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 LAKE SCENERY OF ENGLAND. 
 
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 THE HBAU OF STOCK GILX JOUt'E. 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 In presenting to the public a Series of Engravings illustrative of the Lake Scenery of 
 England, executed on a scale commensurate with the interest and importance of the 
 original paintings, the Proprietors desire to state the grounds on which they venture 
 to anticipate a favourable reception for their work, and the motives which have led 
 them to undertake it. 
 
 Notwithstanding the unrivalled beauty of the Scenery of the Lake District of England, 
 and the number of pictures of detached portions of it, which have been painted and 
 exhibited, from time to time, during the last half-century, there exists no work which 
 comprises a consecutive series of illustrations of this picturesque locality, nor, indeed, of 
 amy considerable portion of its scenery, at all worthy of its cliaracter ; and it was not 
 until the Proprietors had induced a Painter, every way qualified for the task, to co-operate 
 with them, ccm. amore, in the production of such a work, that they decided on attempting 
 to supply the desideratum. The engravings which are described in the following pages, 
 and to which they now invite the attention of the public, will speak for themselves. 
 
 m:?i sioo 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It is, however, but justice to Mr. Pyne to remark, that, without sacrificing truth to those 
 graces of art by which it is sometimes impaired and disguised, to such an extent that we 
 are often scarcely able to recognise the scene which the painter professes to represent, 
 he has treated his subjects in a style which cannot fail to render them acceptable as 
 PICTURES. A landscape, like the human face, is not always the same. A sudden gleam 
 of sunshine or intelligence may invest the one or the other with a character of which 
 it might scarcely have been thought susceptible until then. It is the province of genius 
 to watch for such changes, and to select those which are most worthy of being perpetuated ; 
 to paint Nature in her fairest phase ; when truth is so brightened and adorned, as to appear 
 almost in the guise of poetry. 
 
 That section of England which is comprised in what is usually denominated " The 
 Lake District," includes a portion of three counties, Lancaster, Cumberland, and West- 
 moreland ; it occupies an area the length and breadth of which in no part exceeds fifty 
 miles. Its mountains bear no comparison with the stupendous grandeur of the Himalayas, 
 the stern solitudes of the Andes, or the barren desolation of Mont Blanc ; but they possess 
 beauties of their own which are not equalled, within similar limits, in any part of the 
 known world ; and which amply compensate for the gloomy wildness, and titanic propor- 
 tions of their foreign rivals. " Nothing," says Wordsworth, in his Remarks upon British 
 Lake Scenery, " is more injurious to genuine feeling than the practice of hastily and 
 ungraciously depreciating the face of one country by comparing it with that of another. 
 If the traveller be among the Alps, let him surrender up his mind to the fury of gigantic 
 torrents, and take delight in the contemplation of their almost irresistible violence, without 
 complaining of the monotony of their foaming course, or being disgusted with the muddi- 
 ness of the water, apparent even where it is violently agitated. In Cumberland and 
 Westmoreland, let not the comparative weakness of the streams prevent him from sym- 
 pathising with such impetuosity as they possess ; and making the most of present objects, 
 let him, as he may justly do, observe with admiration the unrivalled brilliancy of the 
 Water, and that variety of motion, mood, and character, that arises out of the want of 
 those resources by which the power of the streams of the Alps is supported. Again, 
 with respect to the mountains : though these are of comparatively diminutive size ; 
 though there is little of perpetual snow, and no voice of summer avalanches is heard 
 ami)ng them; and though traces left by the ravages of the elements are comparatively 
 rare and unimpressive ; yet out of this very deficiency proceeds a sense of stability and 
 permanence that is to many minds grateful. Among the Alps, are few places which 
 do jiot preclude this tranquil sublimity. Havoc, ruin, desolation, and encroachment, are 
 everywhere more or less obtruded ; and it is difiicult, notwithstanding the naked loftiness 
 of the pikes and the snow-capped summits of the mounts, to escape from the depressing 
 sensation that the whole are in a rapid process of dissolution; and, were it not that the 
 destructive agency must abate as the heights diminish, would in time to come be levelled 
 with the plains. A happy proportion of component parts is noticeable among the 
 landscapes of the Lake District ; and in this characteristic they surpass the lake scenery 
 of Scotland, and, in a still greater degree, that of Switzerland." 
 
INTRODUCTION. HI 
 
 It is the tranquil sublimity here alluded to by the Poet, that forms the leading 
 attraction of the English lakes ; their endless variety of aspect ; and the natural harmony 
 of colour which seems to pervade them at all seasons ; but in those of spring and autumn 
 more especially. What foreign scenery can approach them, in the tender green of the 
 after-grass upon the meadows, interspersed with islands of grey or mossy rock, crowned 
 with shrubs and trees; in the irregular enclosures of standing corn, or stubble-fields 
 similarly broken ; in the mountain-sides, glowing with fern of divers colours ; in the 
 calm blue lakes and river pools; and in the foliage of the trees through all the tints 
 of autumn, from the pale and brilliant yellow of the birch and ash to the deep green of 
 the unfaded oak and alder ; and of the ivy upon the rocks, on the trees, and on the 
 cottages ? Nor do the intrinsic beauties of our Lake District furnish its only claims to 
 the preference of Englishmen : it is hallowed even to many who have had no opportunity 
 of making themselves acquainted with its picturesque attractions, by associations which 
 can never fail to attach to it. Some of the most deservedly eminent of our modem poets 
 have made it their adopted home. The genius of a Wordsworth, a Southey, a Coleridge, 
 a Wilson, and a Hemans, was either nursed or tranquillised amid its solitudes ; and they 
 have all repaid their obligations to it with a princely prodigaHty. Inspired by its 
 influence, they have left the halo of their fame around its "pleasant places;" — they 
 have added glory to its sunshine and greenness to its verdure. Even among a less 
 susceptible order of great minds, many have sought amid these scenes that tranquillity 
 which the busy world had denied them. The noble-minded Arnold, the paradoxical 
 Hazlitt, and the speculative De Quincey, retired to these "sweet solitudes," — 
 
 " Here plumed their feathers, and let go their wings, 
 That, in the envious bustle of resort, 
 Were all too ruffled, and sometimes impaired." 
 
 Setting aside the intrinsic beauties of this region of repose, it is surely agreeable to 
 make one's self acquainted with the "local habitations" of writers who have occupied 
 so large a share of public attention, and the tenor of whose lives has not belied the 
 honourable charactei'istics of their works; to view, not merely their homes, but the 
 scenes which inspired their genius, and which they have commemorated in their 
 writings; — the mountains and lakes which "haunted them like a passion," and taught 
 them the mysterious connexion of man with the inanimate nature that surrounds him. 
 The artist, too, will not value the scene the less that it once numbered among its denizens 
 our great pictorial satirist Hogarth, and the painter of the " Birth of Shakspere," — the 
 graceful, but neglected Romney. 
 
 Nor is it for the poet or painter alone that the Lake District combines more than 
 ordinary attractions : for the antiquarian, the geologist, and the botanist, it must always 
 possess a peculiar interest. The antiquarian will find scope for his researches in its 
 relics of Druidical remains, Roman roads, and Norman castles; the botanist may 
 
IV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 discover amid its solitudes plants peculiar to the locality, — mosses, lichens, and ferns, 
 delicate in form and rich in colour; whilst the variety of its plutonic and stratified 
 I'ocks form a series from granite to new red sandstone. Many rare specimens of minerals 
 may be found, so that the district is a fruitful field to the geologist. 
 
 The Cumbrian rocks have a separate and distinct allotment in the geologic scale. 
 Granite protruding in many places, enclosed by mountainous slaty rocks, old red sandstone 
 and conglomerate, mountain-limestone, millstone-grit, carboniferous strata, new red sand- 
 stone, and alluvial accumulations, with many minor divisions, constitute the Lake series 
 of strata. Each mountain as depicted, though radiant with colour, is yet truthful in 
 geological form ; and it will be found that, although the visible character of the landscape 
 necessarily predominates, its geological features have been preserved. 
 
 One great aim of the Painter of these pictures appears to have been to represent the 
 varied character of the respective scenes, the rural tranquillity of some, the wild and 
 solitary grandeur of others, as they really are. With his aid, the chamber tourist 
 may travel, in imagination, by his own fireside, throughout the land of " mountain and 
 flood." The unrivalled beauties of Windermere, with its life and motion, are before 
 him. The great Gable towers in rugged grandeur into the sky. The magical atmospheric 
 effects of Borrowdale have been rendered permanent; the sublimity of Sty Head Pass 
 can be contemplated without the toil of climbing ; and the enraptured gazer on this 
 most fascinating collection of British landscapes may almost cheat himself into a belief 
 that he is looking on a scenic reality. 
 
 There are many and widely-different natural phenomena, of singular beauty, to be 
 observed from time to time throughout the Lake District The " helm wind," a rolling 
 cloud, sometimes appears for days together ; sometimes the whole landscape is enveloped 
 in an impenetrable mist, shutting out the earth beneath as the sky above ; and sometimes 
 the observer is startled by the clearly-defined mountain outline and nearness of that 
 which he knows to be a distant object. Stars glitter high above the crags, intensely 
 bright; or the silvery moon "wades" through fleecy clouds, casting broad shadows over 
 the solitary glen, into which the benighted traveller superstitiously fears to enter. At 
 times the Lakes are calm, with an almost preternatural stillness; the mountains are 
 lost to the sight; rocks and islands appear in duplicate, magically suspended in mid 
 air, base to base ; the reversed landscape with cattle, trees, and houses, defying gravity 
 in the reflected world below. 
 
