look in vain for so dainty a paragraph in my homely composition, I cannot refuse them the advantage of perusing this choice specimen :-"Wales and its borders, both North and South, abound at intervals with fine things: Piercefield has grounds of great magnificence, and wonderfully picturesque beauty; Downton Castle has a delicious woody vale, most tastefully managed; Llangollen is brilliant; the banks of the Conway savagely grand; Barmouth romantically rural; the great Pistyll Rhayader horribly wild; Rhayader Wennol gay, and gloriously irregular; but at Hafod I find the effects of all in one circle," &c. &c. The grounds of Hafod are highly favoured by nature, in variety of form; and Art has lent her improving hand so gracefully and naturally, that we forget she has so much to claim in the beauty of the place: but its late proprietor, and we might almost say creator, well knew how to blend the wild and the cultivated in harmonious union. Colonel Johnes, the late lamented and excellent owner of this immense estate, planted nearly three millions of trees upon bare heathery hills, where now rich hanging woods form so striking a contrast to the adjacent scenery. Under his fostering and unwearied care, the spot he selected to work his wizardlike change upon, became such, as, in some measure, to warrant even the extravagant praise bestowed on it; but now, the beauty is fast waning in the neglect and general absence of its present proprietor; the pleasant and well-kept walks have become quagmires, and where a garden once shed its many perfumes on the air, inviting the approach of wandering guests, now a wilderness of tall grass and rank dandelions fills the STRATA FLORIDA ABBEY. 23 space. The stranger-loving bird, too, of which travellers have spoken, with its triple yellow crest, that used to delight in making the acquaintance of all pilgrims to Hafod, and to entertain them with its imitative notes, is dead. The beautiful cascades, the rocks, the woods, and the gentle wild-flowers, still wear their wonted looks of grandeur and loveliness; but where the hand of man should give its aid in maintaining the improvements of art, all is gone to decay. In Cwm Ystwith, a valley separated from Hafod by a mountain-ridge, are some valuable lead-mines, belonging to the earl of Lisburne; but the impracticable appearance of the entrance to their subterranean labyrinths, compelled me to disappoint the curiosity I generally gratify by a "voyage to the interior." The heaps of dark grey ore lying all around; the damp, dirty, attire of the miners; and the herbless desolation of the scene, may well be described as forming a startling contrast to the rich, verdant, and beautiful grounds so near. The inducements for inland excursions from Aberystwith are not very numerous; but among the places renowned in olden times, to which I had long resolved on bending my steps, while sojourning in the vicinity, was the Abbey of Strata Florida, little of which now remains. Passing out of Aberystwith to the south, I traversed a richly-wooded district, interspersed with smiling cornfields, and whitewashed cottages peeping contentedly from the bosky dells or broomy braes around. The hedges were decked with clusters of spring flowers, greeting me kindly with their sweet odour; and foxgloves, mallows, and the delicate dancing harebells, enamelling the banks beneath the canopy of green leaves, made the road seem a pleasant garden-walk. "All things rejoiced beneath the sun; the weeds, The meadows, and the cornfields, and the reeds, A few miles from Aberystwith, I gained a fine view of Nanteos Park, in a little valley inclosed by rising hills, with a seaward prospect of considerable extent. Continuing my way through woods, and pretty Englishlooking scenery for a while, I descended to the vale of the Ystwith, a scene of great beauty. The river winding in Wye-like curves and horseshoe bends, occupies the middle of the flat, and on either side, the banks, gradually rising, are embroidered, as it were, with fields, woods, gardens, and cottages with their light blue peat-smoke rising gracefully "above the green clms;" while mountains, piled one on another, complete the picture. Beyond, where the valley narrows, is Crosswood, the seat of the earl of Lisburne, surrounded with plantations, some of which skirt the Ystwith, and overhang its rocky and deep bed, which is here clasped by an elegant wooden bridge, rustic-looking, yet perfectly commodious,-qualities not often united. Wending still onwards, I crossed the Ystwith, at the bridge of Llanavan, a village (if such it can be called), consisting of a few wretched cabins; and then up a high hill I pursued my weary way. Soon after gaining comparatively level ground, in passing through a stream which traversed the road to a mill, I heard the sounds of falling water apparently at a short distance. Quitting the road, and descending a rugged pathway on the right of it, I soon came in view of a great slanting slate rock, down which the mill-stream falls in one grand unbroken cascade, into a dark deep pool, whence it gurgles quietly along, under a turfy bank, to a second mill at a short distance, built below the level of the water, which, after turning the wheel, is flung off in a beautiful cascade, and falling into a wooded ravine, goes plunging down the rocks to join the main stream in the glen; for this busy working streamlet is but a branch of the larger body of water, which is guiltless of application to useful purposes. From the turf-bank already mentioned, I could see indistinctly, that a vast glen lay far below, and could hear the sound of many waters, echoed by the precipitous rocks around. Having summoned one of the barefooted urchins from a neighbouring cabin to guide me, I accompanied him through the pathless underwood and tangled herbage which skirted the sides of the ravine, and at length found myself in the bed of the river, standing on slippery fragments of rock, round which the waters foamed and boiled in loud roaring rapids. Before, beside, all around me, as it scemed, mountain-torrents rushed. down the immense wall of rock, which here closes the glen in a kind of narrow amphitheatre, and is richly adorned, though not wholly clothed with wood. Five distinct streams were in view at once, all leaping from a dizzy height above me, and rolling down in infinite variety of forms; some falling by places over the bare shelves of rock, spread out in a broad clear sheet of water; others, half-hidden by the verdant dewy foliage of the trees, sprang but partially into sight, scattering afar their feathery foam, like streams of light amid the gloom of this darksome glen. The roar of the falling water, in its rocky and confined basin, reverberated by the high cliffs that wall it on three sides, is deafening; and after remaining in this damp and perilous position, until both eyes and ears besought a respite in quieter scenes, I climbed once more into upper air, and found a large assembly of "Natives" collected to see the strange being who had so unceremoniously introduced himself to a scene unsought, and nearly unknown, in the neighbourhood it adorns. The miller popped his white face out at his mill-door, with as suspicious a glance as if he feared my design was to elope with the objects of my admiration instanter, and even the auld wives suspended the swift evolutions of their knittingpins, in wonder at my invasion; so little sought is this beautiful spot, though only the same distance from Aberystwith as the Devil's Bridge, to which people flock by scores. Not that I mean to imply any comparison of the two scenes-they are essentially different in character; but surely, when one is so universally visited, some lovers of the grand and the beautiful in nature might add the other to their list of Cardiganshire pilgrimages. When at the place, I could not distinctly understand the name given it by the barelegged guide, but have since learned that the dell is called Pwll Caradoc, i. e. Caradoc's or Caractacus's Pool, a Welsh prince of that name having fallen over the precipice, and been killed. Tradition has two versions of the story; one says that the prince was hunting, and leaped into the terrific chasm accidentally, while in pursuit of the quarry; the other says that he "rushed over:" but, as I am unwilling to suspect the |