A SHORT railroad trip takes us from Swansea to Mumbles. It is a small primitive town, scarcely deserving that name, and nestles below the cliffs of the wild sea coast. On a bold rocky projection which obtrudes sharply into the British Channel, and is known as the Mumbles, a noble Light-house has been erected, having a fixed brilliant white light, which is observable far out at sea. Perhaps there is no part of the Welsh coast where a light-house is more necesssary, and certainly there is no natural place of shelter on the shores of our island to surpass that of Mumbles bay. The scenery around is exceedingly romantic and beautiful, abounding with rocky promontories and natural caverns, and some curious old ruins of historic and traditionary interest.

Within the last thirty or forty years very important improvements have been introduced in the erection and management of light-houses on our coasts. Every precaution which science can suggest or humanity adopt is employed to render these structures adequate to the purpose for which they have been erected, and the building represented in our engraving is no exception to the rule.

The Mumbles Light-house is well constructed and managed, and is highly creditable to all who are associated with it. "When we consider the humane purposes which light-houses are intended to subserve; when we reflect that not for the seamen of one particular nation, but the benefit of all who travel the great deep, are these towers of refuge set up in the midst of the sea; when we remember that by these admirable contrivances the dangers of wild rocky coasts are pointed out to be avoided; when we think of the many sad passages in the lives of the old mariners which such buildings as these would have alleviated; when we reflect on lives saved, shipwrecks avoided, and wealth rescued from the deep by means of these lights shining out of darkness, then the light-house lantern becomes to our eyes no longer a mere lenticular arrangement of glasses, but a great holy good to serve and save humanity."

The neighbourhood of the Mumbles offers many objects of interest to the visitor. From the rock behind the village a panoramic view unequalled of its kind is commanded of the deeply indented coasts of the peninsula and the

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MUMBLES LIGHT-HOUSE.

expanse of ocean beyond. Langland bay, a short distance from the Mumbles, is exceedingly attractive to conchologists on account of the number and variety of shells found in its sands. On a rocky cliff in the same neighbourhood are the remains of a castellated mansion known as Penard Castle. Another interesting remain of the same description is found at Oxwich bay. Both of these structures are sure to be attractive to the antiquary, and the scenery by which they are surrounded is wild and romantic. Perhaps one of the most interesting objects in the whole circuit of the neighbourhood is the immense Cromlech, weighing more than twenty tons, and supported by a number of upright stones. This Cromlech-christened by the name of Arthur's Stone, is traditionally ascribed to that renowned warrior, about whom so much has been written and so little is known. Amongst other interesting objects and memorable places in the neighbourhood of Mumbles, we may notice Penrice Castle, both the modern mansion and the ancient ruin are the property of the Talbots. Webley Castle is also an attractive remain, and once upon a time was a place of considerable strength.