 Until the commencement of the present century, the picturesque beauties of the Lake 
 District had attracted but little attention. This insensibility is the more remarkable when 
 we remember how enthusiastically the scenery of other countries — that of Italy and 
 Switzerland more especially — has been dwelt upon by those distinguished English 
 writers who have had opportunities of estimating its attractions. On Goldsmith it 
 appears to have made no impression whatever ; whilst Tickell, who wrote a long poem 
 in Kensington Gardens, had not a line to spare for Derwentwater, within a mile of 
 which he was born. Gray is almost the only English writer of any eminence of the 
 last century who appears to have felt and appreciated the scenery of the EngHsh Lakes ; 
 
INTKODUCTION. 
 
 and accordingly his account of a ten days' tour among them, in his well-known letter to 
 Dr. Warton, is all that might have been expected from the taste and enthusiasm of 
 such a poet. As a topographical description, moreover, it is singularly faithful. But 
 the shortness of his visit, at quite the latter end of the season, at a period when the 
 roads were often almost impassable, and when between many of the most picturesque 
 divisions of the country no communication existed, necessarily limited his means of 
 observation. The first attempt at a detailed description of the Lake District was that 
 of a Roman Catholic clergyman of the name of West, whose work appears to have 
 •supplied the foundation of most of the books that have since been published on the 
 subject It was, however, reserved for the great and virtuous poet, whose genius has 
 shed such imperishable lustre on its scenery, to set the example of describing it in a 
 manner worthy of its fame and his. Inviting the reader to accompany him to the summit 
 of some central eminence, or to imagine himself placed upon a cloud lianging midway 
 between Great Gable and Scawfell, he points out eight valleys which diverge around 
 like spokes in the nave of a wheel ; namely, those of Langdale, Coniston, Duddon, Esk, 
 Wastdale, Ennerdale, and Borrowdale, describing about one-half of the circle ; whilst 
 the deficiency on the other side is supplied by the vales of Wythebum, Ullswater, 
 Haweswater, and the Vale of Grasmere and Rydal. None of the latter, however, run 
 up the central point between the Great Gable and Scawfell. Diverging from that 
 point, some four or five miles eastward, to the ridge of Helvellyn, the tourist looks 
 down upon the Vales of Wytheburn and St. John, which are a branch of the Vale 
 of Keswick ; upon those of Ullswater, stretching due east ; and not far beyond, to the 
 south-east, Haweswater, and that of Grasmere and Rydal ; bringing him back to 
 Windermere, the point from which he started; and thus completing, although on the 
 eastern side in a somewhat irregular manner, the figure of the wheel. These valleys, 
 with the mountains by which they are divided, comprise every variety of scenery 
 which can delight the eye. I know not, says Mr. Wordsworth, any tract of country 
 in which, within so narrow a compass, may be found an equal variety in the influences 
 of light and shadow upon the sublime or beautiful features of landscape. From a point 
 between Great Gable and Scawfell a shepherd would not require more than an hour 
 to descend into any one of the eight principal vales by which he would be surrounded; 
 and all the others, with the exception of Haweswater, lie within an equally narrow 
 compass. But though clustered together, every valley has its distinct and separate 
 character; in some instances as if they had been formed in studious contrast; and in 
 others with the united pleasing differences of a sisterly rivalry. This concentration 
 of interest gives the country a decided superiority over the most attractive districts of 
 Scotland and Wales; to the pedestrian traveller more especially. 
 
 The English Lake District is not peculiarly rich in historical traditions. In ancient 
 times, indeed, its most attractive points must have been almost impervious by reason 
 of vast forests, and the absence of means of communication with the mountain fastnesses. 
 Even so late as 1769 Gray complains of having been prevented by this cause from 
 visiting some of its finest points of view. Hence there are not many remains of ancient 
 
71 INTBODUCnON. 
 
 grandeur, castles or monasteries, excepting in the outskirts of the district. Traces 
 of Roman roads and camps, and a few circles of Druidieal stones, with several Norman 
 castles, are the only vestiges that remain of any earlier occupants. 
 
 The season recommended by guide-books for visiting the Lakes is the interval between 
 the beginning of June and the end of August ; but during the last two months of that 
 period, the prevailing colour of the mountains and woods, where they are not diversified 
 by bare rocks, is too deep a green to admit of any picturesque variety. Frequent 
 rains may, moreover, be expected during the last-mentioned month. In September and 
 October the weather becomes more settled, and the scenery is then, beyond comparison, 
 more variegated and beautiful ; although the days are shorter and the coldness of the 
 air less favourable to al-fresco excursions. In spite of these drawbacks, however, 
 Mr. Wordsworth recommends to view-hunters, in tolerable health, the six weeks from 
 the first of September in preference to the months of July and August. There is, 
 in fact, no scenery which is much diversified by woods and shrubs that is not beheld 
 to most advantage in autumn. It is then that the landscape wears its most luxuriant 
 aspect Of the long days, and under widely-different attractions, the last week in May, 
 or the middle and last week of June, are preferable to any part of July or August. 
 The next consideration is the order in which objects are seen to most advantage. And 
 on this question we may briefly suggest that a lake appears in its best aspect from its 
 outlet, if in a mountainous country. To this remark, however, Derwentwater and 
 Loweswater may be considered exceptions ; as neither of them derives any supply 
 from the streams of those mountains that dignify the landscape towards its outlet. A 
 mountain will scarcely be ascended without disappointment, unless its summit be gained 
 before sunrise, or the visitor remain there until sunset The excursionist, in his morning 
 walk, should take the eastern side of the vale, that he may enjoy the benefit of the 
 morning light first touching the tops and then creeping down the sides of the opposite 
 heights ; or he may contemplate, from some central height, the shadows from the 
 eastern and the lights from the western mountains. If the horizon-line in the east be 
 low, the western side may be taken, in order that the reflections on the water from 
 the rising sun may not be overlooked. In the evening, for the same reason, the opposite 
 course should be followed. 
 
 There are three approaches to the English Lakes through Yorkshire : the one least 
 recommended is that by Catterick and Greta Bridge, and onwards to Penrith. The 
 second leads through a more interesting tract of country, beginning at Ripon, by 
 Fountains- Abbey, Hackfall, and Masham, to Jervaulx Abbey, and the Vale of Wensley, 
 Askrigg, over the fells, to Jedburgh and Kendal. The third route is through Leeds, 
 by Kirkstall Abbey and Otley, to Bolton Bridge and Skipton. The approach to the 
 Lake Country through Lancashire and Lancaster is across the sands to Ulverstone, 
 to Kendal, and thence to Bowness and Windermere. Travellers from the north should 
 go from Carlisle to Cockermouth, and along the Lake of Bassenthwaite to Keswick; 
 or from Carlisle to Penrith, across the country to Keswick. 
 
 Among the localities in this part of the country which have been the favourite 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 VII 
 
 haunts of men and women of genius may be more particularly instanced Allan Bank, 
 Grasmere, and Rydal Mount, the residences for many years of Wordsworth; Greta 
 Hall, Keswick, that of Southey ; Elleray, near Bowness, that of Professor Wilson ; 
 Ambleside and Grasmere, those of Shelley, Coleridge, Hazlitt, and De Qnincey (who 
 succeeded Wordsworth in his cottage in that village); and Dovesnest, near Ambleside, 
 that of Mrs. Hemans ; while there is scarcely a sceine of any powerful attraction in the 
 Lake District which has not been from time to time commemorated in their writings. 
 
 The mountainous district enclosing the Lakes consists principally of clay-slate and 
 slaty rocks, designated lower, middle, and upper slates. The oldest slaty rocks, those 
 of Skiddaw, are in their lowest beds metamorphic, and rest on granite. The middle 
 slaty rocks of Borrowdale are traversed by dykes, and in some parts rest on granite. 
 The outer strata of the district and composed, as we have elsewhere remarked, of old 
 red conglomerate, mountain limestone, millstone grit, coal, and new red sand-stone. 
 The protruded igneous rocks are principally granite, and there are numerous porphyritic 
 and greenstone dykes. The mountains of Cumberland are among the oldest in the 
 world; they are incalculably older than the Alps, the Himalayas, or the Andes. 
 
LIST OF PLATES. 
 
 1 (VIGNETTE TITLE) DUNGEON GILL FORCK 
 
 2 CONISTON WATER AND CONISTON OLD MAN. 
 
 3 LAKE WINDERMERE OR WINANDERMERE. 
 
 4 WINDERMERE, AFTER THE REGATTA. 
 
 5 WINDERMERE FROM ORREST HEAD. 
 
 6 WINDERMERE WATER-HEAD. 
 
 7 RYDAL WATER. 
 
 8 GRASMERE, FROM LOUGHRIGG FELL. 
 
 9 BROTHERS' WATER. 
 
 10 HA WES WATER AND WALLERGILL FORCE. 
 
 11 LANGDALE PIKES. 
 
 12 THIRLEMERE, OR WYTHEBURN. 
 
 13 ULLESWATER, FROM GOWBARROW PARK. 
 
 14 WAST WATER. 
 
 15 THE VALES OF ENNERDALE AND BUTTERMERE. 
 
 16 ENNERDALE LAKK 
 
 17 BUTTERMERE. 
 
 18 CRUMMOCH WATER. 
 
 19 LOWES WATER. 
 
 20 THE DERWENT RIVER AND BORROAVDALE. ^ 
 
 21 DERWENTWATER. 
 
 22 THE DRUIDICAL CIRCLE NEAR KESWICK. 
 
 23 BASSENTHWAITE LAKE, VALE, AND VILLAGE. 
 
 24 THE VALE OF KESWICK, BASSENTHWAITE LAKE, AND THE RIVER GRETA. 
 
 25 SKIDDAW. 
 
DUNGEON GILL FORCE. 
 
 Dungeon Gill Force, like most of the waterfalls among the Lakes, is produced by the 
 rain-shed of the mountains passing through, or over a " dyke," or " fault." It is situated 
 on the south-east side of Langdale Pikes, which are porphyritic in their structure. This 
 fall is about ninety feet in depth. The rough monolithic block, which has fallen into the 
 chasm above in some convulsion of nature, forms a sort of natural bridge without either 
 "springer" or "key." It has, in all probability, remained in its present position more 
 centuries than the Pyramids have stood years, and it may retain its position after the British 
 empire shall have become a matter of history. There is a wild and savage grandeur 
 about this waterfall at all times. The vertical walls of the chasm are enveloped in mist 
 and gloom, and the huge masses scattered below appear almost to block the ingress of 
 the adventurous tourist. The volume of water is very variable, — in dry weather it is 
 beautifully bright and sparkling; but during a heavy rain-fall it becomes turbid, and 
 rushes down with angry force, foaming, and dashing, and splashing on its way. Mr. 
 Wordsworth has made this picturesque spot the scene of one of his beautiful pastorals, 
 "The Idle Shepherd-Boys," in which it is thus described: — 
 
 " If ever you to Langdale go ; 
 Into a chasm a mighty block 
 Hath fallen, and made a bridge of rock. 
 The gulf is deep below ; 
 And in a basin, black and small, 
 Receives a lofty waterfall." 
 
