one thinks of in an old ruin. I could not get into the inner space of
the castle without climbing over a fence, or clambering down into the
moat; so I contented myself with walking round it, and viewing it from
the outside. Through the gateway I saw a cow feeding on the green grass
in the inner court of the castle. In one of the walls there was a large
triangular gap, where perhaps the assailants had made a breach. Of
course there were weeds on the ruinous top of the towers, and along the
summit of the wall. This was the first castle built by Edward I. in
Wales, and he resided here during the erection of Conway Castle, and here
Queen Eleanor gave birth to a princess. Some few years since a meeting
of Welsh bards was held within it.

After viewing it awhile, and listening to the babble of some children who
lay on the grass near by, I resumed my walk, and, meeting a Welshman in
the village street, I asked him my nearest way back to Rhyl. "Dim
Sassenach," said he, after a pause. How odd that an hour or two on the
railway should have brought me amongst a people who speak no English!
Just below the castle, there is an arched stone bridge over the river
Clwyd, and the best view of the edifice is from hence. It stands on a
gentle eminence, commanding the passage of the river, and two twin round
towers rise close beside one another, whence, I suppose, archers have
often drawn their bows against the wild Welshmen, on the river-banks.
Behind was the line of mountains; and this was the point of defence
between the hill country and the lowlands. On the bridge stood a good
many idle Welshmen, leaning over the parapet, and looking at some small
vessels that had come up the river from the sea. There was the frame of
a new vessel on the stocks near by.

As I returned, on my way home, I again inquired my way of a man in
breeches, who, I found, could speak English very well. He was kind, and