PONT-Y-CRYSSYLITE.

"To him who, in the love of Nature, holds
Communion with her visible forms, she speaks
A various language; for his gayer hours
She has a voice of gladness and a smile,
And eloquence of beauty, and she glides
Into his darker musings with a mild
And gentle sympathy, that steals away
Their sharpness, ere he is aware."

AMID the magnificent acclivities and luxuriant Lowlands of Wales, in her green valleys, on her grey mountains, on the margin of her rivers, or on the bosom of her lakes, the student of Nature, who in the language of the poet "holds communion with her visible forms," has an ample page spread out before him. But in travelling in Wales the visitor is not only charmed by the versatility of the scenery, but also impressed by the associations which give interest to every gorgy defile and every rugged crag. The singular triumphs of human ingenuity are again and again presented to his attention. The pendant bridges of Wales hanging between lofty and apparently inaccessible crags, stretching at a giddy height over a yawning chasm, are celebrated alike for their masonry and romance. One of these chef-d'œuvres of pontal architecture is seen in our Engraving, but it is not the only one by many in the Principality of Wales. Among them may be mentioned-separate notices of some of them being given in other parts of this work-"the Pont-y-Mynach, near Hafod in Cardiganshire, a double pendant bridge across an awful chasm above the river Rheidol. The Pont-aber Glaslyn, though not so high as the former, bestrides a narrow defile in the mountainous ridge on the mutual Alpine boundary of Carnarvon and Merioneth. The justly celebrated Pont-y-prydd which bestrides the tumultuous Taff in Glamorgnashire, is a specimen of numerous one-arched bridges formed of a small segment of a large circle, and hung so airily aloft between precipices as to astonish and overawe. The triangular-arched bridge across the Dee at Llangollen, is curious both for its antiquity and the style of its architecture. The bridge across the Conway, near Llanwrst, is an elegant specimen of the designing of Inigo Jones. The stupendous aqueduct which carried the Ellesmere Canal across the Dee is a masterpiece of its class of

architecture.

But the iron Suspension Bridge across the Menai Strait, on the line of road between Holyhead and Bangor, is, as regards the triumph of the Arts, one of the wonders of the world."

In travelling through Wales one cannot fail to be impressed with the singular contrasts which are offered by the old and the new, by some crumbling ruin and some recently completed work, by some specimen of the latest triumph of engineering skill and some ancient specimen of what has been accomplished centuries ago by the men of the mountains. In the wild mountainous districts, whose giddy heights look down upon tremendous chasms, a pendant bridge or an arch thrown across a ravine, is singularly striking. Many of these erections are traditionally ascribed to super-human agency, and the superstitions connected with them have not yet lost all their power over the imaginations of the Welsh peasantry.

The accompanying Illustration furnishes a very excellent example of the pontine architecture of Wales, and the scenery by which it is surrounded imparts additional interest to the lover of the picturesque. We are not aware that any remarkable events are associated with the bridge, but it has the claim. -which stands foremost with painter and poet-that of possessing a graceful form with scenery of more than ordinary beauty.

BERRIEW.

"The sunshine in its dreamy calm reposed

On tree and mountain; cot and castle gleamed,
And field and flower their bending graces showed;
But when the breeze with sudden life arose,

How richly all the stirring landscape shined!

Till the glad meads like emerald sunshine gleamed,
So lustrously the living verdure played."

BERRIEW, or Aber Rhew, is situated at the confluence of the Rhiew with the Severn. The surrounding scenery is picturesque, and the locality is deservedly a favourite with many tourists, who seek quiet and admire Nature. It is a parish and township in the Hundred of Newton, County of Montgomery. The parish possesses three or four day schools, one of them supported by an endowment for fifty-four boys. The Petty Sessions for the Hundred are held in the town.

But the beauty of the scenery and the peaceful retirement which the neighbourhood affords, impart the chief attraction to the place. Here, in one of its detached cottages, we might write as Dr. Johnson did elsewhere:

"Around this peaceful cot, this humble shed,

If health, if confidence, if virtue tread,

Though no proud column grace the gaudy door,
Where sculptured elegance pervades it o'er,

Nor pomp without, nor pageantry within,

Nor splendid shew nor ornament is seen,
The swain shall look with pity on the great,
Nor barter quiet for a king's estate."

The confluence of the rivers Rhew and Severn renders the scenery peculiarly beautiful, and the romantic associations and traditionary stories of the place contribute to interest the visitor. The county of which it forms a part is wholly inland, but its surface is richly diversified by hill and valley, having the Berwyn mountain range along its northern border, and Plinlimmon at its south-western extremity. It has the reputation of being the best wooded county in Wales, and has yielded many a goodly oak to build our "wooden walls." The mountainous character of the district made it in former days one of the strongest fortresses held by the Welsh, and the scene of many a severe conflict between these native Britons and the Saxons. Here, for many a