 The touching incident related by the poet is a real one. A shepherd-boy was passing, 
 " with staff in hand, across the cleft," when his steps were arrested by " a piteous moan," 
 and looking down, he discovered, — 
 
 " A lamb, that in the pool was pent, 
 Within that black and frightful rent," 
 
 which had been borne into the "gulf profound" by the torrent, and which, with the 
 assistance of the poet, was rescued from its perilous situation. The ascent of the Pikes 
 is usually commenced from a point in the neighbourhood of this fall. The following 
 are the heights of the various waterfalls which are objects of attraction to Lake tourists : — 
 
 FEET. 
 
 Scale Force, near Buttermere 160 
 
 Colwith Force, five miles from Ambleside 162 
 
 Stockgill Force, near Ambleside • • 160 
 
 Lodore Fall, near Keswick 160 
 
 Barrow Cascade, near Keswick 122 
 
 Dungeon Gill Force 90 
 
 Ara Force, Gobarrow Park 80 
 
 Eydal Fall, near Ambleside 70 
 
 Birker Force, Eskdale 66 
 
 Stanley Gill Force, Eskdale . . . ' 62 
 
 Nunnery Fall, near Kirkoswald 60 
 
 Sour Milk Force, near Buttermere ... . . 60 
 
 HowkCalbeck , . . 50 
 
 Skelwith Force ... ..... 20 
 
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CONISTON WATER, AND CONISTON OLD MAN. 
 
 The spectator is here supposed to be looking across the head of the Lake towards Coniston 
 Old Man, a mountain so entitled from its resemblance to a human figure. The road 
 from Ulverstone to Coniston Water-Head leads along a narrow vale, picturesquely 
 divided by hanging enclosures, and scattered farms, rising half-way up the sides of the 
 mountains, whose crests are covered with heath and brown vegetation. The direction 
 of the Lake is towards the sea, and among the attractions of its neighbourhood are 
 Mr. Marshall's -summer-seat and Coniston Hall. 
 
 Coniston Old Man rises to an elevation of 2577 feet, and is the loftiest peak seen 
 in the background. The scenery of this Lake is tame when compared witli the attractions 
 of its neighbours. The view selected by the artist is one calculated to afford full scope 
 to his genius, and has enabled him to present us with one of the most poetical skies of 
 the whole series. 
 
 At the head of the Lake stands the New Inn, from which the ascent of the Old 
 Man may be made. The geological character of the mountain is slate ; for the 
 excavation of which there are several large quarries, now for the most part abandoned. 
 The produce of these quarries is usually conveyed down the Lake by means of boats, 
 on their way to the port of Ulverston. Granite is to be found upon one part of the 
 mountain, whilst around its side and base, syenitic boulders are scattered in great 
 numbers. A narrow bed of transition limestone strikes across the country at the foot 
 of the mountain. The " Old Man" is rich in metal ; several veins of copper intersecting 
 its eastern side. The ore is drawn in pyrites from the mine, which is situated in a large 
 cove half a mile up the hill, and extends for upwards of half a mile in a horizontal 
 direction, the vertical shafts penetrating two hundred yards in depth. These works 
 have afforded employment to a large number of persons; as much as 2000^. having 
 been paid in wages in a single month. They are now worked by a company, to whom 
 they are leased by Lady Fleming, the lady of the manor and the proprietor of both 
 the slate-quarries and the mines. The most desirable mode of ascending the Old Man 
 is to start from the village of Coniston, on the Walna Scar Road, and proceed a short 
 distance along the platform from which the mountain rises. Tlie most magnificent 
 views are to be obtained on a clear day from the Old Man. Skiddaw, Blencathara, 
 Helvellyn, and Langdale Pikes, are all commanded by it ; as well as a series of lakes, 
 including of course the whole of that of Coniston. A splendid open view spi'eads from 
 the base of the Old Man towards the south and south-east, which embraces Morecombe 
 Bay, the estuaries of the Kent, Leven, and Duddon ; the promontories of Furness and 
 Cartmell ; the Isle of Walney and a long line of coast extending to the mouths of the 
 Wyre and the Ribble. Lancaster Castle is also distinctly visible ; sometimes, indeed 
 it is even possible to discern, from this point, Snowdon and the mountains of the 
 Principality. 
 
 From Coniston Water-Head the poetical-minded excursionist may follow the windings 
 of the Duddon, immortalised by the Muse of Wordsworth, down to Leathwaite, Newfieldj 
 and the rocks whence the river issues from a narrow pass into a broad vale. 
 
LAKE WINDERMERE, OR WINANDERMERE. 
 
 This scene is taken from the water, between Bowcroft and the Ferry House, looking 
 down the Lake. The artist has here embodied the glories of a summer evening, just 
 before the clouds put on their ruddy, burning tinge. Water, earth, and air, are bathed 
 in beauty ; the fleecy clouds hang in the upper region of the atmosphere, chequered by 
 the empyrean blue of space. The tone of the whole subject is in harmony with the general 
 character of the scenery around this Lake. There is a melting and graceful beauty about 
 it, which charms the gazer into perfect repose. He involuntarily sympathises with the 
 listless rowers in the covered barge. The whole atmosphere breathes heat, and the golden 
 sky is reflected back from the gently-rippling water in blended beauty. The snow-white 
 sail of the graceful yacht is tinged by the beams of the departing god of day, and scarcely 
 swells to the zephyr's wing. Mr. Pyne never leaves his story half told, so we have the 
 floating bottles, speaking of frolic, feast, and fun. The line of strong sunlight strikes 
 out the reflection from the water — a passage as true to nature as charming in art. 
 
 This picture must be contrasted with the plate, from the same point of view, which 
 appears in another part of this volume. Both represent the Lake under the same aspect, 
 and, with the exception of the Regatta, under the same incidents. In this picture the 
 spectator looks towards the light, and sees, consequently, the dark sides of all objects 
 towards him. The whole subject is necessarily tinged with the light and colour of 
 the rays of the setting sun. 
 
 The two principal feeders of this Lake are the Brathay and the Rothay, the former 
 rising in the group of lofty mountains between Langdale and Borrowdale, and the latter 
 partly from Rydal Water and partly out of the hills at the head of Ambleside. The 
 lower part of the Lake is rarely visited, although it has many interesting points of view. 
 In the church of Bowness, on its western bank, lie the remains of Bishop Watson of 
 Llandaff; and at Elleray is the villa of Professor Wilson the poet, better known as 
 Christopher North, the late Editor of " Blackwood's Magazine." On the lower bank 
 of the Lake is Storrs Hall, the seat of Mr. Bolton. There are numerous islands on the 
 surface of Windermere ; on the largest of which. Belle Isle (consisting of thirty acres), 
 stands the summer residence of H. Curwen, Esq. 
 
 Windermere should not only be seen from both its shores, but also from its surface. 
 None of the other lakes present so many picturesque beauties to him who sails upon 
 them as this. This arises partly from its superiority of size, its islands, and from the 
 circumstance of its having two vales at its head, with their accompanying mountains. 
 The grandeur of these two terminations can only be seen to advantage from the bosom 
 of the Lake. In addition to the two vales at its head, Windermere communicates 
 with two lateral valleys, those of Troutbeck and Hawkshead. Professor Wilson invokes 
 Winander, after his recovery from a dangerous illness, in some fine lines, in which he 
 awards it a preference over his native lakes of Scotland ; and the hero of the " Excursion" 
 is described as having been an enthusiastic admirer of its beauties. 
 
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WINDERMERE, AFTER THE REGATTA. 
 
 This view is taken from the same point as the preceding plate The annual Regatta 
 has been brought to a close, and we gather from the natural phenomena, so faithfully 
 rendered, that the pleasure-seekers have had a favourable day for their enjoyment; we 
 read, however, in the fleecy cirrus clouds, looking so calm and quiet in the upper regions 
 of the air, that, not far distant, there have been storms, and that " broken weather" may 
 be expected. " A mackerel sky, soon wet and soon dry," is a saying much relied upon 
 by the local inhabitants. The banks of this Lake are rich, and varied in groves, woods, 
 coppices, and corn-fields. The comparatively large valley of Troutbeck stretches away 
 up betwixt the mountains of High Street and Hill Bell; each eminence is cultivated 
 wherever the trees have been cleared away, and numerous villas are visible in the 
 landscape, which, if not always tasteful in form, give indications of life and add variety 
 to the scene. The mansion of Storrs, formerly belonging to John Bolton, and now the 
 property of the Reverend James Staunaway, is seated amid finely-cultivated grounds, 
 extending to the margin of the Lake. Canning, Sir Walter Scott, Wordsworth, Southey, 
 and Wilson, were all visitors at this mansion on the occasion of the Regatta of 1824. 
 " There were," says Mr. Lockhart, in his " Life of Walter Scott," " brilliant cavalcades 
 in the morning, and delicious boatings by moonlight ; and on the last day of their visit 
 Professor Wilson (the Admiral of the Lake, as Canning called him) presided over one 
 of the most splendid regattas that ever enlivened Windermere. There were not fewer 
 than fifty barges following in the Professor's radiant procession when it paused at Storrs, 
 to admit into the place of honour the vessel that carried Mr. Bolton and his distinguished 
 guests. The three Bards of the Lakes led the cheers that hailed Scott and Canning, 
 and music and sunshine, flags, streamers, and gay dresses, the merry hum of voices, and 
 the rapid splashing of innumerable oars, made up a dazzling mixture of sensations as the 
 flotilla wound its way among the richly-foliaged islands, and along bays and promontories, 
 peopled by enthusiastic spectators." 
 
 The shores of Windermere contract somewhat suddenly at Bowness, and between 
 the two promontories a ferry has long been established. Li 1635 a lady and gentleman, 
 who had been to Hawkshead to be married, were lost, with fifty of their followers, on 
 the passage. " Li crossing the water at the ferry," says Mrs. Radclifl'e, " the illusion 
 of vision gave force to the northern mountains, which, viewed from hence, seemed to 
 ascend from the margin and spread around in a magnificent amphitheatre." From the 
 road from Bowness to Ambleside there is a view, to which Professor Wilson declares 
 that there is nothing to compare in the hanging-gardens of Babylon. Here is the widest 
 expanse of water, the richest fore-ground of wood, and the most magnificent back -ground 
 of mountains, not only in Westmoreland, but in all the world. Langdale Pikes are 
 easily recognised ; and on the left of Bow Fell the summit of Scawfell Pike is faintly seen. 
 From the surface of the Lake, near Silver Bow, the peak of Helvellyn is visible. As 
 the outlet of the Lake is approached it narrows rapidly, and becomes literally " Wooded 
 Windermere, the nwr lake." The stream that issues from it takes the name of Leven. 
 
