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they approached the spot, and, after much labour to get at the
well, drank of the water, which had a brackish taste, and
proceeded on their journey southward through Kirtlington, then a
considerable city, although now a small village.  It was their
intention to pass by the cathedral city of Dorchester, where
Wulfstan was then bishop, where they arrived on the second night
of their journey.  It was the largest city Elfric had as yet
seen, possessing several churches, of which only one now
remains.  The hand of the ruthless Danes had not yet been laid
heavily upon it, and the magnificence of the sacred fanes, built
by cunning architects from abroad, amazed the Mercian boy.
There was the tomb of the great Birinus, the apostle of Mercia,
who had founded the see in the year 630 A.D., and to whose
shrine multitudes of pilgrims flocked each year.  But the
remains of Roman greatness most astonished Elfric.  The ruins of
the amphitheatre situate near the