BOOK CLIII. Monmouthshire. Mon mouth. third time by its bishop, on the model of the church of Aix la Chapelle. The town is well built and clean: it has some inconsiderable manufactures of gloves, hats, and flannels. Descending the Wye, we arrive in Monmouthshire, a territory where the people still speak the Welsh language, and which was not erected into a county till the reign of Charles II. Monmouth is the chief town, and has large manufactures of sheet iron and tin. Part of the inhabitants are employed in the preparation of tan which is extracted from the bark of oaks brought by the river and canals from the forests in the eastern part of the country. Near the Chepstow embouchure of the Wye, the little town of Chepstow is advantageously situated for commerce: its harbour is capable of receiving ships of 700 tons, but lies exposed to the incursions of the tides which rise often thirty and even sixty feet with such rapidity as to injure the cast iron bridge upon the river. Within the town is a well of fresh water which sinks at high and falls at low tide. Another curiosity shown to strangers who visit Chepstow, is at the castle where may be seen the tower of Harry Martin, one of the judges of Charles I, who died here in 1680 after an imprisonment by order of Charles II. The bridge of this town, the manufactures of the district, and a great number of foundries long established, prove that this county is well provided with mines and collieries: these in fact are the chief sources of its industry, although a few parishes have some manufactures of woollen. A number of canals skilfully directed serve to transport merchandize and extend commercial speculation. Principality of Wales. Hardly equal to the sixth part of England, the principality of Wales, is nevertheless divided into twelve counties. We shall avoid the monotony into which a description of each separate county would lead us, and shall proceed to adopt only the geographical division which portions this country into two regions, North and South Wales. The great number of mountains which diversify its surface have gained it the name of Little Switzerland. It will be readily understood that it is not in the loftiness of their summits this resemblance can be traced with the country of the Alps, but in their steep, rough, and perpendicular sides, the depth of their narrow valleys, the small but limpid lakes BOOK which occur at every step, the great number of rivers and streams which now are precipitated in cascades, and now roll their waters slowly through the meadows, the damp fogs which rise from the surface of these waters and often hang about the summits of the highest mountains, and the snow which frequently continues upon the heights till the end of spring: all which give to these mountains, notwithstanding their inconsiderable height, which does not rise above 3600 feet, an appearance resembling those lordly eminences mounting up to the clouds and bearing on their heads eternal snows. This country offers a continual succession of romantic landscapes and scenes of savage wildness. In the southern part Cader Idris, one of the highest mountains, offers to the research of the botanist a great variety of alpine plants. In the north the mountains gradually decline in height, but fine prospects are proportionally multiplied. The northern division is less fertile and populous than the southern. Here the productions of the soil are sufficient for the sober life of the inhabitants. In the centre, the atmosphere has all the sharpness of an elevated region; near the sea which washes this country on the north, west, and south, the climate is mild but damp. Nothing however exists to hinder us from regarding Wales as generally healthy. Manufacturing industry and commerce have within these twelve years made such advances in Wales, that in less than this space of time the population has increased above a sixth. In the southern division, the county of Glamorgan, South is so fertile as to be called the garden of Wales; it is rich Wales, in coal and metals, and is in fact the Hartz of the country. Here are annually produced 125,000 tons of cast and bar iron, and 7500 tons of copper. The county of Brecknock or Brecon is less rich in mines, but superior in grazing; great numbers of sheep are raised here, and the chief manufactures of the county are stockings and woollen cloths. In Carmarthen or Caermarthen, the soil is renowned for its bounteous crops of oats and barley, but wheat is not cultivated here with success. In the maritime county of Pembroke, cornfields, vast meadows and forests. BOOK North Administration of justice. in the interior, and productive fisheries on the coast oppose a hindrance to the development of manufacturing industry. To the profits of fisheries, the inhabitants of Cardiganshire add the trade in wool and cattle. The sea is often raised by storms on this coast and causes great damage. Finally the county of Radnor limited on the south by the meandering course of the Wye, is the most barren and least populous of all, but by dint of labour it has been made one of the best cultivated territories in the principality. In North Wales, the county of Montgomery, intersected by valleys, bills, meadows and cultivated fields, abounding in lead mines, but deficient in coal, is celebrated for the quantities of fish, particularly salmon, which the rivers afford. Merionethshire, beset with high mountains, is an agricultural and manufacturing district, and carries on a great trade in woollen cloth. Denbighshire produces grain in abundance, raises goats, sheep, and other animals, and furnishes cheese equal to that of Cheshire: it has also iron, lead and coal mines; the air is pure, and the inhabitants are long-lived the frost of age does not chill the industrious