well content with the fresh, warm, red hue of the modern house, and the
unworn outline of its walls, and its cheerful, large windows; and was
willing that the old ivy-grown ruins should exist now only to contrast
with the modernisms. These ancient walls, by the by, are of immense
thickness. There is a passage through the interior of a portion of them,
the width from this interior passage to the outer one being fifteen feet
on one side, and I know not how much on the other.

It continued showery all day; and the omnibus was crowded. I had chosen
the outside from Rhyl to Denbigh, but, all the rest of the journey,
imprisoned myself within. On our way home, an old lady got into the
omnibus,--a lady of tremendous rotundity; and as she tumbled from the
door to the farthest part of the carriage, she kept advising all the rest
of the passengers to get out. "I don't think there will be much rain,
gentlemen," quoth she, "you'll be much more comfortable on the outside."
As none of us complied, she glanced along the seats. "What! are you all
Saas'uach?" she inquired. As we drove along, she talked Welsh with great
fluency to one of the passengers, a young woman with a baby, and to as
many others as could understand her. It has a strange, wild sound, like
a language half blown away by the wind. The lady's English was very
good; but she probably prided herself on her proficiency in Welsh. My
excursion to-day had been along the valley of the Clwyd, a very rich and
fertile tract of country.

The next day we all took a long walk on the beach, picking up shells.

On Monday we took an open carriage and drove to Rhyddlan; whence we sent
back the carriage, meaning to walk home along the embankment of the river
Clwyd, after inspecting the castle. The fortress is very ruinous, having
been dismantled by the Parliamentarians. There are great gaps,--two, at