Next morning we put off in our two boats to visit Saint Michael's Mount, on which we landed on a stone pier, with a few houses near it.  As we gazed upwards at the pile of buildings which crowns the summit of the mount, we expected to find much interest in exploring its ancient halls and passages.  We were somewhat disappointed when, having made our way up to the top, we found that it had been so greatly renovated as to be deprived of much of its antique look.  But it is a grand old pile--the tower, which rises in the centre, and is the most ancient portion, having been built in the fifteenth century.  Although used as a monastery, it was strongly fortified; and guns round the walls still remain, notwithstanding that they would be of little use in the present day.  We saw, just above the edge of a cliff, a curious and ancient cross, richly carved.  The monks' refectory was, after the Reformation, turned into a banqueting hall; and the cornice which runs round it represents hunting scenes of boars, stags, wolves, and bulls.  Obtaining a light, we descended by a flight of stairs, through a small door in the side of the wall, down to a low, dark vault, in which it was said the bones of a man were discovered when the vault was found, some years ago. Whether he had been shut up there by the monks, or had been a prisoner of war, it was difficult to determine.  The vault was evidently used for the purpose of concealing the treasure of the monastery.