for Mister Richard Pugh, the 
Dolgelly t4 guide-general.” 
Our excursion to Cader was perform¬ 
ed on horseback, but such was the 
uncouth cut of our palfries, that our 
cavalcade made but a sorry figure. But 
short and shagged as our ponies were, 
their lack of symmetry was more than 
compensated by their strength, patience 
and sure-footedness—qualities exceed¬ 
ingly requisite for the rugged bye-paths 
of Merionethshire. We commenced our 
ride soou after eight o'clock, and follow¬ 
ing the course of a road which wound 
among the hills, extending in a southern 
direction from the town, proceeded 
leisurely on our way. It was a lovely 
morning—cool, calm, and inspiriting ; 
not a cloud was there to dim the bright 
blue of the heavens, or to prevent (lie 
early beams of the sun from tinging 
with their golden radiance the peaks of 
the hills we traversed. We were all 
in high spirits,! and rode on among the 
wild hills in glee and joyousness. 
We viewed the green earth with a loving 
look, 
Like 11 s rejoicing in the gracious sky - 7 
A voice came to us from the running brook 
That seemed to breathe a grateful me¬ 
lody. 
Then all things seem’d imbued with life 
and sense, 
And as from dreams with kindling smiles 
to wake, 
Happy in beauty and in innocence. 
Six miles from Dolgelley, we arrived 
at the base of Cader Idris, whose ma¬ 
jestic summit towered proud and loftily 
in the heaven before ns. Here at a 
small cottage we all left our horses, 
the ladies excepted, and prepared for 
our ascent; the guide, accompanied by 
one of the gentlemen, leading the two 
horses whicli bore the fairest portion of 
our party, and the rest of us following 
Mr. W. up the craggy sides of the 
mountain. The task of ascending Ca¬ 
der Idris is no trifling one, more espe¬ 
cially to those quiet personages who are 
not intimately versed in the art of 
scaling precipices, and wading more 
than knee-deep in the purple heather 
of the hills. However, not withstand ing 
North Wales. [Sept, i, 
various mishaps and impediments, we 
gained the summit of the Parnassus of 
Cambria, in something less than two 
hours after v T e quitted our horses ; and 
we had the pleasure, a short time after¬ 
wards, of receiving our fair companions, 
unhurt and scathless, and wondering 
greatly at the sublimity of the prospect 
around them. Sublime, indeed, is the 
scene from the summit of Cader Idris ; 
and it more than recompensed us for 
the toil we had experienced in onr pro¬ 
gress to it. 
Tremendous Cader 1 from thy towering 
brow 
His wildest views the mo’antaiu genius 
flings. 
-Here broken cliffs 
Caught at long intervals, anon a sea 
Of liquid light—dark woods, and cities gay 
With gleaming spires, brown moors, and 
verdant vales, 
In swift succession rush upon the sight. 
The day was beautifully clear, and 
although a few? fair and fieecv clouds 
<_• * 
were sailing slowly in the air above us, 
the pure transparency of the atmosphere 
below, enabled us to see to great advan¬ 
tage the noble prospect which our ele¬ 
vated situation commanded.* The 
scene was indeed grand, beautiful, and 
extensive. Mountain beyond moun¬ 
tain rose in the distance beneath us, 
and hounded the prospect in one di¬ 
rection, while it terminated in another 
in a broad expanse of ocean, which ap¬ 
peared like a sheet of brilliant light as 
it glistened in the sun-beam. Towns, 
villages, rivers, lakes, (of which we 
counted nearly twenty), and dark 
gloomy forests, were submitted unob¬ 
scured to our view, and the surface of 
the earth beneath us seemed like a 
large and beauteous and living picture. 
In restless gaze the eye of wonder darts 
O’er the expanse : mountains on mountains 
pil’d, 
And winding bogs, and promontories huge, 
Lakes and meand’rmg rivers, from their 
source 
Traced to the distant ocean : scatter’d isles 
Dark rising from the watery waste, and 
seas 
Dividing kingdoms. 
Long did we remain gazing on the 
beautiful scene before us; but there 
were other matters to be considered. 
We had breakfasted early, and mid-day 
had long since passed by. Besides, the 
* The altitude of the highest peak on 
Cader Idris is nearly 3000 feet above tha 
Green at Dolgelley. 
exertion 
