adventure, which this history has thus long poftponed. You fhall have it now.

In effect, it was a reflection on the grotesque fituation, to which both man and horfe were reduced, that brought upon you this curious. morfel of equestrian biography. I fet off from a lone house, on a fandy heath, very properly called the barren island, about a mile on the Abereftdwith fide of Aberavon, where I had paffed a ftormy night, rendered yet more troublous by there being every hour brought to the Ferry-Houfe, the dead bodies of fishermen, who had perished in a tempeft, which a few nights before had wrecked a number of veffels on the coaft of Wales. It was the feafon of the herring fifhery, in progrefs of which there are many misfortunes of this fort, and of other kinds; for a bad feafon, or which is tantamount, bad luck, will ruin a whole family, fometimes a whole village, the fole dependence of which are the herrings, the flaple commodity of the inhabitants. At the time of my quitting the barren island the clouds made the fairest promises, and a beautiful rainbow ftretched its arch across the heavens to confirm them, but I had not gone a league, before all these fair promifes were broken, and I was drenched to

VOL. I.

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the skin, notwithstanding my horfe did the beft in his power, for both our fakes, to prevent it.

We took fhelter at a moft miferable looking hut, at the fide of the heath, and accepted the protection it offered, with as entire good will, as if it had been an eaftern palace. My horse was obliged to crawl into a kind of outhouse, where a fwine driver and his pigs had the inftant before taken refuge, and, while I was reconciling my fteed to this fociety, a Jew pedlar and his pack, and another traveller with his dog, crouded in. Neceffity, as Shakspeare fays, brings one acquainted with ftrange company: not that thefe are the words of that immortal Bard, and of courfe my memory has injured even the fentiment: but you, who have literally his works by heart, can do him juftice.

A being, fcarcely human in appearance, invited me to enter the hut. I enter'd.Its inhabitants-How, fhall I defcribe them? Fancy fomething, which affembles the extremes of filth, penury, health and felicityperfonify thefe amongst men, women, and children-give to each of them forms and features, which confer a fort of grace and beauty,

beauty, on the household of the barber of Barmouth by comparison. Put all this filth, penury, health, and felicity into motion; and having formed your groupe, imagine that you fee it unfhod, unftockinged, uncapped, and nearly unpetticoated and unbreeched. Young and old were bufied in counting the finest and freshest herrings I ever faw, that inftant brought in from the fishing-boat. The father of the family, to whom the boat belonged, declared he had never had so prosperous a voyage; and, though he was almoft blown away, he would hazard twice as much danger for fuch another drag: look what a fize they are of, and how they fhine, my boys and girlsi'faith, they seem'd plaguily afraid of the hur ricane, and came in fhoals to the nets as if they took shelter in them-little thinking, poor fools, that this was a jump from the water to the fire; and now I talk of that, here put half a dozen of them into the pan, for I am deuced hungry, and mayhap this gentleman may be fo too; and if fo be that he is, he fhall be as welcome to a fresh herring and a brown biscuit as myself. What fay you, my heart of oak, continued he, clapping me as familiarly on the fhoulder as if I had been his meffmate, and indeed treating me as hofpitably as if I had been fo, and we had both escaped from a wreck

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wreck to his cabin. Perceiving my dripping fituation, he faid, "Come shipmate, doff your jacket, put on this rug, come to an anchor in that corner, warm your fhivering timbers with a drop of this dear creature, which will make a dead fish fpeak like an orator-there-another fwig-don't be afraid of it one more-and now you will do while your rigging and canvals are drying.

All this time, mine hoft of the hovel stood in his fea-drench'd apparel, on my reminding him of which, he cried out fmilingly, Ah! you are a fresh-water failor, I perceive, and would take a deal of feafoning, before you were good for any things but for me, all winds and weathers are alike to old Jack, while I can get good fish abroad, and good flesh at home; fo fry away Molly, for the wet has made me as hungry as a fhark, and though I have drank like a whale, I fhall now eat like a lion-and I hope, you will do the fame, meff-mate. By this time, mine hoftefs fet before us our difh of herrings, which, with oatmeal cakes, potatoes, and buttermilk, furnished one of the heartieft dinners I ever ate; after which, the failor made me partaker of a can of flip-fung a fong, about the dangers, and hardships of the fea-faring life; and made me take notice, that he was

the

the happy father of a cabin full of children, that I might fee another was upon the stocks; and that if it pleafed God, to fend him a dozen fuch pieces of good fortune every year, for a dozen seasons, he should be as able, as he was willing, to procure a fnug birth for every one; and meantime, mafter, we will have another fip of grog, to drink success to the herring fishery.

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Our regale was interrupted by the fudden exclamations from without doors, of "She's loft, fhe's loft-fhe can't weather it-fhe "must go to the bottom-there is not water "enough for her to come in, and the wind "blows like the devil in her teeth-fhe's "finking-the next fea will finish her." All the cottagers ran to the beach, which was within a few paces. I followed inftinctively. The hurricane was again renewed, the feas ran mountain high, and a small coasting vessel was ftruggling with them. In a few minutes the ftrand was covered with spectators, but not idle ones. The whole of the villagers hurried to give affistance. Amongst the croud, I difcovered both the pig driver, and the pedlar, whose fituation, I had begun to relate to my kind hearted hoft: but the most affiduous, of the whole multitude, was a young woman, who while