their cafcades. Immediately above the union of the two torrents, rifes a perpendicular rock, on the crags of which we faw feveral kites perched; the fummit of the rock is crowned with wood, equal in luxuriance to that which clothes the lofty fides of the glen."

CHAP. VII.

MACHYNLLETH TO LLANYDLOES.

Account of the Mountain Flynlimmon. -The Source of the Severn.Catara&.-Llanydloes.

THE diftance from Machynlleth to Llanydloes is about twenty miles, and the road lies over a feries of dreary and barren moors, The mountains here have no one character of beauty, and during my whole walk I fcarcely faw a fingle tree, The only pleafing objects were a few patches of corn, fpa ringly scattered in different parts of the adjacent bottoms. I had proceeded about five miles, when I arrived at the foot of a lofty hill, along which the road continues on an afcent for near three miles. From the top I had an ample view of all the country around me; but its beauties were very few, it feemed little more than one difmal waste of hill and vale.

Proceeding on my journey, the Montgomeryshire mountain

PLYNLIMMON

Became vifible at the diftance of four or five miles. on the right. Its name appears to have been derived

from

from Pen Lummon, The Summit of the Beacon, from its being fo much higher than all the furrounding hills. This fuppofition is aided by the circumstance of its being of the utmost use to the peafantry of the adjacent country, even when the ground is covered with snow, as a known mark by which they are enabled to fteer their courfe *.-From the various accounts that had reached me respecting this mountain, there did not appear any probable compenfation for my trouble in going fo far out of my road to ascend its fummit, I therefore continued my route, and only paffed it at a diftance. The adjacent mountains being all low, render Plynlimmon much higher in appearance than it really is: from this, and its giving birth to three noted rivers, the Severn, the Wye, and the Rhydol, it seems not improbable that it originally obtained its celebrity. In perpendicular height it is far exceeded by Snowdon, Cader Idris, and many other mountains of the principality.

THE HEAD OF THE SEVERN.

The manufcript journal of a very intelligent friend has furnished me with the following short account of

* The following are conjectures by Mr. Lewis Morris refpecting the derivation of Plynlimmon.-From Plymnwydd a battle, and Lluman a ftandard or banner: thus making Plymnlluman. Or elfe from Blaen a corner, or the convexity of a hill, and Llymyften, or Llumanes, a kind of hawk: Blaen Llumanes, the point where thefe hawks refted. Letter of Lewis Morris to Dr. Phillips, depofited among the Plâs Gwynn MSS.

the fource of this celebrated river. The Severn rifes from a small spring on the fouth-east fide of Plynlimmon, and nearly at its fummit. The water iffues from a rock at the bottom of a kind of large hole, whofe fides are formed of peat. The ground around the edges is fomewhat elevated, A ftream fo fmall iffues from this place, that a child four years age might ftride acrofs it. The water, which is of a red colour, is very unpleasant to the tafte.Those persons who wish to trace the Severn to its fource, are directed to keep the right-hand stream all the way up the mountain,

of

In the flat country, betwixt Plynlimmon and the road, I observed a fmall unadorned pool called Glâs Llyn, The Blue Pool.

CATARACT.

Having proceeded about half-way to Llanydloes, I was directed to leave the road, and go a mile and a half fouth, to fee a cataract called Frwd y Pennant, The Torrent at the Head of the Vale. The rock was nearly perpendicular, and the water, then in plenty, from the late rains, roared down its lofty front with a deafening noise. The fhrubs hanging from the adjacent rocks added to its beauty. This waterfall is exceeded in height by few in North Wales.

About four miles from Llanydloes, the appearance of the country began to change, and the woody

vales

vales in front, with the little Llyn yr Avange, Beawer's Pool, at a distance among them, formed on the whole a pleasing scene.

LLANYDLOES.

The entrance into Llanydloes, The Church of St. Idlos, is over a long wooden bridge across the Severn, This was fuch as not to prepoffefs me in favour of the town, The streets are wide, but the houses are principally formed by means of timber frames, with their intermediate spaces closed with laths and mud. Thefe in general are very irregular, and I found a greater scarcity of good houfes in this place than in any of its fize and confequence that I had yet vifited. -The town-houfe is a wretched building, constructed much in the manner of the dwelling-houses.

The width of the streets of Llanydloes is (very fingularly) a great inconvenience, for the inhabitants throughout the town, taking advantage of it, accumulate all their afhes and filth in great heaps before their doors. These heaps are, indeed, fo large, that in a hot day the exhalation of noxious vapours from them, as I have experienced, muft be an abominable nuisance to every person accustomed to cleanliness.

The town is built in the form of a croís, having the market-house nearly in the centre.-The church is remarkable only for having fix arches, with columns furrounded by round pillars, ending in capi