4865. ] 
and Llianftfred, with its round tower, 
above the Uik, and the mournful family 
of yews, which flourifh in Welth church- 
yards. Wedined at the faid. Longfel- 
/ovs’s, and had a fpecimen of the prevari- 
cation which a Welfh landlord can prac- 
tife. Fhe room wedined in had a hole in 
one corner, broken through the floor to 
the paflage below, to which I attribute 
many twitches of arheumatifm. This is 
foo natural a communication to have been 
made to the public by the profeffed writers 
from nature, who run about the woild 
“* cleaning’? what has been wifely thrown 
away, and whofe ftupendous deta'ls deal 
only in. the “ horrid agreeable.”? In the 
evening we reached Bualt, overa dreary 
mountain road, and were fhown into a 
large and dirty room, in which were fe- 
veral companies. The Welth, I prefume, 
are partial to mifcellaneous fociety, and 
very gregarious. Bualt coriffts of a low 
and naity ftreet; the bridge is large, the 
river almoft dry, and the wood former: 
ly on its banks entirely cut down.— 
Where are the fcenes which emulate the 
pencil of Salvator? An execrable road, 
paid for as a turnpike, brought us to 
Rhaider Gwy, at the rate of three miles an 
hour; but the frequent and fine pitures 
formed by the mountains and the torrent 
river Wye, as certain tourifts would quote 
from Shakefpeare, ; , 
*¢ Made the hard way fweet and dele&able.” 
Having confulted our valuable guides, 
in octavo, which promifed ‘ a comfort- 
able inn, we little expected to be fet down 
at the only alehoufe, fuch a one as the 
mott defolate village in England would not 
be proud of. Such was the exterior; but 
as truth and candour fhall dictate every 
fyllable of this itinerary, I mu own that 
the fare was not bad. Upon inquiring af- 
ter a chaife, the reply precluded us trom. 
all hopes, at leat for feveral days. A. 
bargain was to be made with the peftboy. - 
He only demanded, that all his expeces 
fould be paid, both going «nd returning, 
nineteen miles, to the Devil’s Bridge. 
The landlord coafirmed the deuceur, at one 
guinea, This extortion is to be expected 
- at every ftage, anda flight {pecimen. of 
the rapacity praétifed upon the Englith 
traveller, mifled (poor unfortunate!) by 
what/he nas read of the cheapnefs of ac- 
commodations, and the native fimplicity 
of the Welth charaéter. 
Our unanimous exclamation was, ‘* let 
us goand fee the wonderful waterfall of the 
Wye!” Inftead of the deafening cata- 
raét, we heard only the tinkling (or, with 
your leave, Meffis. Tourifts, piddling) rill. 
Obfervaitons on modern Toursin Wales, Ge: 
135 
From the bridge of one arch we faw an 
expanfe of rugged ftones, and a few large 
mafles of grey granite, over which, ina 
narrow channel, a little water dribbled in 
a parfimonious fream. So much for the 
Wye and its Alpine appendages. The 
veracious Mr. W——r talks o: “* cheerful 
white cottages at Rhaider.”” A fuccefl 
ful attorney, no unufual coaradier in 
Wales, has whitewafhed his houfe, the 
cnly one we could defcry ; the other huts 
were conftruced with mud walls, grey 
dlate, or painted boards. Nothing habit- 
able or inhabited can prefent a more finith- 
ed piéture of detfolation, The accommo- 
dations above ftairs were very moderate, 
but itis too foon to complain—** O / pafi 
gravioral” 
From Rhaider we reached the Devil’s 
Bridge in five hours, with tour hoites to 
the chaife for the greater part of nineteen 
miles, having afcended a mountain of fix 
miles, from which the profpséts were fo 
grand, as to be loft in an endlefs variety 
of mafles. A fog then came on, and, in 
plain truth, we could have formed juft as 
accurate a notion of the fummit of a moun- 
tain from a garret window in London, be- 
tween two finoky chimnies, 
At Cwm Iftwith, near Mr. Johnes’s, 
at Hafod, the road began to improve, and 
fhewed fome fymptoms of the influence of 
an opulent and {pirited man, We dil- 
mounted ata vile hovel, enfigned wiih 
the * Three Crows,”. of high heraldic 
dignity among the, ancient Britains. A 
party of cits trom Cateaton fircet, having 
jut Jaunched a chariot, were taking the 
fathicnable tour throuph North Wales, 
and had pre-occupicd the beit room and all 
the beds, fave and except a truckle, and 
we were five perfons. he holt, an exact 
counterpart of a German boor, promifed 
to procure us accommodations at a farm- 
houfe, and-we were fain ¢) tru ourfeives 
under his comfortlefs roof.. 
At this Bridge of the Devil, who withes to 
ftay , ; 
| Will find cheating and filth, and the Devil to 
Bey: 
Another'party were on the point of de- 
parture, who were travelling on a roman- 
tic, but not irrational, plan. It confifted 
of a gentleman, his wife, and fifter, on foot, 
with a poney and panniers, and a lervant 
to lead it. They told us, that their pur- 
fuit was betany and taking views, and 
were preparing to afcend the heights of 
Plimlimmon, The contraft between thefe 
was very ftriking. } 
The cataract of the river Mynach, un- 
der the bridge, is truly a tremendous ob- 
S 2 ject, 
. 
Se 
w= woe nn 
SSS 
Sa 
— 
== 
~ OEE 
a 
= a = : = 
a ee a ae ane aa 
a 
—— 
