Cader Idris, and Plinlimmon, gives to wild Wales that romantic
beauty for which it is so justly celebrated. That mountain region, too,
guarded by the strong arms and undaunted hearts of its heroic sons,
formed an impassable bulwark against the advance of barbarian invaders,
and remained for many years, while Saxon England was yet pagan, the main
refuge of that Christian religion to which Britain owes its present
greatness. Yet subsequently, on account of the inaccessible nature of
the country, the inhabitants, separated from their more enlightened
fellow-subjects, remained for a long period almost as ignorant as their
ancestors in the dark ages; and, till of late years, retained many of
the grosser superstitions and customs of those times.

A young traveller was climbing the side of one of these mountain ranges
facing the ocean, the silvery waters of which could be discerned in the
distance, when he observed, far up, a hut. Solitary and cheerless it
looked, scarcely to be distinguished from the sombre colouring of the
surrounding ground and the rocks and bushes amid which it stood. It was
weather-worn and dilapidated, and appeared altogether unfit to be the
abode of a human being; indeed, a thin wreath of peat smoke ascending
from an aperture in the roof alone made it likely that it was inhabited.
Its appearance offered no temptation to the young stranger to turn
aside from the path he was pursuing, and he continued his ascent till he
gained a rocky pinnacle, from whence he could watch the sun dipping into
the ocean; and hence he could look down, on one side, over a confused
mass of barren hills and fertile valleys, rocks, and precipices, heights
crowned with trees, peaks bare and rugged, and glens with sparkling
torrents dashing and foaming amid them; while on the other side, towards
the ocean, he saw before him a wide and smiling valley, with a stream
meandering through it, and green meadows and groves of trees, from among
which a church spire reared its pointed summit; and near it a cheerful
village of white-washed cottages and other dwellings of more pretension;
and there were sheep feeding, and cattle wending their way slowly
homeward, all speaking of peace and security.

"I could not have selected a more lovely spot to spend an evening in,
had I been allowed a choice," said the young traveller to himself, as he
took his seat on the highest point he could find. "As I cannot find my
home, I could not be better