combe and Watchet, with Weston and the Homes in the dim distance. To the North and North-West is seen the whole sweep of Carmarthen Bay, enclosing Tenby, Kidwelly, and Llanelly in its embrace, and then a vast background as far as the eye ean reach, including the Vales of Carmarthenshire as far as the Black Mountain range, covered with coppice, and forest, and noble parks. Loughor and the Burry Sands come also into view. Looking Eastward brings into view Oxwich and Swansea Bays, and, beyond, the Glamorganshire heights, the beacons and their valleys. The heaving sea, like a vast mirror is in a frame of coast, and cliff, whilst the landscape is enclosed by mountain ranges. These views are rarely surpassed for beauty, for sublimity, or for awe-inspiring magnificence. Here nature is irresistibly charming, so much so that the mind is elated with the profusion of sublunary objects and is carried away by its ravishment. "From Nature up to Nature's God," the Great Architect of Heaven and Earth. Rounding Worms Head the stranger will soon find himself in Rhossilly Bay, the floor of which is strewn with sand and rare shells. Its yellow sand-band stretches as far as Burry Homes. The bay has a slight bend towards the land, the terrible sea having managed in the course of sundry cycles of ages to eat out the vitals of the coast and shape it to its will. From the Homes to Whiteford another slight indented bay occurs, which completes the Western shoreland from the Worms Head. Then from Whitford Headland to the Loughor mouth the Northern shore of Gower comes into ken. Far fewer bays adorn its basement, the unlimited stretches of sand and shell, however, give it a character all its own. Here, too, the handicraft of the Almighty has been busy in every corner, and man can trace His art and impress in beautifying this corridor of nature, for here the Sou'-West wind has piled up the Whitford Burrows into grotesque shapes, where the conies frisk away their lives and find good shelter from the stormy blast. Llanrhidian Sands have for untold ages been the cradle of the plaice and other flat fish, and from Cwm Ivy Marsh to Penclawdd the lively cockle revels in his bed, and yields up an abundant crop daily to the caprice of man.

The Gulf Stream, having crossed the trough of the Atlantic, rushes up the Severn funnel, flooding every nook and cranny and surrounding the land of Gower during winter in its warm embrace, making its atmosphere most genial, and softening the grip which the keen winter's blast would otherwise have upon its sheltered coves or open moors. During summer the air has a most exhilirating influence upon the inhabitants, the gentle winds crossing from bay to bay are often charged with perfumes distilled from the heather and gorse growing on the common. The Northern bank, buried so much in bright sand, is variegated with meadowland and grassy hillocks, and with

streams of fresh water draining the glens, the uplands, and the moors. The coast of this Northern shore terminates hard by Loughor. Probably one-third of the land of Gower remains still in its pristine condition, unredeemed by the hand of man, and unredeemable. Clyne Wood Common, Fairwood Common, Welsh Moor, Burry, Oxwich, Pennard and Llangenydd Burrows, the Downs of Cefn Bryn, Rhossilly Down, Whittord Burrows, Llanrhidian Marsh, Harding's Down, Broughton Burrows, Gower's land and other waste patches covering at least 25,000 acres. The many ancient woods, and parks, and forest-lands, and farms under cultivation compose pictures of surpassing interest. Bush Park, Penrice Park, Parc le Breos, and Sketty Park are principal enclosures for deer, and Clyne Wood, Crawley Wood, Park Wood are locally interesting, and brimful of attractions. Gowerland, therefore, presents innumerable pictures; hill-tops as verdant as the silent dingle, downs as bleak as the tor moors of Devon, common lands, with babbling brooklets and spongy soil, and rivulets and streams which drain the country and keep the land free of malaria, arable and meadow lands, and fields, with cwms and rustic retreats and bogs and marshes, and unreclaimed wastes, and a rugged coast exposed to the incessant assaults of the ocean, but which defies the storm and shields itself from danger and encroachment.

