moors, bore on its wing the distant cries of the black-cock, the sole tenant of the waste.

When we had sufficiently enjoyed the landscape, we descended a circuitous path, which brought us into a sort of circus belted by an amphitheatre of rocks. It was in the bosom of this hollow that the trout-pool was situated, which now showed gallantly in the summer sun-shine. Our tent was immediately erected on the bank, and great was the accommodation thereof. Our preparations too were in all respects desirable, inasmuch as we had mantles for the convenience of sleeping, materials for striking light (if necessary), gridirons for frying our fish (if caught), and cheerfulness to enjoy the excursion. But, alas! "all things," as the Psalmist says, "are vanity and vexation of spirit ;" and poor Morgan was compelled to acknowledge this humiliating aphorism, in the loss of his Welch wig. A zephyr, it seems, which in these elevated regions is not the accommodating gentleman that he appears in the lower world, was travelling by at the time, and being taken with a liking to the caxon, purloined it from the head of its owner. A hue and cry was instantly raised-emissaries were dispatched to the chase; but the thief was the swiftest of the party, and puffed his stolen goods like a balloon before us. The discomfited Cambrian entertained

us on our return with an account of the age and virtues of his wig, and informed us that he would not have lost it for a hundred pounds; for that it had been in the family for thousands of years; and belonged originally to Cadwallader, who bequeathed it on his death-bed to Llewllyn, who, in default of heirs, gave it to Shenkin-ap-Morgan-ap-Jenkin-apJones, through whom it had come into the family of the present owner. "Judge, oh ye Gods, how dearly Morgan loved it." With some difficulty we pacified him; and tied a handkerchief round his bald pericranium, which, thus picturesquely accoutred, resembled in no slight degree a turniptop enveloped in a dish-clout.

The sun had by this time attained his meridian; and we resolved, previously to angling, to commence a lusty assault on the provisions. The soldier led the way to the attack, and skirmished gallantly among the provender. The public will probably do us the justice to believe that we were not behindhand on this occasion; as also that Morgan sustained the digestive celebrity of an hungry Welchman. How long we continued at our repast it is impossible now to ascertain, but certain it is that the sun was on the wane when we took up of the fragments that remained. Our rods were accordingly prepared, and away we hurried to the pool.

it

A red-hackle and a stone-gnat, the most killing flies for mountain-fishing, were attached to each rod; but as the intensity of the heat weakened our natural alertness, we moved languidly along the banks, until roused by a shout from the Welchman, who had hooked a spanking trout. The fish struggled with the energy of despair, but the wary Cambrian refused to remit his advantage. He played him with infinite dexterity-gave him a full swing of line; and finished his triumph with the landing-net. A brave fellow he proved to bethree pounds good avoirdupoise weight; and here may be proper to observe that, if the lover of angling wishes to catch such another fish in the mountain-pools, he should attach to a tapering rod and light blue silk-line, one or more black or red hen-hackles. But of whatever nature the flies may be, they should be brilliant; for in pools among these elevated places, the water is much exposed to the winds that come roaring through the interstices; and in such cases none but a brilliant bait can possibly have a fair chance of being seen. The foot-link, or bottom part of the line should be composed of the finest gut, in length about two yards; that the heavier substance of the silk may not fall with too splashing a sound in the water. It was by adhering to these precautions that, after

a few hours, we found ourselves in possession of eight brace of trout; a prize, as Lord Duberley would say, "by no means to be sneezed at."

But while busily engaged in angling, the clouds thickened, and the lurid appearance of the atmosphere announced the approach of a storm. Once or twice we heard the thunder echoing from the distance, and reverberating in louder tones as it approached. At last it burst full upon our heads, while each roll pealed in ten thousand echoes among the mountains, and elicited feelings of unusual solemnity. Even the soldier was serious, and the Welchman forgot his wig. During the continuance of the storm we retired into our tent, and amused ourselves by trimming up a jolly fire for the trout. Morgan was dubbed cook-Drake his deputy-assistant, and we (I) were dispatched to gather fuel for the flames. In the course of our pursuit it came to pass that we popped upon a turf-cutter who was engaged in a similar undertaking. He was a timid superstitious sort of animal, and seemed completely frightened out of what few wits he had, with the thunder. To quiet his agitation we brought him to our tent; and having replenished his exhausted courage with a dram, listened attentively to his wild national legends, in which the lower orders of Welch abound. It is in

the season of horror that the feelings are most sus ceptible, the common-place man in the day may become romantic at night, and, in a situation to elicit sensibility, poetry may spring from the lips even of a merchant. The traditional stories of this simple herdsman were related with a dreadful earnestness. We say dreadful, for none but those who listened can have an idea of the energy of his detail, excited as his feelings had been by the tempest, which even now roared sullenly in distance. The following is a slight sketch of the popular legend of the White Lady of Llynn y-Van; which is but a various reading of another similar tradition.

Many centuries ago, a nobleman, of the family of Llewellyn, formed a clandestine attachment to a young peasant girl, who resided in the neighbourhood of Llynn-y-Van. He was returning one evening from the chase, when he suddenly encountered her by the pool-side, and as the hour was late the situation lonely-he took the opportunity of putting his nefarious designs into execution. The poor girl survived her disgrace but a short time, and drowned herself in the pool, by whose banks she was ruined. Years elapsed; the nobleman had forgotten the affair; and one day, on his return from the metropolis, proposed an excursion