boundary within the parish, between the counties of Montgomery and Denbigh. The Iwrch, (Roebuck). "Child of the mountain glen, he comes Now sings aloud, now gently hums, This stream has its origin at the head of Cwm Maengwynedd, where, during the dry season of the year, it is only a very small streamlet. Near its source it is joined by a sister streamlet called the Ewig (Hind). This stream, at times of great rain, swells, and rushes in great volume and force. It has even swept away the bridges in its lower course. In its bed are found fragments of rocks and stones which, the softer portions being worn away by the process of disintegration, form rhomboidal, spheroidal, and rounded forms, sometimes making grotesque and fanciful figures and resemblances. They are much sought after for artificial rock-work, and other ornamental purposes in gardens. The Lleiriog. This stream, which has only a small part of its upper and lower courses in this parish, discharges itself into the Tanat at Pentrefelin. It forms a boundary, at Efelrhyd, between this parish and that of Llansilin. Ordinarily it has a good supply of water in its channel, and serves to turn several cornmills; but in times of drought its channel becomes wholly dry, much to the vexation and loss of the good millers. Scenery. With the exception of the vicinity of Pistyll Rhaiadr," and the pass into the vale of Maengwynedd, there is no part within the parish that can lay claim to the character of rugged or romantic: The mountains and hills rather decline by a series of gradual slopes into valleys and meadows. The parish as a whole, to its extreme boundaries, with one or two exceptions, can best be seen from the summit of Allttre-Ddoefon, which is conveniently accessible. But a commanding and pretty view is also obtained from the hill road of Rhosybrithdir leading from Llanfyllin. From the road side just opposite the Pentre farm on the Llangedwyn road, the rock above Tynygraig makes pleasing and fanciful well defined pictures of a dog's head, changing again into the profile of a human face, according to the position from which it is viewed, and with a bright morning sun, between the hours of eight and ten, the light and shade give the striking effect of an eye in position, caused by a projection and a hollow in the rock. These effects may be the better observed as proceeding from Llanrhaiadr to Llangedwyn. At Rhwng y creigiau, the entrance into the vale of Maengwynedd, the scenery is much admired for its picturesqueness, although on a small scale. The rocks are scattered in all the ruggedness of accidental variety. The fall of the channel of the stream here becomes suddenly changed, which causes a series of cascades and eddies. The glory of the neighbourhood is the great Waterfall, and the scenery in its vicinity is singularly impressive. A broad face of rock stretches across the head of the valley in the form of a segment of a circle, in the centre of which is the great cataract. The rocks on either side from the level of the vale to the summit are of the height of about 500 feet, rising in a series of slope and cliff, varied by shrub and verdure, and crowned on the sky-line with plantations of pine. The spectator's attention is mainly arrested by the sight of the rush of the vertical column of waters, of above one hundred feet fall, over the verge of the lofty precipice; yet the portion of the river, for about a hundred yards of its course before it reaches the grand descent, makes a succession of cascades and rapids, which it is well worth ascending the hill to see. But as the fall is nearer approached, its waters are observed to issue through a natural arch of rock worn by the 1 It is reckoned as one of the "seven wonders" of Wales. Total height of the falls is said to be about two hundred and ninety feet. The remaining six wonders are Snowdon, St. Winifred's well, Overton churchyard, Wrexham church tower, Gresford bells, and Llangollen bridge. erosive action of water, when again another series of beautiful falls and torrents are formed, "Falling fast from slope to slope With wild infracted course, and lessened roar; Along the mazes of the quiet vale." One of the first of Cambria's descriptive poets uttered the following stanza (englyn) in sight of the great cataract; which is often recited by the people at their literary gatherings as one of the best composed of this kind of curious stanzas in the language. "Uchel-gadr rhaiadr dwr ewyn,-hydrwyllt Crochwaedd y rhedlif crychwyn, Synu pensyfrdanu dyn."-Dewi Wyn. "The high-seated cascade of watery foam-boldly wild, Man is amazed and astounded; In gazing thereon as it descends, With its hoarse-roaring, white-seething torrent." Geology. The strata of these hills belong principally to the group of rocks known among geologists as Lower Silurian, and these are covered on the higher parts of the range by the strata of the Wenlock shale and Denbighshire grits; which form the lower part of the Upper Silurian series of rocks. If the reader will refer to any ordinary geological chart, or elementary book on geology, he will see that these rocks are very ancient, and lie very low down in the series of rocks that compose the earth's crust. The general structure of the hills in which the Tanat, and its tributaries near the source, take their rise, may be better understood by a reference to the accompanying Section, Fig. 1, which is reduced from one of the sections of the geological survey. These rocks, it will be seen, consist of greenstone, a true igneous rock, a series of ash beds, which seem to have been volcanic ashes and lavas deposited under water For this section I am indebted to Mr. D. C. Davies of Oswestry. a well known geologist. It of necessity extends a little out of the parish."-T. W. H. Section illustrative of the general structure of the Berwyn Mountains. 4. Black phosphatic limestone, Cwmgwynen A 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Section of strata at Cwmgwynen phosphate mine, west of Llanrhaiadr, Tanal Valley 5. BLACK PHOSPHATE BED, fifteen 6. Layer of Kaolin, passing into 7. Solid limestone, containing much phosphatic matter. 8. Sandy ash bed, with casts of 9. Compact calcareous ash. from submarine volcanoes, and are, consequently, stratified: one principal bed of limestone known as the Bala limestone, which, in other parts of North Wales, has also one below it, believed by some geologists to be the equivalent of the Llandeilo limestone of South Wales and one above it called the Hirnant limestone, from the valley of the Hirnant, near Bala, where it was first made out. These beds are interstratified with beds of shale, slaty rock, and mudstones. The whole of the basin of the Tanat is occupied exclusively by these rocks. The varied and beautiful scenery here, owes its origin to the numerous disturbances which at various times have taken place in the strata ; producing in it endless folds, dislocations and twists, These, in their turn, have prepared the way for extensive denuding processes, principally by the sea, aided, at prolonged intervals, by rivers, and by the atmosphere, by means of which agencies, many feet of strata have been removed, and many of the hills have lost their rugged outline. Deposits, too, of gravel, sand, and clay, have been formed in the hollows, and at the entrances of the tributary valleys, and thus the softer undulations of the landscape have been interposed amidst the massive grandeur of the mountains. Amongst the natural resources of the district may be mentioned first, the slate veins of Llangynog hill. The hill itself is composed of alternations of ash beds or porphyritic rocks, with beds of shale. The latter at some period of its history having in places been pressed between the harder rocks, has received a slaty cleavage. This interstratification, however, prevents the slate being worked in open quarries, and necessitates the working of it underground. The slates are very tough and durable, but rather rough in their appearance, from being crossed by bands of quartzose matter. Next in importance in times past have been the lead mines in the vicinity, and considerable quantities of ore have been raised. Mines in the same formation are being worked with varying degrees of success in Car |