gravity of a judge, and we continued looking at each
other with all the gravity of judges till we both simultaneously turned
away, he followed by his companions going his path, and I going mine.

I subsequently remembered that Arenig is mentioned in a Welsh poem,
though in anything but a flattering and advantageous manner. The writer
calls it Arenig ddiffaith or barren Arenig, and says that it intercepts
from him the view of his native land. Arenig is certainly barren enough,
for there is neither tree nor shrub upon it, but there is something
majestic in its huge bulk. Of all the hills which I saw in Wales none
made a greater impression upon me.

Towards evening I arrived at a very small and pretty village in the
middle of which was a tollgate. Seeing an old woman seated at the door
of the gate-house I asked her the name of the village. "I have no
Saesneg!" she screamed out.

"I have plenty of Cumraeg," said I, and repeated my question. Whereupon
she told me that it was called Tref y Talcot--the village of the
tollgate. That it was a very nice village, and that she was born there.
She then pointed to two young women who were walking towards the gate at
a very slow pace and told me they were English. "I do not know them,"
said I. The old lady, who was somewhat deaf, thinking that I said I did
not know English, leered at me complacently, and said that in that case,
I was like herself, for she did not speak a word of English, adding that
a body should not be considered a fool for not speaking English. She
then said that the young women had been taking a walk together, and that
they were much in each other's company for the sake of conversation, and
no wonder, as the poor simpletons could not speak a word of Welsh. I
thought of the beam and mote mentioned in Scripture, and then cast a
glance of compassion on the two poor young women. For a moment I fancied
myself in the times of Owen Glendower, and that I saw two females, whom
his marauders had carried off from Cheshire or Shropshire to toil and
slave in the Welshery, walking together after the labours of the day were
done, and bemoaning their misfortunes in their own homely English.

Shortly after leaving the village of the tollgate I came to a beautiful
valley. On my right hand was a river the farther bank of which was
fringed with trees; on my left was a gentle ascent, the lower part of
which was covered with rich grass, and the upper with yellow luxuriant