THE CAVERNS OF GOWER. The coast abounds with caverns and fissures, as well as those found in the rocky ridges which intersect portions of the country. They are the sepulchres of the wild beasts which lived and roamed, and had their being in prehistoric epochs. And a visit to their dens will reveal the fact that their bones are still preserved in the matrix of the lime-stone debris, and give evidence of an age when the heats of summer oppressed the land, and the fruits of the earth hung in clusters, and the pine trees yielded cones and berries as fragrant and wholesome as any pinewood of modern growth. It is no exaggeration, therefore, tio state that the land of Gower is honeycombed with caves and fissures, and many of them have become not only historical but household words. Much has been said and written about them, on account of the old-world treasures they contain, viz., the remains of extinct animals. Some, if not all, of the following have been carefully explored:--Bob's Cave, Rotherslade Cave, Brandy Cove Cave, Bacon Hole, Minchin Hole, Bosco's Den, Bowen's Parlour, or Devil's Hole; Crow Hole, Goat's Hole, Spritsail Tor Cavern, Stouthall Cave, and Green Cocmbe Cave. A great many gentlemen, members of the learned societies, have interested themselves about the extraordinary number of the caves in Gower, and the more than extraordinary number of bones they have found and examined, the tusk bones of the elephant,

the jaws of the nammoth, the remains of the wild OX, wolf, bear, boar, hyena, lion, elk, etc. These caves

are

by DO means on the same level, as some are found on a level with the strand, whilst others open from twenty to one hundred feet above the sea-coast. That the caves are the sepulchres of extinct and prehistoric mammals there can be no question, inasmuch as all scientific authorities are in agreement that these bones, unearthed and carefully examined, are really the remains of pre-Adamic creatures, which lived at least 20 thousand years ago, That these animals were natives of Gower and

Glamorganshire has also been conclusively proven, and that at the time they lived the climate of the country was tropical, is likewise a foregone conclusion. It is not unreasonable to suppose that some of the bones found are derelicts of the sea, and were cast up by the tidal waters and washed into the mouth of the cave by the rolling waves, but the major number of the bones represent the native wild beast who lived and had his being in adjoining forests, but who, to vary the monotony of his life, paid an occasional visit to the caverns

by the sea. Some of these forest denizens would make these caverns their retreat in times of danger or drought, whilst others would make them their constant home. After the advent of man, many of the wild animals, which were sought for by the huntsman, would hide themselves in these caves for very fear, especially after they had seen what the poisoned arrow would do to their companions, after being shot from the bow of the swarthy hunter. Hard weather and want of food would, likewise, soon do its deadly work in the caves. Here, listening to the wail of the ocean, and watching the war of the elements without food or ordinary comfort, the bear or the wild ox or the wolf would lie down on the floor of his den, and, after a few struggles with nature, and a few sighs for relief, would yield up his spirit to the Great Master and Lord of all. And thus the den became not only his home and retreat whilst he lived, but it became his sepulchre, for, in the course of ages the crumbs of limestone which would accumulate from the occasional fall of the roof, or the fall of stone rock from the sides, would bury out of sight the remains of any animal so dying.

Falconer, speaking of the bone caves of Gower, remarks: "They are remarkable for the numerical richness of the species which include all the larger sized carnivorous and herbivorous species that have been met with throughout the caves of England."

Bacon Hole is to the West of High Pennard, which I visited some 30 years ago. The upper floor of the stalagmite is about 50 feet above the beach. The debris has almost blocked its entrance; the floor falls therefore towards the inner part of the cave. Towards the interior the roof rises some 20 feet. Colonel Wood, in company with other scientific gentlemen, visited this cave in 1850, carefully examining its interior as well as the remains found in the matrix of earth and limestone found beneath the surface. Patches of yellow sand, and the bones of birds and small mammalia, including the water vole, were discovered. Below this thick layer of stalagmite, they reached' a bed of blackish sand, containing bones of the mammoth and the tooth of a badger. They found also a layer of red soil, nearly two feet thick, in which were buried the remains of

the rhinoceros, hyena, wolf, bear, Loar and deer. The horns of the red deer and roebuck were likewise found, but no remains of man were found below the upper stalagmite. In the mud above it were pieces of ancient British pottery.

A recent writer has very ably described some of the caves, which are here quoted. He says: -"Minchin Hole" is a spacious cave, of grand and lofty character, some few hundred yards West of Bacon Hole. The length from the outer arch to the inner extremity is 170 feet; height at entrance, 35 feet; width, 17 feet; greatest width of interior, 70 feet. The cavern is entered by ascending a steep step of talus, and the floor is very unequal. Here were found many organic remains as in Bacon Hole. There were two skulls of "Rhinoceros hemitœchus."

