er wrote:--

"Twm or Nant mae cant a'm galw,
Tomas Edwards yw fy enw."

"Tom O Nant is a nickname I've got,
My name's Thomas Edwards, I wot."

CHAPTER LXXXIV

The Hospice--The Two Rivers--The Devil's Bridge--Pleasant Recollections.

I arrived at the Devil's Bridge at about eleven o'clock of a fine but
cold day, and took up my quarters at the inn, of which I was the sole
guest during the whole time that I continued there; for the inn, standing
in a lone, wild district, has very few guests except in summer, when it
is thronged with tourists, who avail themselves of that genial season to
view the wonders of Wales, of which the region close by is considered
amongst the principal.

The inn, or rather hospice--for the sounding name of hospice is more
applicable to it than the common one of inn--was built at a great expense
by the late Duke of Newcastle. It is an immense lofty cottage with
projecting eaves, and has a fine window to the east which enlightens a
stately staircase and a noble gallery. It fronts the north, and stands
in the midst of one of the most remarkable localities in the world, of
which it would require a far more vigorous pen than mine to convey an
adequate idea.

Far to the west is a tall, strange-looking hill, the top of which bears
no slight resemblance to that of a battlemented castle. This hill, which
is believed to have been in ancient times a stronghold of the Britons,
bears the name of Bryn y Castell, or the hill of the castle. To the
north-west are russet hills, to the east two brown paps, whilst to the
south is a high, swelling mountain. To the north, and just below the
hospice, is a profound hollow with all the appearance of the crater of an
extinct volcano; at the bottom of this hollow the waters of two rivers
unite; those of the Rheidol from the north, and those of the Afon y
Mynach, or the Monks' River, from the south-east. The Rheidol, falling
over a rocky precipice at the northern side of the hollow, forms a
cataract very pleasant to look upon from the middle upper window of the
inn. Those of the Mynach which pass under the celebrated Devil's Bridge
are not visible, though they generally make themselves heard. The waters
of both, after uniting, flow away through a romantic glen towards the
west. The sides of the hollow, and indeed of most of the ravines in the
neighbourhood, which are numerous, are beautifully clad with wood.

Penetrate now into the