WINDERMERE, FROM ORREST HEAD. 
 
 This comprehensive picture exhibits ahnost the whole of Lake Windermere, the Enghsii 
 Zurich. Seen from this point of view, it has the appearance of a noble river, and a 
 short walk to the heights will repay the tourist with some fine combinations of mountain, 
 wood, and water. The view from Orrest Head is magnificent. Mr. Wordsworth, than 
 whom no one was better acquainted with, or more able to discriminate between the 
 comparative splendour of lake scenes, dwells with enthusiasm on the beauties of Orrest 
 in his journal on the " Projected Kendal and Windermere Railway," and appears to 
 have referred to this neighbourhood in his eloquent denunciation of the projected invasion 
 of its retirement : — 
 
 " Is there no nook of English ground secure 
 
 From rash assault ? Schemes of retirement sown 
 In youth, and 'mid the busy world kept pure 
 
 As when their earliest flow'rs of hope were blown, 
 Must perish ; how can they this blight endure 1 
 
 And must he, too, the ruthless change bemoan 
 Who scorns a false utilitarian lure 
 
 'Mid his paternal fields at random thrown 1 
 Baffle the threat, bright scene from Orrest Head ! 
 
 Given to the pausing traveller's rapturous glance ; 
 Plead for thy peace, thou beautiful romance 
 
 Of nature ; and, if human hearts be dead, 
 Speak, passing winds ; ye torrents, with your strong 
 And constant voice, protest against the wrong ! " 
 
 It must have been a source of consolation to the indignant poet to have learned 
 before he died that the desecration of his favourite scenes, of which he had complained 
 so eloquently, has not proved, in a pecuniary point of view, a very lucrative speculation. 
 In these days of universal progress, the Lakes must share the fate of all places whose 
 attractions are of an order to draw admiring visitors towards them, and we can therefore 
 hardly help sympathising with Mr. Monckton Milnes in his apostrophe to Mr. Wordsworth 
 on the subject of the above sonnet : — 
 
 " The hour may come, — nay, must — in these our days. 
 When the harsh steam-car with the cataract's shout 
 Shall mingle its swift roU, and motley rout 
 Of multitudes these mountain echoes raise. 
 . > And thou, the patriarch of these pleasant ways. 
 
 Canst hardly grudge that crowded streets send out 
 In Sabbath glee the sons of care and doubt, 
 To read these scenes by the light of thy own lays ! 
 
 Disorder'd laughter, and encounter rude. 
 
 The poet's finer sense perchance may pain, 
 
 ■yet many a glade and nook of soUtude, 
 
 For quiet walk and thought, will still remain, 
 
 Where he the poor intruders may elude, 
 
 Nor lose one golden dream for all their homely gain ' " 
 
 Beyond Orrest Head are EUeray, the residence of Professor Wilson; Troutbeck 
 Chapel, commemorated by the same poet; Calgarth, Lowood, and Doves' Nest; the 
 last-mentioned cottage having been for a short time the residence of Mrs. Hemans. 
 The Professor has described the cottage at Elleray in one of his most beautiful poems. 
 
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WINDERMERE WATERHEAD. 
 
 The point of view selected by Mr. Pyne, for this picture, is a space behind the turnpike, 
 on tlie road from Ambleside to the Lake, and we are here presented with one of the 
 wildest scenes of the most important Lake of the district. The principal mountains 
 observable from this locality, are Loughrigg Fell, Langdale Pikes, and Oxen Fell Cross. 
 These, with mountains of minor importance, constitute the picture. The Lake stretches 
 away to the left ; but is shut out from view by the broken foreground. The peculiar 
 cloud and atmospheric effects are happily rendered. The gleam of light in the middle 
 distances gives additional value to the deep purple tone between the clouds and the 
 mountains, and also adds blackness to the rolling masses of vapour. 
 
 Windermere is the largest of the English Lakes, being ten miles in length, and 
 nearly a mile at its greatest breadth. Tlie Rothay and the Brathay, which unite near 
 Croft Lodge, pour their united waters into the head of the Lake. There is a curious 
 fact in ichthyology connected with these rivers. The charr and trout, at the approach 
 of the spawning season, may be seen proceeding, side by side, up to the point where 
 the Rothay and Brathay meet; when they uniformly separate, as if by a mutual 
 understanding, the charr invariably taking the Rothay, and the trout the Brathay. 
 The geologist will, in all probability, account for the anomaly by alleging a difference 
 in the quality of the water of the respective streams originating in the geological pecu- 
 liarities of their beds. Whatever the cause may be, the fact has never been disputed. 
 
 Having entered more in detail into the history of this Lake in the description of 
 engravings, which present more extended views of its waters and banks, in another 
 part of this work, we must refer our readers to them for the general characteristics of 
 its scenery. 
 
 The form of the Lake, says Mr. Wordsworth, is most perfect when it least resembles 
 that of a river, — that is, when being looked at from any given point where the whole 
 may be seen at once, its width bears such a proportion to its length, that, however the 
 outline may be diversified, it never assumes the shape of a river, but is a body of still 
 water, under the influence of no current ; reflecting, therefore, the clouds, the light, 
 and all the imagery of the sky and the mountains around it; yielding to the lightest 
 breeze, but being subject only to tlie agitation of the winds. Although liable, from 
 its great length and comparatively narrow width, to this objection, when viewed from 
 some elevated point, commanding its entire surface, there is much diversity in Winder- 
 mere Lake ; and its islands, and richly-wooded shores, and impending mountains, prevent 
 the view from becoming, under any phase, or from whatever point, monotonous. 
 
 There is a beautiful cluster of islands in the Lake, on one of which (Chapel Holm) 
 there was formerly an oratory, consecrated to the Virgin; as there was, about the 
 same era, a chantry, in which mass used to be sung, on St. Herbert's Island, Derwent- 
 water. The cluster of islands on that lake is, however, greatly inferior in beauty to that 
 of Windermere. 
 
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RYDAL WATER. 
 
 There is no ^ scene throughout tlie English Lake District, with which such intellectual 
 recollections are associated as with Rydal Water. Although one of the smallest of the 
 lakes, it is far from being tlie least picturesque ; but it derives its chief interest from 
 its connexion with tlie name of the greatest of our modem poets, William Wordsworth. 
 The painter might have been gifted with a prophetic vision in having invested the scene 
 with so solemn a character. Lake and mountain are in mourning. He who lias given 
 a deathless fame to the spot is himself dead. All that was mortal of the poet reposes 
 in peace ; but his spirit still lives, and his words of simplicity and truth will speak to 
 men through all time. The view is taken from the foot of the lake, and represents 
 the sun as setting behind Silver How. 
 
 Rydal Mere is about a mile and a half from Ambleside, and some sixteen miles from 
 Keswick. The Lake scenery on the whole is bare of trees ; the neighbourhood of Rydal 
 forms, however, an exception to the rule: for, notwithstanding the havoc that has been 
 made among " the fathers of the forest" elsewhere, Rydal Mount is still nobly wooded. 
 Rydal Mere is, from its position, peculiarly liable to be disturbed by storms. Mr. Words- 
 worth witnessed a storm upon it, on one occasion, that seemed to carry its waves from 
 their bed into the sky ; sending up to a vast height, from time to time, columns of water 
 like an Icelandic Geyser, or boiling fountain. 
 
 Rydal Mount, destined to be for ever associated in our minds with the poetry of 
 English Lake scenery, as the residence for thirty-seven years of William Wordsworth, 
 is situated on the sloping side of a rocky hill called "Nab Scar," — that is to say, the 
 nose-like rock or scar. The form of the house, which is far from picturesque, has long 
 been made familiar to poetical readers by a vignette prefixed to a recent edition of 
 Mr. Wordsworth's works. Rydal Mount is built of stone, obtained in the neighboui-- 
 hood ; somewhat rudely, it is true ; but its rough, weather-beaten aspect accords so 
 much the better with the scenery around it. It has been remarked, that houses built 
 with the stone of the district accord best with the local landscape — they are more in 
 " keeping." This is a fact worthy of consideration by those about to build. The approach 
 is by a flight of stone steps, which leads to a small semicircular area of grey gravel, 
 bordered with shrubs and flowers. The house, completing the diameter of the circle, 
 is plain in elevation. It presents a front with two tiers of five windows each. The east 
 gable is lighted on the ground-floor by the window of the old hall, and is of considerably 
 earlier date than other parts of the building. From its front may be seen Lake Winder- 
 mere. The stone steps in front of the house lead directly to a sloping terrace, about 
 two hundred and fifty feet long. Beneath the wall of this terrace is a level walk, 
 formerly a favourite resort of the poet, ^^oth these terraces command beautiful views 
 of the vale of the Rothay and the banks of Lake Windermere. The ascending terrace 
 leads -to an arbour lined with fir-cones, from which is obtained a view of the lower 
 end of Rydal Lake, and of the long, wooded, and rocky hill of Loughrigg, beyond 
 and above it. The " Far Terrace," after taking a serpentine direction for about a 
 hundred and fifty feet, terminates with a little gate, beyond which is a beautiful spring 
 of water, also immortalised by the Poet's Muse. Inscriptions are placed in various parts 
 of the grounds ; but, with a single exception, they are hardly worthy the poet's genius. 
 Wordsworth removed from Grasmere to Rydal in 1813, and continued to reside there 
 until his death in 1850. The Artist took his sketch a month before this event. 
 
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GRASMERE, FROM LOUGHRIGG FELL. 
 
 This scene is passed on the coach-road to Keswick, and has been taken from Loughrigg 
 Fell. The Lake is about one mile and a quarter in length, and one-third of a mile in 
 breadth. It has a single island in the centre. At Helm Crag there are numerous 
 erratic blocks of great size, as there are in many other districts of the Lakes. Learned 
 men of olden time have been sorely puzzled by their existence, and have fancied them 
 into a variety of eccentric forms. The geologist knows that they owe their position 
 and arrangement to primeval bergs and floes of ice, either when old Ocean swept the 
 submerged viiles, or when glaciers ground the lofty crags. In these mountains there 
 are indisputable geological evidences of both conditions. A quiet of evening is finely 
 embodied ; the descending sun is shedding its beams in slanting rays ; night is creeping 
 through the valleys and " about the ditches ; " black shadows clothe the mountains' sides. 
 The tourist will at once recognise the poetic truth of this rendering of the scene. 
 