Bosco's Den.-This cavern, which lies between Bacon and Minchin Holes, is divided into an upper and lower storey, and is of interest not so much from the abundance and importance of organic remains as from the nature and succession of the marine and alluvial de

posits. The entrance to the upper story is a small opening, recently somewhat enlarged, looking S.S.E. The cavity extends to a distance of 76 feet, with a maximum width of 16 feet, and a height of 16 feet. The walls meet at the apex, and form a kind of Gothic roof. The organic remains include a singular abundance of shed deer's antlers.

The lower story is accessible only with the aid of ladders. It is small, and contained, when explored, deposits of marine sand and gravel. The partition bed between the upper and lower storeys is composed of huge blocks of limestone, mixed with smaller angular fragments, the interstices filled with gravel and cemented by stalagmite. The materials correspond in general character with the bed of angular debris found on the raised beach at Mewslade.

Of all the Gower Caves," says Falconer, "Bosco's Den furnishes the most complete succession of marine, brecciated, and alluvial deposits, disposed in a section of not less than 47 feet.'

Bowen's Parlour, or Devil's Hole. Like Bosco's Den, a little to the Westward of which it lies, the Devil's Hole is in an angular fissure, narrow at top, gradually expanding to a width of 14 feet below. The cave, which is about 40 feet high, is divided by a thick horizontal bed of stalagmite into an upper and lower storey. The upper chamber is about 20 feet high and 43 feet deep, the lower cavern 14 feet high. When South-west gales play upon high tides, the waves beat freely into Bowen's Parlour. The lower chamber has thus been completely washed out, and a portion of the floor above has fallen down. The indications of breccia, stalagmite, etc., show that this cavern is an emptied repetition of Bosco's Den. No organic remains were found here.

Crow Hole, in the immediate vicinity, lies to the West of Bosco's Den. The approach is a descent from the cliff tops, for some distance, by the track leading to Minchin Hole, and then straight down a dangerous scraggy scramble, to about 60 feet above the sea level, where the explorer finds himself on a rugged flocr. A ravine leads to a wild irregular cavern, where may be seen a bed of coarse sand, four feet thick, covered with layers of breccia and stalagmite. Colonel Wood found bones of "Ursus, "Badger" and "Rhinoceros" there, but the place has not yet been thoroughly explored, though it is known to present complexities in the succession of deposits.

Raven's Cliff is situated in the cliff-face, West of Minchin Hole, in a fissure 20 feet high at entrance, and 29 feet wide, with a contracting depth of 43 feet. The aggregate thickness of deposits was 181 feet. Among the organic remains found by Colonel Wood in this very interesting cavern were two lower jaws of "Mustela foina"-decidedly new to the English fossil fauna; "Felis spela," lumbar vertebra of

"Rhinoceros;" humerus, vertebræ, and tusk of "Elephas," "Bos and deer. At the bottom of the sand, and resting upon a brecciated floor, a large block of limestone was laid bare, the exposed surfaces and edges of which had been polished by friction. Colonel Wood inferred that the smoothness had been caused by the rubbing against it of large carnivora.

Paviland Cave and the Remains of the "Red Lady." In the Eastern cavern, called Goat's Hole, was found an imperfect female skeleton, minus the skull, vertebraæ, and extremities of the right side. It was found lying "extended in the usual position of burial," beneath a shallow six inches covering of earth. The bones were stained red, by a kind of ruddle composed of red micacecus oxide of iron, for which reason the skeleton has become known as the "Red Lady of Paviland." None of the fossil or other bones found in the contiguous deposits were similarly stained, but several fragments of slender and smooth cylindrical ivory rods, and pieces of ivory rings, supposed to have been bracelets, also stained red, were found in contact with the skeleton, but in such a state of decay, brittle and tender, as to be easily cut by the nail. In a bank, at a slightly higher level, two mammoth's molars, and, at a lower level, a portion of an elephant's skull, with sockets and tusks, were found. The tusks, like the little stained rods, were soft with decay. Dr. Buckland, who has fully described Paviland Cave, concluded that the cylindrical rods, rings, etc., were "certainly made from part of the antediluvian tusks that lay in the same cave." Whether, therefore, the lady and the mammoth were contemporaneous is an open question. It is well known that rings and rods similar to these are found in Barrows, and Strabo mentions ivory bracelets and necklets, with amber vessels of glass, etc., as among the imports of the ancient

Britons.