spirit with which they are gifted. Flintshire, less mountainous than the others, abounds in corn and pasturage, possesses mines of lead and coal, and maintains great numbers of bees, the honey of which, in many places, is made into a liquor highly esteemed, called metheglin. In the maritime county of Carnarvon, agriculture is in a backward state horses and horned cattle, and the products of mines. and fisheries are the chief resources of the people. The life of the peasants in this territory bears, in many points, a considerable resemblance to that of the Swiss mountaineers : from the end of May till September, they abandon their valleys, and go to tend their flocks among the mountains, where they subsist upon their milk and flesh in autumn they return to their habitations, and spend the winter in spinning wool and making coarse cloth for domestic use. In the island of Anglesey, which ranks as a county, cultivation has improved since contraband trade has ceased to be the sole occupation of the inhabitants. For the administration of justice, these 12 counties are divided into four circuits, each under the jurisdiction of a judge, who sits at the assizes every six months. That of Chester, comprises, in addition to Cheshire, which joins upon Wales, Flintshire, Denbighshire and Montgomeryshire. The northern circuit is composed of the county of Anglesey, Carnarvonshire and Merionethshire. The southwestern circuit is formed of Pembrokeshire, Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire. The southeastern circuit contains Glamorganshire, Brecknockshire and Radnorshire. In ecclesiastical government, this principality is under the archbishop of York, and contains the bishoprics of St Asaph, Llandaff, Bangor and St David's. BOOK CLIII. The abovementioned counties, whose principal towns only we shall pass in review, all bear the names of their capitals except Merionethshire and Glamorganshire. The latter has for its chief town Cardiff, on the left bank of the Taff: it Cardiff. dates from the year 1079. The canal of Glamorgan, which runs parallel with the river, facilitates the trade of this place with the interior, while its harbour, at the mouth of the same stream, is capable of receiving a large number of vessels. The village of Llandaff has the title of a city in consequence of its bishopric. The little town of Neath, to which we proceed from Cardiff by a road 13 leagues in length, bears the name of a river, which near the town falls into the bay of Swansea. In the vicinity are several manufactories, and at Mellincourt is a cascade 150 feet in height. Near the coast is Swansea, a town of 1000 souls, more Swansea. deserving than Cardiff, the rank of capital: its harbour, at the mouth of the Tawy is one of the most important in Wales: a number of canals bring to this place the products of the country, and the sea-bathing in the neighborhood, brings every year to this spot a great number of visiters. theu. On the right bank of the Tawy, which is a considerable stream, we come to Carmarthen or Caermarthen in crossing Carmaran elegant bridge of ten arches: this town is built in the form of an amphitheatre, upon the site of Maridunum, an ancient town of the Demateca. It is a large and busy place; and was formerly defended by walls, vestiges of which only remain the castle is now used as a jail. The environs of this town are covered with picturesque ruins, and the inhabitants pretend that Merlin, the enchanter, es BOOK CLIII. Pembroke. tablished his abode upon an eminence in the neighbourhood. Five leagues to the southeast is a rail road, extending from the bank of the river to Llanelly, which gives an activity to the manufactures of this small town. Keeping along the seacoast we pass the town of Pembroke, consisting of one long narrow street. This was the native place of Henry VIII. Under the chapel of the ancient castle built by Arnulph in the time of William Rufus, is the cave of Wogan, remarkable for an echo repeating several syllables. Milford Haven, a town of 3000 inhabitants, has St David's. a safe port capable of receiving above 1000 ships. St David's, upon the sea, near a cape of the same name, which the ancients called Promontorium Octapitarum, is nothing more, notwithstanding its capital, than a village of 2000 inhabitants: the name it bears is that of the patron saint of Wales, as St George is the patron of England, St Andrew of Scotland, and St Patrick of Ireland: but there is this peculiarity relating to St David, on the 1st of March, the day of this saint, the people wear leeks in commemoration of him, a symbol which learned theologians explain in a Cardigan. variety of ways. Cardigan has a harbour much frequented, Radnor, and gives its name to a large gulf which forms several bays. At the foot of one of the branches of the great chain of mountains traversing Wales through its whole extent, stands Brecknock or Brecon, a small town surrounded by old fortifications. Old and New Radnor, distant less than half a league from each other, are not worth visiting. The county assizes are held alternately at New Radnor and Presteigne: but this last town, called in Welsh Llan Andrew, has the advantage of the other in being well built. Montgom- Near the right bank of the Severn, stands Montgomery, seated upon a rock, and visible at a distance by means of the ruins of its ancient castle. If we turn to the left, and proceed eleven leagues to the banks of the Dyvy, we shall arrive at the handsome town of Machynleth, where Owen Glendower accepted the crown of Wales in 1402. ery. Denbigh. Nearly all the towns of this principality, have some ruinous old castle frowning over them. Denbigh, dismantled in 1646; and Flint at the mouth of the Dee, present in their edifices of the middle ages, some traits of resemblance |