ven, and jagged, lay crossing each other in different directions; while the huge, pointed Trifaen, with its sharp, angular projections, height above height, seemed like some huge monster with human aspect strangely distorted, scowling upon the Carnedd y Gwynt, the Shepherd's Hill of Storms. And well, at the moment, appeared this desert tract of Snowdon to have been thus designated, as I marked the traces of the tempest's far and fierce career around and on all sides, with the naked peaks that reared their grey crests to the clouds. I passed the pool called Llyn y Cwm,* and over the chilly mountain-tract of Waun Oer, through the steep, broken descent into Cwm Bochlwyd, and thence to the Ogwen lake, to mark the stern character of the scenery round Vale Frangon.

No where in the region of the higher hills had I observed deeper traces of the flood and the tempest than amidst these tremendous barriers of steep rock and precipice which bid defiance to the steps of the most adventurous traveller. I was particularly struck with the bleak and stormy character of the scenery around Lake Idwall, singularly situated in a hollow of the mountain summit. Restless as the sea, and fiercely swept by the autumnal blasts, as I passed the lone and savage spot, its aspect fell chill upon the spirits, and I felt how truly the popular feeling, which seldom errs, had given to this gloomy region the marked appellations of the 'Cold Mountain Waste,' and the 'Shepherd's Hill of Storms.'

Nor has popular tradition failed to throw round it the spell of superstitious terror, of heroic adventure, and romance. The mountain tenants in passing by the hollow of the lake, and beneath the beetling precipice of Castel y Geifr-the Fortress of the Goatscarefully shun the spot infamous for the murder of the young prince Idwall by the hands of his treacherous guardian; for it is believed, that his unappeased spirit is yet heard wailing in the

This small and singular lake is mentioned by Giraldus as being distinguished for its different kinds of fish,-trout, perch, &c. all of which,' adds the curious chronicler, ⚫have got no left eye.' It is rather unfortunate that this odd monocular tribe has left no living descendant to support the assertion.

storm, or throwing a darker shadow over the black precipice of Twll-du.*

Situated in the very gorge of the craggy and beetling heights, and now restlessly heaving under the autumnal gales, which came whistling through the mountain hollows, the aspect of the lake, with the sweeping falls of the Benglog, had a strangely wild and sombre appearance, and produced a corresponding feeling in the mind. It was a combination of the picturesque and terrible, not unsuited in its sternest mood to the genius of Salvator; and had the foot of Wilson penetrated these grander recesses of the Caernarvon hills, the noble taste of that enthusiast of nature must have seized some of its features for his scarcely less divine landscapes. Here darkly rushed the river of the lake; and there the antique bridge, the wooded abyss, the picturesque coloured rocks, and the Trifaen, with its giant-semblance of the human features; and through the terrific chasm below, the Ogwent pouring in three foaming cataracts down heights of above a hundred feet into the green spreading meadows below. No one can imagine all these wildly blending into one picture,—each calculated to rivet the eye of the true painter, clothed in the rich variegated hues I then beheld them.

While exploring the magnificent scenery about Vale Frangon, I did not forget to mark, with the reverence due to genius and patriotic worth, the retreat of the bard of Snowdon, Rhys the

In other words, the Devil's Kitchen,- —a horrid chasm in the centre of a tremendous precipice, extending in length about a hundred and fifty yards, nearly one hundred in depth, and only six wide. It is open in a perpendicular line to the surface of the mountain. Among the surrounding rocks may be found the following plants,—namely, Gallium boreale, Plantago maritima, Arenaria verna, Adoxa moschatellina, Thalictrum alpinum, Rhodiola rosea, Asplenium viride, Polypodium phegopteris, Rumex digynus, Gnaphalium dioicum, and in the upper part of the chasm, Saxifraga nivalis.

The river and the romantic falls of the Ogwen both spring from the same lake, which is wild and picturesque in the extreme. It abounds in a peculiar and excellent kind of trout, of a bright yellow while in the water, and a fine salmon colour when drest. No where, for a short period of the season, can the angler select better sport. The bolder botanist, too, may, with equal advantage and delight, explore the region of the Glyder hills. They abound in rare plants, heaths, and mosses, and among the latter is the Lichen Islandicus, found so useful in pulmonary and other complaints.