This ancient boat possesses mythological as well as historical interest, since it was first used symbolically in some of the curious mystical rites of the Druids. Among the traditions of Bardism was that of the bursting of the ‘lake of waters,’ when all mankind were drowned except a single pair, who escaped to Wales in a naked vessel—that is, a ship without sails. According to the Triads, this ark of Wales contained a male and female of all living creatures including the parents of the Cymry, or Welsh people. This human couple were in due time deified, the Noah of the Cymry sharing this honour with his wife. His symbol was an ox; hers, a cow. A Bardish and very singular rite of sacrifice to one of these deities took place, curiously enough, at the very spot where the largest number of coracles is now stationed, a boat of this kind being used in the ceremony. At the mouth of the Teivy, in Cardigan Bay, where the coracles are now used in trawling and setting nets for the salmon-fishing, three miles below Cardigan, at the little fishing village of St Dogmels, the sacrifice was celebrated. At the appointed time, the Druids, clad in their emblematic white robes, and the Bards in robes of sky-blue, assembled at the spot, when the victim was placed in the coracle and the frail boat was turned adrift. The coracle figured also on the important occasion of the probation of a Bard, when it was used by the neophyte, or probationer, in his passage to and from the island of Sarn Badrig, off the coast of Carnarvonshire. In rough weather this would be an impossible feat. Probably the Gwyddnaw (priest of the ship) selected a suitable day for this occasion. Having brought the novice to the shore, the usual confession was pronounced by him in these words: ‘Though I love the sea-beach, I dread the open sea; a billow may come undulating over a stone!’ The priest then spoke as follows, to reassure the novice: ‘To the brave, to the magnanimous, to the amiable, to the generous, who boldly embarks, the landing-place of the Bards will prove the harbour of life.’ We will only add to this brief account of the coracle, or river-boat of ancient Britain, that the name is derived from _corwg_, a ship. HOSTESS AND GUEST. PART II.—THE DUTIES OF A GUEST. Having previously considered the question of the duties of a hostess, I now come to speak of those of a guest; and the subject being less exhaustive than the former one, can be treated with considerably more conciseness.