 Wordswortli and his sister resided for eight years in a cottage at Grasmere, afterwards 
 occupied by Mr. De Quincey ; which cottage still exists, and is situated on the right 
 of what was formerly the coach-road to Ambleside, at a part of the village called the 
 Town End. The house-front faces Grasmere Lake.' Many of Wordsworth's poems 
 were written in this locality. 
 
 The character of the eastern shore of Grasmere Lake has undergone considerable 
 alteration since Wordsworth resided in the adjacent village. The grove at the north-east 
 end of the Lake was, in a great measure, destroyed by turning the highroad along 
 this side of the water. The few trees that are left standing were spared at Wordsworth's 
 intercession. The Poet and his sister took possession of their cottage at Grasmere on 
 St. Thomas's Day, 1799, and in that modest residence mariy of his most popular poems 
 were written. He has described the church, an ancient structure, with much fidelity, 
 in "The Excursion." From this cottage he removed, in 1811, to the Parsonage, and 
 thence, in 1813, to RydaJ, having lived in the Vale of Grasmere twelve years. The 
 Poet Gray visited Grasmere in 1769, and describes it with great enthusiasm. " The 
 bosom of the mountains (says he) spreading here into a broad basin, discovers in the 
 midst Grasmere Water. Its margin is hollowed into small bays, with bold eminences, 
 some of rock, some of soft turf, that half conceal and vary the figures of the little lake 
 they command. From the shore a low promontory pushes itself far into the water, and 
 on it stands a white village, with the parish church rising in the midst of it. Hanging 
 enclosures, cornfields, and meadows green as an emerald, with their trees, and hedges, 
 and cattle, fill up tlie whole space from the edge of the water. Not a single red tile, no 
 flaring gentleman's house or garden walls, break in upon the repose of this little unsus- 
 pected paradise; but all is peace, rusticity, and happy poverty in its neatest and most 
 becoming attire." 
 
 The descent from Langdale to the Vale of Grasmere has been described by Words- 
 worth ; and Wilson, in his " City of the Plague,"' has given us a charming calotype of 
 Grasmere Churchyard : — 
 
 " A vernal spot, 
 Enclosed with wooded rocks, where a few graves 
 Lie sheltered, sleeping in eternal calm. 
 Go thither when you will, and that sweet spot 
 Is bright with sunshine." 
 
 ' " Oras-mere," the Green Lake. 
 
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BROTHERS' WATER. 
 
 This lake, or rather large tarn, lies in a huge niche of the mountains on the road 
 leading from Ambleside to Patterdale, and is said to have derived its name from the 
 fact of two brothers having been drowned in it whilst skating. The Lake is represented 
 as frozen over; and, notwithstanding the fatality to which it is said to owe its name, 
 the adventurous skater is daring danger in pursuit of his exhilarating exercise. A deep 
 and mournful gloom pervades the vale, and shadows the glassy pool ; the retiring sun 
 gilds the upper peaks and crags, denoting the speedy close of day. Mr. Wordsworth 
 has published a poem, written at the foot of Brothers' Water, in which the well-known 
 lines occur: — 
 
 " The cattle are grazing, 
 
 Their heads never raising ; 
 There are forty feeding like one." 
 
 On descending from Kirkstone towards Patterdale the road passes close to Brothers' 
 Water. Wordsworth has a poem on the Pass of Kirkstone,. in which he alludes to 
 
 " The block, and yon, whose church-like frame 
 Gives to the savage pass its name." 
 
 Professor Sedgwick says of the erratic blocks which everywhere abound in the Lake 
 District, that many of them, though lying bare upon the surface and exposed to all 
 the action of this damp climate, still clink under the hammer, and hardly show more 
 signs of decay than an Egyptian obelisk. One thing is, he assures us, certain, — that 
 by whatever cause they were carried across our valleys and over our mountains, their 
 dispersion took place at a comparatively recent date — after the creation of the human 
 race. The character of the scenery in this neighbourhood is thus described by Words- 
 worth : — 
 
 " Where, save the rugged road, we find 
 No appanage of human kind ; 
 Nor hint of man, if stone or rock 
 Seem not his handy-work to mock 
 By something cognizably shaped ; 
 Mockery, or model, roughly hewn, 
 Or from the flood escaped ; 
 Altars for Druid service fit 
 (But where no fire was ever lit, 
 Unless the glow-worm to the skies 
 Thence ofier nightly sacrifice) ; 
 Wrinkled Egyptian monument ; 
 Green moss-grown tower, or hoary tent ; 
 Tents of a camp that never shall be razed, 
 On which four thousand years have gazed." 
 
 On descending Kirkstone towards Patterdale a view of Brothers' Water and the 
 heights of Patterdale is obtained. The road runs close to the Lake for some distance, 
 and then turns at right angles across the meadows. 
 

HA WES WATER AND WALLERGILL FORCE. 
 
 This small Lake, three miles long by half a mile broad, is seldom visited, whilst the 
 waterfall is almost unknown. There are, however, few finer or more picturesque views 
 in the entire district. The Lake and Fall are both seen from one point. The view 
 is taken from the west side of the Lake, and the mountains behind Mardale Head 
 are seen closing in the distance. The rocks and falling water are rendered with great 
 truth and power: we see the rush and almost hear the sound. The best approach 
 to Hawes Water is through Long Sleddale, a deep narrow valley turning somewhat 
 westward into the mountains. " This Lake," says Mr. Wordsworth, " is a sort of lesser 
 Ulleswater, with this advantage, that it remains undefiled by the intrusion of bad taste ; " 
 and, from the remoteness of its situation, is long likely to remain so. The eastern bank 
 is clothed by natural wood, of no great size or beauty, but richly feathering the hill-side 
 and shore of the Lake. We pass along to it by narrow lanes, enclosed by thickly- 
 lichened walls, tufted with wild flowers, and crested by hedges. A narrow band of 
 limestone crosses the valley, the shales of which abound with Lower Silurian fossils. 
 
 Hawes Water is almost divided by the projection of a promontory of cultivated land 
 from its north-west side, which leaves a width of little more than from two hundred 
 and fifty to three hundred yards. Its head is encompassed by lofty mountains, but 
 they exhibit less variety of outline than those of Derwent Water and Ulleswater. Its 
 eastern side is bounded by Naddle Forest, the lower part completely wooded ; beyond 
 which the hill-side is dotted with aged thorns. The western side is more cultivated. 
 Opposite the head of the Lake, Castle Crag is a prominent feature of the landscape. 
 The fish of this lake, trout, perch, and eels, are preserved by the Lowther family, to 
 whom Hawes Water belongs.' 
 
 " Its eastern shore," says Mrs. Anne Radcliffe, " rises on a tremendous ridge of 
 rocks, darkened with wood to the summit, and appears to terminate in Wallow Crag, 
 a promontory of towering height, beyond which the Lake winds from the view. The 
 finely-broken mountains on the west are covered with heath, and their tops impend 
 in crags and precipices, but their descent from the water is less sudden than that of 
 the opposite rocks, and they are skirted by a narrow margin of vivid green, on which 
 cattle are feeding; and tufted shrubs and little grove? overhang the Lake, and are 
 reflected in its dark surface." As we wind along the banks a second expanse is disclosed, 
 with scenery yet more towering and sublime. The view appears to be terminated by 
 the huge mountain called Castle Street. Among the rocks at the entrance of a glen, 
 almost choked with fragments from the heights, stands the chapel of Martindale. Among 
 the Fells of this dark prospect, are Lathale, Helter Crag, Castle Crag, and Riggindale ; 
 their bold outlines appearing beyond each other as they fall into the upper part of the 
 Lake, some of them exhibiting only masses of shattered rock. Kidslow Pike is pre- 
 eminent among the crowding summits beyond the eastern spire ; whilst in the west. High 
 Street, which overlooks the head of Ulleswater, is the most dignified of the mountains. 
 
 ' The ghost of James Lowther, the first Earl of Lonsdale, is said to haunt the promontory of this 
 Lake ; and, if as a purgatorial punishment, that of the late Earl ought to undergo a similar penance for 
 keeping the Poet Wordsworth so long out of his little patrimony. The obstmacy of the father has, 
 however, been nobly atoned for by the generosity of the son ; who not only acquitted the poet's claim, 
 but heaped numerous benefits upon him. 
 
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LANGDALE PIKES. 
 
 This view is taken looking due north from Blea Tarn, a lakelet on little Langdale. 
 The name Tai-n implies a small sheet of water, usually high up among the mountains. 
 Langdale Pikes are seen through a vapoury haze, which imparts a purple tint to their 
 porphyritic sides ; the rugged summit outline is, however, sharp and well defined. The 
 prevailing character of the rocks to the right is rendered with clearness, decision, and 
 truth. The higher Pike is designated Harrison Stickle, and is 2400 feet in height; 
 the lower one is known as Pike o' Stickle, and is of some hundred feet less elevation. 
 Stickle signifies an abrupt, sharp, pyramidical peak ; from the German word stachel, a 
 sharp point. The crystalline and coloured rocks are in keeping with the mountain 
 vegetation, which is faithfully depicted. Little Langdale and Blea Tani may be 
 approached by car. The landscape has been described by Wordsworth, Coleridge, and 
 Wilson. The last-mentioned poet says, — "Sweeter stream scenery, with richer fore- 
 ground and loftier background, is nowhere to be seen within the four seas." 
 
 Blea Tarn has been commemorated by Mr. Wordsworth in his "Excursion." He 
 supposes the spectator to look down upon it, not from the road, but from one of its elevated 
 sides : — 
 
 " Beneath our feet a little lowly vale, 
 A lowly vale, and yet uplifted high 
 Among the mountains ; even as if the spot 
 Had been from eaiiiest time, by wish of theirs, 
 So placed to bo shut out from all the world ! 
 Urn-like it was in shape — deep as an urn, 
 With rocks encompassed, save that on the south 
 Was one small opening, where a heath-clad ridge 
 Supplied a boundary less abrupt and close ; 
 A quiet, treeless nook, with two green iields, 
 A liquid pool that glittered in the sun. 
 And one bare dwelling — one abode, no more !" 
 
 It is, however, no longer "treeless," several plantations having been formed in its 
 neighbourhood, which are progressing satisfactorily. 
 
