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Article REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. ← Page 5 of 8 →
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Review Of New Publications.
Journal of a Tour through North Wales and Part of Shropshire ; ivith Observations on Mineralogy , mid other Branches of Natural History . By Arthur Aikin . % vo . 4 s . Boards . Johnsin . THE necessity of a knowledge of their own country should Very strongly be impressed upon all young minds . We generally see persons full of desire to acquaint themselves with foreign nations , while they are ignorant of their own . And we may meet with manyfrom whom better things mightbe expected , who
, can g ive tolerablegood accounts of countries with which they neither have , nor probably ever will have , any connexion ; while , at the same time , they cannot give the sli g htest information of any part of Great Britain except the particular spot where they first drew the vital air , or where they have been bred . The author of the little volume before us has set a commendable example to young men of enquiring minds , by exploring part of his native isle , rather than going in quest of knowledge first into distant climes .
Mr . Aikiu made this tour with two companions , to whom the work is inscribed , on foot , and the journey takes date from Shrewsbury , the 25 th July , 179 6 . Though the author appears to have paid particular attention to every thing deserving the observation of a traveller , he is yet evidently partial to mineralogy . _ . " . . Yet even in the descriptivewhich numbers will pronounce' to be the best
, part of a traveller ' s journal , our Tourist is far from being defective . Asa proof we shall extract his account of Cader Idris , which will also furnish a specimen of his style . c The day being promising , we set off after breakfast to examine Cader Idris . A small lake , called Llyn-y-gader , lies about a mile and a half on the high road to Towyn , which having arrived at , we quitted the road and began
our ascent up the first step of this lofty mountain . When we had surmounted the exterior ridge , we descended a little to a deep clear lake , which is kept constantly full by the numerous tributary torrents that fall down the surrounding rocks . Hence we climbed a second and still higher chain up a steep but not difficult tract , over numerous fragments of rock detached from the hi gher parts : we now came to a second and more elevated lake , clear as glass , and overlooked by steep cliffs in such a manner as to resemble the crater of a
volcano , of which a most accurate representation is to be seen in Wilson ' s excellent view of Cader Idris . Some travellers have mentioned the finding lava and other volcanic productions here ; upon a strict examination , however , we were unable to discover any thing of the kind , nor did the water of the lake appear to differ in any respe 6 l from the purest rock water , though it was tried j-epeatedly with the most delicate chemical tests . A clear , loud , and distinct echo repeats every shout that is made near the lake . We now began our
last and most difficult ascent up the summit of Cader Idris itself , which when we had surmounted , we came to a small plain with two rocky heads of nearl y equal height , one . looking to the north the other to the south : we ' made choice of that which appeared to us the most elevated , and stated ourstlves pn its highest pinnacle , to rest after a laborious ascent of " three hours . We were now high above all the eminences within this vast expanse , and as the clouds gradually cleared away , caught some grand views of the surrounding
country . The huge rocks , which we before looked up to with astonishment , were now far below at our feet , and many a small lake appeared in the vallies between them . To the north , Snowdon with its dependencies shut up the $ cene ; on the west we saw the whole curve of the bay of Cardigan , bounded at 3 vast distance by the Caernarvon mountains , and nearer , dashing its white breakers againit the rocky coast of Merioneth , The southern horizon was
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Review Of New Publications.
Journal of a Tour through North Wales and Part of Shropshire ; ivith Observations on Mineralogy , mid other Branches of Natural History . By Arthur Aikin . % vo . 4 s . Boards . Johnsin . THE necessity of a knowledge of their own country should Very strongly be impressed upon all young minds . We generally see persons full of desire to acquaint themselves with foreign nations , while they are ignorant of their own . And we may meet with manyfrom whom better things mightbe expected , who
, can g ive tolerablegood accounts of countries with which they neither have , nor probably ever will have , any connexion ; while , at the same time , they cannot give the sli g htest information of any part of Great Britain except the particular spot where they first drew the vital air , or where they have been bred . The author of the little volume before us has set a commendable example to young men of enquiring minds , by exploring part of his native isle , rather than going in quest of knowledge first into distant climes .
Mr . Aikiu made this tour with two companions , to whom the work is inscribed , on foot , and the journey takes date from Shrewsbury , the 25 th July , 179 6 . Though the author appears to have paid particular attention to every thing deserving the observation of a traveller , he is yet evidently partial to mineralogy . _ . " . . Yet even in the descriptivewhich numbers will pronounce' to be the best
, part of a traveller ' s journal , our Tourist is far from being defective . Asa proof we shall extract his account of Cader Idris , which will also furnish a specimen of his style . c The day being promising , we set off after breakfast to examine Cader Idris . A small lake , called Llyn-y-gader , lies about a mile and a half on the high road to Towyn , which having arrived at , we quitted the road and began
our ascent up the first step of this lofty mountain . When we had surmounted the exterior ridge , we descended a little to a deep clear lake , which is kept constantly full by the numerous tributary torrents that fall down the surrounding rocks . Hence we climbed a second and still higher chain up a steep but not difficult tract , over numerous fragments of rock detached from the hi gher parts : we now came to a second and more elevated lake , clear as glass , and overlooked by steep cliffs in such a manner as to resemble the crater of a
volcano , of which a most accurate representation is to be seen in Wilson ' s excellent view of Cader Idris . Some travellers have mentioned the finding lava and other volcanic productions here ; upon a strict examination , however , we were unable to discover any thing of the kind , nor did the water of the lake appear to differ in any respe 6 l from the purest rock water , though it was tried j-epeatedly with the most delicate chemical tests . A clear , loud , and distinct echo repeats every shout that is made near the lake . We now began our
last and most difficult ascent up the summit of Cader Idris itself , which when we had surmounted , we came to a small plain with two rocky heads of nearl y equal height , one . looking to the north the other to the south : we ' made choice of that which appeared to us the most elevated , and stated ourstlves pn its highest pinnacle , to rest after a laborious ascent of " three hours . We were now high above all the eminences within this vast expanse , and as the clouds gradually cleared away , caught some grand views of the surrounding
country . The huge rocks , which we before looked up to with astonishment , were now far below at our feet , and many a small lake appeared in the vallies between them . To the north , Snowdon with its dependencies shut up the $ cene ; on the west we saw the whole curve of the bay of Cardigan , bounded at 3 vast distance by the Caernarvon mountains , and nearer , dashing its white breakers againit the rocky coast of Merioneth , The southern horizon was