CHAPTER XLIII.

But who the melodies of morn can tell?

The wild brook babbling down the mountain side,
The lowing herd, the sheepfold's simple bell;
The pipe of early shepherd, dim descried
In the low valley; echoing far and wide.
The clamorous horn along the clifts above;
The hollow murmur of the ocean tide;

The hum of bees, and linnet's lay of love,
And the full choir that wakes the universal grove.

BEATTIE.

Ir was at an early hour of the morning, that the two lieutenants and their lovely spouses bade adieu to admiral Roughknot and their shipmates captain Brilliant and his lady, and began their journey to Swansea.

It was in the fulness of life and self-enjoyment that our party set out. Their spirits predisposed to cheerfulness, and susceptible of agreeable emotions, shed a brightness on every surrounding object, on hill and dale, forest and plain. Their feelings rendered the murmurings of the rivulet, the rushing of the distant torrent, and the wild music of

the woods, a feast of pure, rational, and exquisite delight.

The heart of Sophonisba danced with secret gladness. She loved retirement, but she loved to have an ardent lover in whose ear she could tell the pleasures of retirement, either in she morning, on the mountain-top, at noon, in the shade, or at evening, before the door of her modest villa. Such a lover she had now found under the endearing name of husband, a husband wholly devoted to her, as the fairest being in creation.

Not being restricted with regard to time, but free as the air of heaven, the party took a circuitous route to Swansea, desirous to visit in their journey whatever was remarkable in nature or art.

A few hours travelling brought them to Pont y Prid, that is, New Bridge. This bridge is composed of a single arch, whose span is considered the greatest in the world. It exceeds that of the Rialto in Italy.

This bridge crosses the river Taafe. A little higher up is a famous salmon-leap, but the party, in visiting it, could discover no fish.

Having dined at the Bridgewater-arms, an inn delightfully situated on the road, the party, in charming spirits, prosecuted their journey, and reached Merthyr late in the evening.

To behold the town of Merthyr to advantage, it should be entered at night. For what can be conceived more awfully grand than numberless volcanoes vomiting smoke, and furnaces emitting their vivid lights, till the whole country appeared in flames.

The next morning the gentlemen went to inspect an enormous overshot wheel, composed entirely of cast iron. It is fifty feet in diameter, and seven feet broad.

This wheel, in an obscure country, deservedly excites attention. It works many inferior wheels, distributing the air with incredible force through different tubes to the furnaces.

From Merthyr the party pursued the road to Cardiff, a very neat town, affording good accommodations.

At Cardiff they stopped to dine, and proceeded to Cowbridge, a town composed of

Z

a single street; and where, there being little or no trade, the shopkeepers are continually standing before their doors.

Sophonisba feeling a slight indisposition, her gallant husband ran for the physician, and doctor Bates had the honour of feeling her pulse, and prescribing her regimen.

Doctor Bates is the most intelligent and the best humoured man at Cowbridge. But he is troubled with a gouty affection in his legs, which causes him to walk like a person in fetters.

From Cowbridge the party journeyed forward to Pyle House, a solitary but commodious inn on the road. In their way to it, they passed through Neath, a suffocating place, tolerable only to the Cyclopes. Its venerable abbey is inhabited by the ragged and dirty families of the workmen employed at the copper smelting-houses.

Our party were much pleased with Pyle House, and Mr. Marment's family. Hi two eldest daughters are comely, well-bred, and amiable girls.

The next day, proceeding on their tour,

they reached Swansea, from whence it was only three miles to their mansion.

Servants had been already hired to prepare the rooms for the reception of our gallant tars. And it was with no small pleasure that they took possession of their castle.

No house could be more happily situated. It was built on an eminence, and commanded the prospect of mountains, on whose grassy sides the goats were browsing in peace; while through their openings was to be seen the blue expanse of the sea, on whose surface the tall bark was urging her course. Sometimes the water was smooth as a mirror; when it reflected the colour of the heavens above. Upon the springing up of a breeze it changed to a light blue, which deepened to a fine sky colour as the wind increased-saddened to a deep green in a brisk gale-and in a storm, to a sullen blackness, save where the waves, interspersed with the white heads of foam, added magnificence to the scene.