 At this point, the highest Pike is about three miles from the eye, and Stickle Pike, 
 which recedes towards the Pass of the Stake into Borrowdale, is about four. The 
 towering rock between the two Pikes is called Gimmer Crag. From Stickle Pike there 
 is a fine view of Skiddaw and the Vale of Bassenthwaite ; the former of which is seen 
 but partially, and the latter not at all, from Harrison Stickle. Great Gable rears its 
 head to the west; Great End is a little nearer the eye; Scawfell, 3166 feet high, and 
 "The Pikes," 3100 feet high, are pre-eminent over the summit of Bowfell. Crinkle 
 ^rags are a continuation of Bowfell on the south, and on, the south-west are Coniston 
 Mountains ; on the east are the mountains of Rydal and Grasmere ; and on the north-east 
 rises the "dark brow of the mighty Helvellyn." 
 
 Coleridge alludes to the mountain echoes, and a local superstition connected with 
 Langdale Pikes, in some lines, which our limits will not permit us to quote ; Wordsworth 
 refers to them more than once in his poems. 
 
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THIRLEMERE OR WYTHEBURN. 
 
 Thielemere is sometimes described as Wytheburn "Water and sometimes as Leathes 
 Water. It is called Leatlies Water from having been for many generations the property 
 of the family of the Leathes or Laithes, of Dalehead ; and occasionally Wythebum, after 
 the village of that name on its banks. Its borders are not wooded like those of other 
 lakes, with the exception of a few fir-plantations, which only tend to increase the gloomi- 
 ness of the scene. There is an air of solemn grandeur about the valley, which is highly 
 poetical, and which continues with little change for several miles, when, leaving Helvellyn 
 behind, it opens on the vale of St. John. From the road, about a mile distant from 
 Keswick, at the top of Castlerigg Brow, one of the richest scenes is gradually unfolded 
 that can be enjoyed from any carriage-road in the north of England. Thirlemere is a 
 comparatively small sheet of water ; one mile broad at its greatest width ; its length, two 
 and three-quarter miles; its greatest depth, 108 feet; and its surface, 473 feet above 
 medium tide level. It washes the base of Helvellyn. 
 
 The ascent of Helvellyn is frequently made from the comfortable little inn at Wythe- 
 bum. Thirlemere is fed chiefly by two streams: one rising in Wythebum Head, and 
 the other issuing out of Harrop Tarn; a marshy pool of considerable size high up on 
 the western side of the valley. From Wythebum Chapel the carriage-road winds by 
 the base of Helvellyn and the margin of the lake. 
 
 In some fine lines, the leading idea of which is borrowed from Drayton's " Polyolbion," 
 Mr. Wordsworth thus describes the effect of the echoes among the mountains in this 
 vicinity. A young lady (whose lungs must have been tolerably vigorous) " laughed 
 aloud:"— 
 
 " The rock, like something starting from a sleep, 
 Took up the lady's voice and laughed again ; 
 That ancient woman seated on Helmcrag 
 Was ready with her cavern ; Hammarscar, 
 And the tall steep of Silver Bow, sent forth 
 A noise of laughter ; southern Loughrigg heard, 
 And Fairfield answered with a mountain tone ; 
 Helvellyn far into the clear blue sky 
 Carried the lady's voice ; old Skiddaw blew 
 His speaking-trumpet ; back out of the clouds 
 Of Glaramara, southward, came the voice ; 
 And Kirkstone toss'd it from its misty head." 
 
 Scott has a similar but even finer passage in " Marmion," describing the echoes of a 
 convent-bell. 
 
 The view of Thirlemere, which has afforded an excuse for this digression, represents 
 a most charming assemblage of valley, hill, lake, and mountain scenery. The huge 
 erratic rocks to the right of the picture, were probably floated to their present destination 
 in vast icebergs, or were torn from their mountain-beds by the moving avalanche, 
 incalculable ages since. The family group, with their canvas-tent, breathe of present 
 quietude and peace. The stream that issues from Thirlemere passes through the vale 
 of St. John, the scene of Sir Walter Scott's " Bridal of Triermain." Helvellyn has 
 supplied a theme to the muses of Wordsworth, Scott, Southey, Coleridge, Procter, and 
 other less popular poets. 
 
<1 
 
ULLESWATER, FROM GOWBARROW PARK. 
 
 This Lake, which is nine miles in length, is partitioned by mountains into three separate 
 reaches, and resembles in some respects, in form, the letter Z. The middle reach is 
 somewhat the longest of the three, on the north of which is situated Gowbarrow Park. 
 The season of the year in which this picture has been painted is evidently autumn, as 
 is indicated by the richly-coloured, though fading foliage. The foreground represents 
 a scene of sylvan beauty ; the fallen oak, stripped of its bark, and partially divested of 
 its massive branches, lies prostrate ; the waggon has been loaded, and the weary woodmen 
 indulge in a few moments' rest. The quiet Lake, closed in by mountains and presenting 
 a most picturesque outline, is seen in the middle distance, reflecting its banks and the sky. 
 Gowbarrow Park comprises upwards of a thousand acres, and combines " many a grace 
 of forest charms decayed." Only a small portion of Ulleswater is seen in this picture; 
 as, although the district abounds with sites of interest, and scenes of grandeur or beauty, 
 there is no single point which combines more than is here presented to view. 
 
 With the exception of Windermere, Ulleswater is the largest of the English Lakes. 
 There are several roads by which it may be approached, of which three are fi-om Keswick ; 
 but the route usually selected is that. from Ambleside to the celebrated Pass of Kirkstone. 
 The Lake of Ulleswater is four hundred and sixty feet above the level of the sea ; that 
 is to say, three hundred and forty feet higher than Windermere. Mr. Wordsworth 
 recommends the tourist to approach this Lake by Pooley Bridge, along the Westmoreland 
 side of the water towards Martindale. He has immortalised the Pass of Kirkstone in a 
 poem to which we have elsewhere referred. The average depth of Ulleswater is said 
 to be thirty-five fathoms. Mr. Wordsworth relates an instance of atmospheric illusion 
 in regard to this Lake, which deserves to be recorded. Walking, one September 
 morning, by its banks, he saw, deep within its bosom, what seemed to him a magnificent 
 castle, with towers and battlements, perfectly clear and distinct. It was, in fact, the 
 reflection of Lyulph's Tower, the turrets and battlements being so magnified as to be 
 scarcely recognisable. Similar effects have been seen in the larger foreign lakes. In 
 that of Geneva, for example, the reflection of Mont Blanc, though entirely out of sight 
 of the naked eye, may sometimes be observed. 
 
 The waterfall of Airy, or Ara Force, in this neighbourhood, is the scene of Mr. 
 Wordsworth's beautiful poem, " The Somnambulist," in which a knightly lover arrives 
 from the wars only in time to see his betrothed walking in a trance by the side of the 
 torrent. In his attempt to awaken her, she is precipitated into the water, and although 
 rescued by her betrothed and restored to consciousness, dies in his arms a few moments 
 afterwards. 
 

 
WAST WATER. 
 
 This picture is taken from a point about a mile from the bottom of the Lake. " Wast 
 Water "' is not often visited by tourists, being out of the beaten track, and not presenting 
 those charming vai-ieties to be found in the more approachable scenes. There is, 
 however, much of that savage grandeur wliich Salvator Rosa delighted to depict — bare 
 rocks, dark, shadowed water, wild-looking, sombre clouds, half hiding mountains, 
 valley, and lake — birds float midway up the mountains' sides, and yet are almost 
 lost to sight in transparent air, so vast is the scenery in this, the grandest Lake of the 
 district. The lower end of the Lake is comparatively flat and tame ; on the right, the 
 " screes" (loose stones lying on the face of steeps, at the foot of the precipice from 
 which they have fallen) rise up in one unbroken line from the water to a height of 
 many hundred feet. At the head of the Lake is Wast Dale, and some distance inland 
 may be seen Great Gable, Great End, "The Pikes," and Fen Fell. This scene is 
 represented under its characteristic feature ; gloom and storm are gathering in the 
 distance ; a dark curtain of shadow is more than half drawn. 
 
 The Lake is about three and a half miles in length by half a mile broad ; its extreme 
 depth is said to be about 270 feet. The rocks, bare of vegetation, from their loose 
 nature and abrupt slopes, impart an air of desolation to the scenery* 
 
 There are some magnificent views from Sty Head Pass, which is at the head of 
 Wast Dale. The finest view of the lake and valley combined is the one here represented. 
 Sty Head is 1250 feet above the level of the sea; it is, in fact, the lower shoulder of 
 Scawfell, the loftiest mountain in the Lake district. The road to Wast Dale and Wast 
 Water descends from the pass of Sty Head down the side of " Great Gable." The 
 lower end of the Lake has few attractions, and tourists are accordingly recommended 
 to proceed upwards from that direction, in order that they may enjoy a full view 
 of the sublimities that encompass it towards its head. Eskdale, Birker Force, and 
 Stanley Gill Waterfalls, are usually visited from this neighbourhood. 
 
 Mr. Wordsworth mentions a magnificent sunset which he watched from opposite 
 the lofty precipice at Wast Water which is called the Screes: — "The ridge of it was 
 broken into sundry points, and along them, and partly along the valley of the steep, 
 went driving a procession of yellow vapoury clouds from the sea quarter towards the 
 mountain Scawfell. Their colour I have called yellow ; but it was exquisitely varied, 
 and the shapes of the rocks on the summit of the ridge varied with the density or 
 thinness of the vapour. The effect was most enchanting, for right above was steadfastly 
 fixed a beautiful rainbow." - 
 
 There is a simplicity and severity about Wast Water which is not to be found in 
 any of the neighbouring lakes, excepting perhaps that of Ennerdale, which is equally 
 barren, but inferior in the height and ruggedness of its mountain boundaries. Wast 
 Water is seen to most advantage on approaching it from the open country by the 
 strands at its foot, rather than by Sty Head ; the latter road enters Wast Dale at the 
 head of the Lake, and can only be taken on foot or on horseback. As, however, the 
 path is in many places ill-defined, it were well not to attempt it without a guide, 
 
 ' " Wast Water," wild or waste water. ' Letter to Lady Frederick Bentinck. 
 
THE VALES OF ENNERDALE AND BUTTERMERE. 
 
