<g>Pembroke Castle</g> contained many elegant apartments, appropriated to the use of its lords, in one of which <g>Henry</g> VII. first saw the light of day. In the inner ward stands the <g>Keep</g>, a circular tower of vast strength and elegant proportions. The height is computed at seventy feet, the interior diameter at twenty-four, and the walls from fourteen to seventeen feet in thickness. <g>The State Apartments</g> appear to have been finished in a style of great elegance. On the north of the great tower is a long range of apartments, which seem to be of more recent construction, or to have been modernised in later times by one or other of its titled proprietors. From this part of the castle a staircase communicates with Leland’s “marvellus vault callid the Hogan”--a large cavern in the rock, opening upon the water, and extending a great way under the buildings. The entrance is now partially walled up, and formed into a spacious doorway. The name _Hogan_--which has occasioned some discussion among antiquaries and etymologists--is probably derived from _ogof_ or _ogov_, the British name for a cavern. This castle is justly considered one of the most splendid remnants of military architecture in the United Kingdom; and, from the state of preservation in which it is maintained, the design and execution of every compartment may still be traced with accuracy and precision. [Illustration: _Pembroke Castle._ Interior of the Great Court.] CARDIFF CASTLE, <g>Glamorganshire</g>. [Illustration: C]<g>ARDIFF</g>, a neat and well-built town, stands at the mouth of the river Taafe, from which it probably derives its name.[386] Its chief ornaments are the church and the castle--the latter a structure of great antiquity, and now converted into a modern residence, in which the features of a Norman stronghold are made to harmonize with the embellishments of a refined age; and where, instead of prancing steeds and bristling spears, the _ballia_ are lined with wallflower, shrubberies, and all those tranquil emblems, which indicate the reign of peace, and the cultivation of taste. Such innovations and refinements, however, are rather out of character with the place.