The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

48
THE BEITISH ISLES.
with"^e, and the frozen rivers probably extended to the sea, conveying into it
the blocks of rock and detritus resulting from the waste of the mountains. The
bards look upon Snowdon as a kind of Parnassus. It is their " Mount of Awen,"
or, of the Muses, and the falling in of its summit is to herald the day of judg-
ment.
Other summits rise to the north-east of the Pass of Llanberis, almost rivalling
Snowdon in height. Amongst them are Glyder Fawr (3,227 feet), Carnedd
Dafydd (3,430 feet), Carnedd Llewellyn (3,482 feet), and Y Foel Fras (3,091
feet). In no other part of Wales are mountains met with equalling these in
Fig. 21.—Sno-wdon.
Scale 1 : 426,000.
Depth under 6 Fathoms. 6 to 10 Fathoms. Over 10 Fathoms.
10 Miles.
elevation, and as many of them rise close by the sea, the aspect they present
is bold in the extreme, and they remind us, if not of the Alps, at all
events of their lower spurs. Cader Idris (2,958 feet), the "Seat of Idris," a
fabulous warrior and astronomer, is a mountain of volcanic origin, hardly inferior
to Snowdon in the grandeur of the prospect which it affords those who climb
its craggy summits to look down upon the chaotic masses of rock which extend
thence to Cardigan Bay. In a deep hollow on its flank lies Llyn Y Can, one
of the finest tarns in the principality. A branch stretches north-eastward to
the Aran Mowddwy (2,970 feet) and Bcrwyn range (2,71G feet) : from the latter
may be seen the valley of the Dee, and Lake Bala, in which that river rises.