 We have here one of the grandest scenes in the whole of the Lake District The view 
 has been taken from a point situated between Great Gable and Honister Crag. Tc 
 the right, we have a small mountain tarn; next, Buttermere, Crummoch Water, and 
 Lowes Water ; the extreme distance being bounded by the Solway Frith. Having 
 elsewhere described Buttermere, Crummoch Water, and Lowes Water, we will venture 
 to occupy the space left us in the present page with statistics of the mountains of the 
 Lake District : — 
 
 Names of .Mouut.iius. 
 
 Heijtht 
 in Feet. 
 
 County. 
 
 Names of Mountains. 
 
 Heisht 
 in Feet. 
 
 County. 
 
 Scawfell Pike - 
 
 3166 
 
 Cumberland. 
 
 Pike of Stickle' - 
 
 2300 
 
 Westmoreland. 
 
 Soawfell - 
 
 3100 
 
 Cumberland. 
 
 Carrock Fell 
 
 2U0 
 
 Cumberland. 
 
 Helvellyn 
 
 3055 
 
 ( Cumberland and 
 / Westmoreland. 
 
 High Pike, Caldbeck Fells 
 Causey Pike 
 
 2101 
 2030 
 
 Cumberland. 
 Cumberland. 
 
 Skiddaw - - - 
 
 3022 
 
 Cumberland. 
 
 Black Combe 
 
 1919 
 
 Cumberland. 
 
 Fairfield - 
 
 2950 
 
 Westmoreland. 
 
 Lord's Seat 
 
 1728 
 
 Cumberland. 
 
 Great Gable - 
 
 2925 
 
 Cumberland. 
 
 Honister Crag - 
 
 1700 
 
 Cumberland. 
 
 Bowfell - 
 
 2914 
 
 Westmoreland. 
 
 Wansfell - 
 
 1590 
 
 Westmoreland. 
 
 Rydal Head - 
 
 2910 
 
 Westmoreland. 
 
 Whinfell Beacon • 
 
 1500 
 
 Westmoreland. 
 
 Pillar - 
 
 2893 
 
 Cumberland. 
 
 Cat Bell - 
 
 1448 
 
 Cumberland. 
 
 Saddleback 
 
 2787 
 
 Cumberland. 
 
 Latrigg - - . 
 
 1160 
 
 Cumberland. 
 
 Grassmoor 
 
 2756 
 
 Cumberland. 
 
 Dent Hill - 
 
 1110 
 
 Cumberland. 
 
 Red Pike 
 
 2750 
 
 Cumberland. 
 
 Benson Knot 
 
 1098 
 
 Westmoreland. 
 
 High Street - 
 
 2700 
 
 Westmoreland. 
 
 Loughrigg Fell - 
 
 1108 
 
 Westmoreland. 
 
 Grisodale Pike - 
 
 2680 
 
 Cumberland. 
 
 Penrith Beacon - 
 
 1020 
 
 Cumberland. 
 
 Coniston Old Man - 
 
 2577 
 
 Lancashire. 
 
 MellFell - 
 
 1000 
 
 Cumberland. 
 
 Hill Bell - 
 
 2500 
 
 Westmoreland. 
 
 Kendal Fell 
 
 648 
 
 Westmoreland. 
 
 Harrison Stickle' - 
 
 2400 
 
 Westmoreland. 
 
 Scilly Bank 
 
 500 
 
 Cumberland. 
 
 The following are the principal Mountain Passes : — 
 
 Names of Mountain PiLsses. 
 
 Sty Head ------- 
 
 Haws, between Buttermere Dale and Newlands 
 Kirkstone ------- 
 
 Haws, between Buttermere and Borrowdale - 
 Dunmail Raise ------ 
 
 Height 
 in Feet. 
 
 1250 
 1160 
 1200 
 1100 
 729 
 
 County. 
 
 Cumberland. 
 
 Cumberland. 
 
 Westmoreland. 
 
 Cimiberland. 
 
 Cumberland and Westmoreland. 
 
 Tlie mountains of tlie Lake District which are oftenest ascended by tourists are 
 Scawfell, Helvellyn, Skiddaw, Coniston Old Man, and Langdale Pikes. Wordsworth 
 has a beautiful sonnet in honour of British mountains: — 
 
 " Pelion and Ossa flourished side by side, 
 
 Together in immortal books enrolled : 
 
 His ancient dower Olympus hath not sold, 
 And that aspiring hill which did divide 
 Into two ample horns his forehead wide, 
 
 Shines with poetic radiance as of old ; 
 
 While not an English mountain we behold 
 By the celestial Muses glorified ! 
 
 Yet round our sea-girt shores they rise in crowds. 
 What was the great Parnassus' self to thee, 
 Mount Skiddaw 1 In its natural sovereignty 
 
 Our British hill is nobler ; far he shrouds 
 
 His double front amid Atlantic clouds, 
 And pours forth streams more sweet than Castaly !" 
 
 Wordsworth, Soutliey, Wilson, S. T. Coleridge, and his son Hartley, Scott, Lamb, 
 Procter (Barry Cornwall), with many other bards of minor note, have rendered their 
 liomage to our English mountains. 
 
 ' Harrison Stickle and Pike of Stickle are better known by the designation of Laugdala Pikes. 
 
\ 
 
ENNEEDALE LAKE. 
 
 This view is taken from the foot of the Lake ; Great Gable, 2925 feet high, may be 
 seen from the middle of the Lake. The chief object in the centre of the picture is 
 the Pillar, 2893 feet high. This mountain is almost wholly composed of green stone. 
 The steep, abrupt, and rugged rocks to the right, are irruptive matters, igneous in 
 their character ; and are composed of red felspar, with quartz interspersed. Distinct 
 hornblend is rarely observable ; but there is a variable admixture of soft mineral, 
 alternating in colour betwixt green and yellow. The rocks of Ennerdale are of the 
 same mineralogical character as the felopathic masses of the Vale of St. John. Some 
 of these rocks have been forced through the middle slates in a molten state, cracks 
 and fissures of the slate being filled by compact felopathic and porphyritic rock. The 
 geological features of a district may seem to have little to do with a pictorial representa- 
 tion of the scene; but if these few hints should induce a single careless observer of 
 nature to become a thoughtful and studious examinant of the wonders beneath his 
 feet, around and above him, in cloud and sky, they will not have been offered in 
 vain. The material composing the mountains of the Lake District, lay, at some remote 
 period of the planetary history, quiescent, fathoms deep, until piled gravity kindled into 
 fresh activity those ever-living fires which lift new lands to their birth, as old ocean, 
 sunlight, mists, frosts, avalanche, rain, and rivers, waste the upper, to feed the lower 
 masses of the solid crust. 
 
 Ennerdale is not so much visited as the more accessible lakes. The roads to it are 
 difficult, and there is a wild barrenness in its neighbourhood which prevents permanent 
 residence : there is, accordingly, a deficiency of the accommodation demanded for numer- 
 ous visitors. The Lake is about nine miles to the east of Whitehaven, and four miles 
 south of Loweswater. It is two and a half miles long, by three-quarters of a mile in 
 its greatest breadth; and about eighty feet in its greatest depth. The surface of the 
 water is upwards of 200 feet above the sea. The small stream which enters at its head 
 is called the Liza. The river issuing from the Lake is named the Ehen. Water is taken 
 from this river some two miles below to supply the town of Whitehaven. It is singularly 
 pure and soft ; having only about one degree of hardness, Thames water having sixteen 
 degrees. 
 
 The pedestrian may traverse the whole length of the vale, and he will find, at the 
 upper end of the Lake, that the mountains form magnificent groups, wild, lonely, and 
 desolate. A shepherd's path has been trodden along the banks of the Liza. Butter- 
 meredale may be reached from Ennerdale. There is a road over a pass, called the 
 Scarf Gap, into Buttermere, but it is seldom attempted; the want of halting-places for 
 refreshment and shelter rendering the excursion troublesome, if not perilous, in stormy 
 weather. The most convenient road, although the longest, is by Lamplugh, where 
 (iiere is a comfortable little hostelry, called the Boat-House. The upper part of 
 Ennerdale is entitled the Vale of Gillerthwaite. 
 
 The meteorology of this district is no less interesting than its geology. On the 
 summit of Great Gable* there is a small hollow in the rock never free from water, 
 having no subterranean spring, but being fed by vapour. 
 
 ' " Great Gable." resembling the gable-end of a house. 
 
BUTTERMERE. 
 
 This view is taken from the higher part of the village, looking up and over the Lake 
 towards Honister Crag. The painter has depicted a storm coming on. Dark clouds 
 cap the mountains, and rain is falling. The poor sheep flee instinctively from the 
 warring elements. There is no wilder scenery in the Lake District than that which 
 surrounds Buttermere. The Lake, which is a mile and a quarter in length, and some- 
 what more than half a mile in breadth, is bounded on the east by Buttermere Moss 
 and Great Robinson ; and on the west by the Haystacks (so called from their peculiar 
 form). High Crag, High Stile, and Red Pike; whilst Fleetwith and Honister Crag, 
 at the head of the Lake, seem to shut out all communication southwards. At the north 
 end, or outlet, it is separated from Crummoch Water by meadows, woods, and hedge- 
 rows, over which are seen, in the distance, Lowes Water and Lorton. 
 
 The geology of this district is very interesting. Red Pyke is a huge syenitic mass, 
 and the greater portion of the chain of rugged hills between Buttermere, Crummoch 
 Water, Lowes Water, and Ennerdale, are irruptive igneous masses, which have been 
 forced through the middle slates in a molten state, as in some parts they have overspread 
 them. These irruptive rocks are composed mostly of red felspar, with quartz interspersed. 
 Syenite is a compound granular rock, composed of quartz, hornblend, and felspar. It 
 differs from granite only in containing hornblend instead of mica. The name is from 
 Syene, in Upper Egypt. Many of the monuments and statues of that wonderful country 
 are cut in syenite. Felspar is composed of silex, alumine, lime, and potash. There are 
 many beautiful varieties of felspar in this neighbourhood. 
 
 During winter, the inhabitants of the village of Buttennere and vales are (by falls 
 of snow) frequently shut out (or in) from the rest of the world for weeks at a time. The 
 waters of the Lake, being overshadowed by its barrier mountains, are black and sullen- 
 looking ; the whole scenery is calculated to inspire grand and solemn impressions. The 
 melancholy story of Mary, "the beauty of Buttermere," is calculated to add interest 
 to the scene. 
 