Spritsail Tor Cavern is a double-mouthed cave, on the West side of Gower, facing Carmarthen Bay. When discovered in 1839, by quarrying in the limestone, the opening was covered with blown sand. Two apertures, which are small, are about 13 feet apart. An immense accumulation of embedded bones was found here. The contents of the Eastern chamber led to the conclusion that it had been a long-tenanted hyena's den. Here the entire femur of a young woman, and the lower jaw of a child of about seven years were found embedded in the sand, and, in the stalagmite, a fine reindeer antler.

Enough has been said to prove to the inteliigent reader that the animal remains found deposited in the Gower caves are prehistoric, and belong to an epoch thousands of years before the advent of man. In a future chapter we shall describe the faults and caves which abound in some of the inland valleys, and retell some of the legends attaching to them.

BOB'S CAVE AND THE DANISH

ROVERS.

A visit to Bob's Cave will illustrate, to some extent, the numerous other caverns of Gower. It is right under the outermost mammel on which is erected the Lighthouse. This cave is very large, and look out upon the restless ocean. In stormy weather the waves roll into the mouth of the cavern, half filling it with water. There is an air of romance about this cave, and the Mumbles fishermen often indulge in relating some of the traditions which cling around its history. They tell you of Bob the smuggler, who, with his bold buccaneers, used this cave as a safe retreat, and where they hid their contraband spirits. But long ages before it was the trysting place of the Northern pirates, where Sweyn or Sweygen found comfortable quarters for his band of desperadoes whilst he and some of his scouts went forth to spy the land, and thus prepare the way for a raid upon the natives. The yeomen of Gower lived in constant dread lest they should lose some of their sheep or cattle. But what fear had the hungry Norseman with his shining blade by his side? These sea robbers would live for months together during summer in some well-chosen cove or dell by the shore. Bracelet Bay was one of their favourite resorts, and they were especially fond of Oxwich. The remains of their presence and their work can still be traced in every bay on the coast. They paid their visits regularly, and as frequently as they arrived the farmer near their place of rendezvous would, if cognisant of their presence, prepare himself and his neighbours for a bloody defence. Sometimes the pirates would arrive during nightfall, and under cover of the darkness make successful raid upon the neighbouring cattle. For three centuries the Vikings kept up their bloody work, raiding on monasteries, opulent cities and towns, until Alfred the Great crushed their spirit, and making terms with Guthram, they all became Christians. They were also allowed to settle in different parts of the country until at last Saxon and Dane became good neighbours and fought side by side in defence of old England.

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THE SMUGGLERS' RETREAT.

It was in after-ages that the smuggler made such frequent use of these caves. He, too, sought a retreat in them during a protracted storm, and when pressed by the Excise officer, he would land his kegs of rum or brandy and hide his booty until called for, Bob's Cave end the cave in Brandy Cove were for generations used for this purpose. A consignment of spirits

from some of the Channel Islands would be landed at a given signal from someone on she, and the merchant dealing in contraband tobacco and spirits would, in the course of a few minutes fill his waggon and start off full speed until he had reached some neighbouring town or village where he could dispose of his booty, or hide it away in some secret place until the opportunity came for its disposal. C. D. Morgan, in his "Wanderings in Gower," says: "A great number of farmers trafficked in contraband spirits. Near to the Gower Inn there is a very rocky road leading to the Burrows. To the South-east is seen South Gorse Village, and after passing it another bye road leads to Highway, an old farm house of smuggling notoriety, in the days when smuggling held sway in Gower. This Highway was the great emporium, and many are the strange stories associated with this old farm. In the thick darkness of night, the peasantry of Gower used to assemble here mounted on their horses, and also well armed. In the large room a feast was always prepared at a certain hour, and the pure unadulterated spirit from the vintage of France went briskly round. After being well primed, they sallied forth to their work. Each had straps fastened to his saddle, which held the ankers of cognac, whilst he rode through the valleys and over the rocks to the landing place; little cared those desperadoes for the then weak power of the law. Into Pwlldu Bay the French luggers used to come, discharge their cargoes and away. Under the stables in the rick-yard and all about Highway cellars were made to receive the contraband goods. Many are the midnight carousals that have taken place here. The old walls have often shaken with mirth and noisy revelry."

