From a fatiguing day’s journey we gladly reposed at a better inn than might be expected in so poor a town as LAMPETER; and the following morning sallied forth to visit a large old seat of Sir Robert Lloyd’s; which, we learned, “exhibited a striking appearance with its four great towers crowned with domes in the midst of well-planted inclosures, but now scarcely inhabited.” A thick mist denied us this view; so, crossing the long old bridge of Lampeter, we entered Carmarthenshire on our way to Llandilo. Nothing can be imagined more dreary than the first half of this ride; lying over an extensive range of lumpy hills, as remote from any thing picturesque as profitable. No tree, not a bush could be seen; and as we mournfully looked round, where, except the miserable road on which we travelled, no trace of society appeared, our disgusted sight would have even rested with pleasure on a furze bush. From such a region of sterility we gladly caught a gleam of cultivation, in some distant hills bordering on Brecknockshire; but more gladly still, on a sudden turn, we looked down on the pleasing little valley LLANSAWEL, watered by a crystaline branch of the Cothy. The sun had now dispersed the mists through which we set out, and shone direct on the vale: from its verdant level high hills, enjoying different degrees of cultivation, rose on every side; and under one of them, at the further end of the valley, the well-whitened village sparkled through the intervening foliage. This valley was immediately succeeded another called EDWIN’S-FORD, a delightful spot, whose high encircling hills are clothed with extensive plantations to their very summits. In the bottom, is a large old manor house belonging to Colonel Williams, beautified “above, below, around,” with leaded mercuries, shepherdesses, and sportsmen. Yet is this place, remaining in the genuine style of King William’s reign, with all its absurdities, more interesting; as shewing us a specimen of that time, than if it were patched up with modern improvements; or a new villa, of the packing-case mode of building that now prevails. We rode through the long avenues of trees that extend from the house; and, quitting the valley, descended to another, pleasingly decorated with wood, and the ruin of Talley church. A cheerful road, lined with “Hedge-row elms and coppice green,” now led us through a succession of swells and hollows, adorned with numerous plantations, particularly those of Lord Robert Seymour Conway’s, to LLANDILO, a pretty market town, seated on a descent to the justly famed vale of Towey. CHAP. IX. CHARMING VALE OF TOWEY—DINEVAWR CASTLE—GOLDEN GROVE—GRONGAR HILL—MIDDLETON HALL—CAREG-CANNON CASTLE—REFLECTIONS AT A FORD—GLENHEIR WATERFALL—AN ACCIDENT—PONT AR DULAS—RETURN TO SWANSEA. [Picture: Dinevawr Castle]