pleasingly rescued them from the gaze of prying curiosity; while the southern aspect presented to their view the extensive and blooming Vale of Aberdare, widening as it advanced, and exhibiting a succession of objects the most picturesque and engaging. The Cynon was seen as far as the eye could reach, sometimes contracted between a narrow defile, and sometimes enlarged in space, ranging along by the side of a path, here and there obstructed by craggy rocks, partially over-shadowed by the dark umbrage of majestic trees, from which, at no great distance, formed by the rude hand of nature, was a deep and hollow cave; its roof of massy rock was shaded by a clump of tall and stately elms.
A spot so wildly romantic it was impossible to contemplate, without realizing to the fancy those superstitious tales of elves and fairies which the peasantry of the neighbourhood usually related with such innocence and credulity. A few paces beyond the cave, the airy magic of an Alpine bridge, suspended over the Cynon, contributed strongly to impress the imagination with an idea of old provincial fictions; slight, narrow, and tremulous in appearance, it seemed indeed more adapted for the tread and haunt of fawn or fay than adequate to the support of human feet. Distant mountains