No doubt ferries and ferry-houses, as well as toll-gates, were signs of civilisation in the olden times. They represented the custodianship of the local trusts who had charge of the highways throughout the island. Of course, they were voted by highway men, forest outlaws and other lawless characters as unnecessary and vexatious long before the Rebecca riots had been heard of. In all probability, ferries, ferry-houses and highway toll-gates were re-established in this country during the Heptarchy. Home rule at that period prevailed in each kingdom, of which there was a large number, and on the boundaries of each dominion gates would be established at the entrance of the main roads wherever the highway of the one intersected the other. The main roads, which ran through Kent and Sussex, both of which were independent kingdoms, would naturally have toll-gates wherever they intersected the boundary line of each domain. The kingdom of Wessex would be compelled to arrange with the King of Mercia to have continuous roads crossing the boundaries of each other's kingdom. These toll-gates were established in the interest of commerce, in order to facilitate intercommunication between the citizens of one large town and those of another, and chiefly to facilitate the passage of merchandise from the great commercial city of London to the capitals of the several provincial kingdoms which existed for hundreds of years in this country. Continuous highways were also necessary in the interests of kings on a visit to a neighbouring lord, earls on a visit to their manors, or with their retainers on a visit to their king, and abbots with their retinue on palfreys making a pilgrimage to a distant shrine. The old Roman military highways long survived the Roman occupation, and these were used by the Anglo-Saxons to traverse the country with their hides and wool, and to enable them to get to the sea-board to receive consignments from the ships which had reached their ports. It was during the Roman domination in this island that toll-bars and turnpikegates were first established. Ferries were established long prior to the advent of that power. Tolls were levied at toll-gates to maintain the highways and ferry-boats. coracle had served all the purposes of the ancient Briton, but the presence of the great folk from Rome in the various colonies they established altered old British methods of

The

locomotion and intercommunication. All along the military highways were erected garrison forts and toll-houses, and wherever the highway intersected a river, there a ferry or ferry-houses were established. The crossing of rivers in a barge or boat meant the saving of much time and labour, and the lumbering wagons on their way to the Roman garrisons and cities of the land were scrved to some purpose by the short cuts which they made in crossing the country. The Welsh Triads speak of three chief ferries in the Island of Britain: one at Wapping Old Stairs, on the Thames, the ford at Oxford, and the passage at Portskewett are instances of their establishment in very remote periods. A large number of the ferries which crossed the Thames and the Severn during the times of the Cambro Britons linger to this hour and they point out where the herd of cattle forded the stream in order to attend the distant markets established in the wattled towns of the land. On the Swansea River, the Tawe, two ferries had been established of ancient date, the one at the Pipe House, near the pottery bridge, to accommodate the Havod and Foxhole district, the other at the entrance of the river, for the accommodation of the residents of Swansea lower. One house known as the Beaufort Arms, still existing, served as the ferry-house for ages. The building probably dates back to Tudor days, and beyond. is certainly one of the very oldest hostels in the town, as its quaint medieval structure indicates It stands near the quay walls, between Prospect-place and the Guildhall. The old ferry-house, which stood on the opposite bank of the river, has long since disappeared. The institution of these ferries to meet the requirements and accommodate the roving habits of an early civilisation is almost certain. Romans may probably have forded the river on horseback, but so long an occupation (400 years) would be sure to call forth the need of establishing ferries. The city of Nidum, now Neath, was only seven miles off, and the garrison there would visit the famous bay of Abertawe, via the ferry on the Tawe, whenever leave of absence could be obtained. During Saxon and Norman times, bridges and ferries were more and more needed in the interest of commerce. Local ferries and ferry-houses were guarded by the officers of the marcher lords, Ly de Breos and his successors, and subsequently by the agents of his Grace the Duke of Beau

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