pleted, and which, by
connecting the two counties of Meirionnydd and Caernarvon, excludes
the sea from an extensive tract. The embankment, which was carried on
at the same time from both the opposite coasts, was then very nearly
meeting in the centre. They walked to the extremity of that part of it
which was thrown out from the Caernarvonshire shore. The tide was now
ebbing: it had filled the vast basin within, forming a lake about five
miles in length and more than one in breadth. As they looked upwards
with their backs to the open sea, they beheld a scene which no other
in this country can parallel, and which the admirers of the
magnificence of nature will ever remember with regret, whatever
consolation may be derived from the probable utility of the works
which have excluded the waters from their ancient receptacle. Vast
rocks and precipices, intersected with little torrents, formed the
barrier on the left: on the right, the triple summit of Moelwyn reared
its majestic boundary: in the depth was that sea of mountains, the
wild and stormy outline of the Snowdonian chain, with the giant Wyddfa
towering in the midst. The mountain-frame remains unchanged,
unchangeable: but the liquid mirror it enclosed is gone.

The tide ebbed with rapidity: the waters within, retained by the
embankment, poured through its two points an impetuous cataract,
curling and boiling in innumerable eddies, and making a tumultuous
melody admirably in unison with the surrounding scene. The three
philosophers looked on in silence; and at length unwillingly turned
away, and proceeded to the little town of Tremadoc, which is built on
land recovered in a similar manner from the sea. After inspecting the
manufactories, and refreshing themselves at the inn on a cold saddle
of mutton and a bottle of sherry, they retraced their steps towards
Headlong Hall, commenting as they went on the various objects they had
seen.

_Mr Escot._
I regret that time did not allow us to see the caves on the sea-shore.
There is one of which the depth is said to be unknown. There is a
tradition in the country, that an adventurous fiddler once resolved to
explore it; that he entered, and never returned; but that the
subterranean sound of a fiddle was heard at a farm-house seven miles
inland. It is, therefore, concluded that he lost his way in the
labyrinth of caverns, supposed to exist under the rocky soil of this
part of the country.

_Mr Jenkison._
A suppositio