The Mountain Homes Of North Wales.

in delicate health ; one woman has a chronic affection of the chest , and her daughter is in a decline . There is only one closet for all the people in the village ! Surely there cannot be any necessity in the country to pack human beings and pigs together . The small farmers and poor people

seem to have adopted the pig as a neighbour and friend—its habitation usually forms a wing to the cottage throughout Wales . The cottages have about tAvo rooms in each , the rent being £ 2 10 s . per annum ; no taxes . Formerly the rent was £ 1 10 s . The land varies in value , the rent being 5 s . to £ 1 per acre per annum .

It would be unfair to pass any opinion upon the general health of the farmers and labouringclasses in Wales , Avithout a visit to all the villages ; nevertheless , I heard of four children dying at one time from diphtheria ( buried in tAvo coffins ) , a poor woman losing her husband by typhus fever , and other cases .

In the different churches I visited , it surprised me to find hoAV many persons died at an early age . The farms are small , and scattered over the country ; the churches and villages are placed mostly in tlie valleys . The cottages are clean ,

and the people poor and very industrious . The rafters and joists are not lathed and plastered , but whiteAvashed . The walls of small cottages are 2 ft . thick , formed of irregular masses of stone , and wedged together but with little mortar . The doors are sometimes 5 ft . Gin . hih ; there are feAV

g windows , and those are about 2 ft . square , in tAvo divisions , in lead-lights . The roofs are covered with coarse slate , sometimes with thatch ; tho floors are paved with blue stone .

There are neither sewers nor drains , and many old cottages have no " closets . " The occupiers go into the fields , and the soil , with that of the cattle and pigs , flushed by the rain , descends the hill and passes into some ofthe Avells and springs . At many of the inns are open closets and no

cesspools or water . There can be no excuse for these offensive proceedings , as enough rain falls on the mountains and hills ( if properly collected ) , to flush all the closets in Wales .

The lanes or passes to the hills and mountains are rugged and rough , their base being principally the natural rock , forming a good foothold . The small farmers and labouring population are as uncultivated as the hills— " as the homes , so the people . " Some farms continue to have the

black bread , made with pure barley ; it is preferred by the labourers , being more " satisfying . " Milk is given to the labouring classes during the year , and in return the wives give one or two days' work in the time of harvest . In the cottages they have but little fresh meat—only once a week , and that on Sunday . They put their forks into the potatoes , and their knives into

the salt . The prints on the walls are of a good religious cast , very primitive , and many years behind those to be seen in the rural districts in England . - "The men work from six o ' clock a . m . to eight- ' o ' clock p . m ., and have lOd . per day ( meals included ); in harvest time , Is . to Is . 3 c ? .

per day—to keep a Avife and often six children . Female servants have often from £ 4 to £ 5 per annum . ' With all these disadvantages they are more clean and respectable than many of the working classes in large cities who receive wages of treble the amount .

Intemperance injures many a farmer ' s home ; a visit to Wales of a few of Father Mathews ' s disciples would undoubtedly benefit the population . The harvest moon in Wales is in September , the corn being not yet gathered . The moonlight

on the hills and mountains was very beautiful . A perfect rainboAV on the hills was also interesting . The grand views are greatly marred by the wholesale system of AvhiteAvashing- the houses and cottages , which scatter white patches over the hills and A alleys . The natural colour of the stone Avould be far better , and present a more harmonious effect .

Stone , ready at hand , is often used instead of wood . The field-gates are hung to a slab of stone , set upright , Avith hook-and-eye hinges , the hook being let through the stone with , nut and screw , and a piece of Avood betAveen the stone and nut . The stones are coA ered with moss and lichens ,

and present a Druidical appearance . The people believe in ghosts . There are two kinds of ghosts in Wales : —1 . Shadows cast on hill and dale from moving clouds—" come like shadoAvs , so depart ; " 2 . Ghosts of the imagination—of these many . The people pertinaciously

adhere to their fancies in the face of all arguments , and maintain that some of the clergy believe in ghosts . This I can easily imagine , after the active part they took in " clairvoyance , " until the philosophy of Professor Faraday turned the tables upon

them , and pointed out their error . The inhabitants require to be educated , and a good example set them—not frightened . If the former had been looked to fifty years ago , the very numerous Dissenting chapels , or rooms , UOAV to be found , Avould not haA'e existed .

It has been remarked that " God made the country , and man made the town . " The good aud hospitable people of Wales should bear in mind that the tourist is not indebted to them for the romantic beauty of their country . The houses and cottagesliOAveverthe landlords are

respon-, , sible for ; and it is to be hoped that they will use their best endeavours to improve the dwellings of the rural population , and render them decent and comfortable , fit for habitation and inspection , and not as they are UOAV , as rough and as rugged as the mountains . —W . P . GKIMITHS , in the Builder .