 To visit Scale Force, in its immediate vicinity, with any degree of comfort, requires 
 half a day. The road on foot is rough, mossy, and wet, if the low-land is chosen ; 
 and rough, rocky, and dangerous, if the excursionist selects higher ground. The waterfall 
 is in a gloomy chasm, formed by what geologists tenn a dyke or fault There is no 
 great body of water, excepting during or immediately after rain ; but, much or little, it 
 is at all times projected from a fearful height, and is broken into spray and mist before 
 it reaches the base of the fall. The botanist will find, in this locality, many common 
 and some rare specimens of ferns and mosses, elegant in form, graceful in outline, and 
 rich in colour. 
 
 The artist has depicted faithfullv the visible outlines of the landscape from a select 
 point of sight; but there is also sometnmg of the poetry of nature conveyed in his 
 representation of the scene. 
 
CEUMMOCH WATER. 
 
 This Lake is about three miles long by three quarters of a mile wide. Its extreme depth 
 is one hundred and thirty-two feet. The grand mountain forms of the Vale of Butter- 
 mere are seen to advantage from this point of view. Passing under the hills Whiteless, 
 Ladhouse, Grassmore, and Whiteside, Mellbreak presents a striking aspect on the opposite 
 shore. From the foot of the last-mentioned mountain a nari'ow promontory extends into 
 the Lake, the extremity of which, when the waters are swollen, becomes an island. 
 Before Scale Hill is reached, there is a pleasing view of the sylvan valley of Lorton, 
 immortalised by Wordsworth on account of its " solitary yew : " — 
 
 "There is a yew-tree, pride of Lorton vale, Perhaps at earlier Cressy or Poictiers. 
 
 Which to this day stands single in the midst Of vast circumference and gloom profound, 
 
 Of its own darkness, as it stood of yore. This solitary tree ! a living thing 
 
 Nor loath to furnish weapons for the bands Produced too slowly ever to decay ; 
 
 Of Umfraville or Percy, ere they marched Of forms and aspect too magnificent 
 To Scotland's heaths ; or those that crossed the sea To be destroyed." 
 And drew their sounding bows at Agincourt ; 
 
 There are some fine remains of yew-trees in the Lake country, — witness those of 
 Lorton, Borrowdale, and Patterdale ; although they will bear no comparison with tliose 
 at Ankerwyke House, Staines, and Fountains Abbey, Yorkshire : the former of which 
 is older than the meeting of the Barons of England at Runnymede, whilst its branches 
 overshadow a circumference of 207 feet; and the latter is 1200 years old. There used 
 to be a yew in Tankersley Park, in the hollow of which a man on horseback might turn 
 about with ease. 
 
 Scale Force, the greatest descent of the waterfalls of the Lake District, can be visited 
 in a boat from the head of Crummoch Lake. From this point it is about a mile to the 
 Force, which is one clear fall of 160 feet, between two vast perpendicular walls of 
 syenite, beautifully adorned with numerous small trees, which grow in the fissures of 
 the rock, and are nourished by the spray of the falling waters. Long Crag is a little 
 rocky promontory at the foot of Mellbreak. From a point from 200 to 300 feet above 
 the promontory, the best views are obtained of Crummoch Water, Buttermere, and the 
 surrounding mountains. Scale Hill is three miles from Long Crag. Seven miles 
 further is Cockermouth, the birthplace of Wordsworth. From Scale Hill the Keswick 
 and Cockermouth Road is entered by the Lorton yew-tree, already referred to. The 
 mountains which surround Crummoch Water are magnificent, and the scenery is 
 altogether of a very imposing character. There are walks cut through Lanthwaite 
 Wood, commencing at the inn-door and running some distance by the side of the Lake. 
 Half Crummoch Lake, as well as the whole of Lowes Water, belong to the wealthy 
 Leeds manufacturer, Mr. Marshall, who has done much to improve their minor beauties 
 by opening paths and roads in their immediate vicinity. The panorama of mountains 
 which surround the Lake can be seen nowhere to such advantage as from its bosom. 
 From the lower extremity, Rannerdale Knot and the Mellbreak Promontory appear to 
 divide Crummoch Water into two reaches. There are three prettily-wooded islets at 
 the head of the Lake, but they are too near the shore to add much to the picturesqueness 
 of the scenery. 
 
 Green suggests that the road by which to return to Keswick from Crummoch Water 
 is by Borrowdale. The best approach to this Lake and Buttermere is by Whinlatter 
 and Swinside to Scale Hill. The route through the Vale of Lorton is considerably 
 more circuitous. The road to Scale Hill leaves that to Bassenthvvaite at the village 
 of Brathewaite, where the ascent to Whinlatter commences; and although tedious and 
 difficult, tiie tourist is fully compensated by the noble view of the Vale of Keswick which 
 is there unfolded 
 
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LOWES WATER. 
 
 This view is taken from the north-west end of the Lake. Lowes Water is one of the 
 smaller Lakes ; it is less than a mile in length, and scarcely a quarter of a mile broad. 
 It is situated in a deep, secluded valley, about two miles from Crummoch Water, and 
 is surrounded by the bold mountains of Blake Fell, Low Fell, and Mellbreak. In the 
 accompanying engraving the artist has represented the Lake under a mixed aspect of 
 light and gloom. The tranquil water gives back the mountain forms in all their massive 
 outline and richly-coloured truth. The fragmental bow across the heavens indicates a 
 retii-ing shower. The rude boat floats as if magically suspended in mid air, so perfectly 
 transparent is the water. This effect may be occasionally witnessed when it is painful 
 to contemplate it; the Lake being almost lost to sight. A slight ripple on the water, 
 the effects of the passing storm, destroys a little of the illusion. The scenery at the head 
 of Lowes Water is tame. 
 
 It has been doubted, whether the beauties of this Lake are seen to most advantage 
 from the western or eastern side. The eastern shore is open, and indented by small 
 bays ; the opposite side is more picturesque. This Lake differs from all the other lakes 
 in its course ; running, as it does, from north to south. It is of small depth, and without 
 char, but abounding with pike, perch, and trout. It falls into Crummoch Water under 
 Mellbreak. " Nothing," says West, " can exceed in composition parts of this landscape. 
 You have Mellbreak on the right, Grasmere on the left, and betwixt them a stupendous 
 amphitheatre of mountains. In the centre of this amphitheatre is a huge, pyramidical, 
 broken rock, that seems with its figure to change place as you move across the foreground, 
 and which helps to give variety to the scene." 
 
 We may avail ourselves of the space afforded us in this page to record the length, 
 breadth, depth, and height, above the sea, of the various Cumberland, Westmorland, and 
 Lancashire Lakes : — 
 
 Name*. 
 
 Length iu Miles. 
 
 Breadth iu Miles. 
 
 Depth in Feet. 
 
 Height in Feet. 
 
 
 Windermere - - - - 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 240 
 
 116 
 
 
 UUeswater - - . - 
 
 9 
 
 1 
 
 210 
 
 380 
 
 
 Coniston Water - . - 
 
 6 
 
 i 
 
 160 
 
 105 
 
 
 Bassenthwaite Water 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 68 
 
 210 
 
 
 Derwent Water . - - 
 
 3 
 
 li 
 
 72 
 
 222 
 
 
 Crummoch Water - - - 
 
 3 
 
 i 
 
 132 
 
 240 
 
 
 Wast Water - - - - 
 
 3 
 
 i 
 
 270 
 
 160 
 
 
 Hawes Water - - - - 
 
 3 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 443 
 
 
 Thirlemere - - - - 
 
 2i 
 
 1 
 
 108 
 
 473 
 
 
 Enuerdale Water - - - 
 
 2i 
 
 1 
 
 80 
 
 — 
 
 
 Easthwaite Water - - - 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 80 
 
 198 
 
 
 Buttermere . - - . 
 
 It 
 
 J 
 
 — 
 
 247 
 
 
 Grasmere .... 
 
 li 
 
 i 
 
 180 
 
 180 
 
 
 Lowes Water - - - . 
 
 1 
 
     
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 
 Brothers' Water - - . 
 
 f 
 
 i 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 
 Eydalmere - - - - 
 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 — 
 
 156 
 
 
 The Waterfalls of the Lake District are, in height and situation, as follow : — 
 
 Names. 
 
 Height in Feet. 
 
 Situation. 
 
 Scale Force .... 
 
 156 
 
 South side of Crummoch Water. 
 
 Barrow Cascade . . - 
 
 124 
 
 East side of Derweut Water. 
 
 Lodore Cascade ... 
 
 100 
 
 East side of Derwent Water. 
 
 Colwith Force . - - 
 
 90 
 
 Little Langdale. 
 
 Airey Force - - . - 
 
 80 
 
 West side of Ulleswater. 
 
 Dungeon Gill Force 
 
 80 
 
 South side of Langdale Pikes. 
 
 Stock Gill Force - 
 
 70 
 
 Ambleside. 
 
 Birker Force - - . - 
 
 60 
 
 South-east side of Eskdale. 
 
 Stanley Gill Force - - - 
 
 60 
 
 South side of Eskdale. 
 
 Sour Milk Force ... 
 
 60 
 
 South side of Buttermere. 
 
 Upper Fall, Eydal - 
 
 50 
 
 Eydal Park. 
 
 Skelwith Force 
 
 20 
 
 Flowing from Elter Water. 
 

 
THE DERWENT RIVER AND BORROWDALE. 
 
 This view is taken from some disused slate-quarries. The Bowder Stone rests on the 
 left of the picture; the river Derwent flows down to the right. There is a wild and 
 varying grandeur in Borrowdale, which renders it a favourite resort of tourists. The 
 distant mountains are seen under snow. The view of Skiddaw is taken from nearly 
 the same point of sight as this picture. We here look into Borrowdale; in the view 
 of Skiddaw, already presented, we look out of it. Those who only know the Lakes 
 m their summer dress have yet to see them under their most wild and solemn aspect ; 
 and when the huge mountains are clothed in glittering white, the more lowly hills still 
 retain their richly-tinted autumn garh. The Bowder Stone is one of the lions of the 
 scene. It is a monolithic block, containing about 23,000 cubic feet, and is nearly 
 2000 tons in weight It is sixty-two feet long and thirty-six feet high, and its circum- 
 ference is eighty-four feet If hollowed out, it would be large enough for a church; 
 or it might be carved into a second Sphynx, to overlook and guard the Dale. Its 
 known size may be taken as a scale for the rest of the scenery. Mr. Wordsworth has 
 thus described it: — 
 
 " Upon a semicirque of turf-clad ground, 
 The hidden nook discovered to our view 
 A mass of rock, resembling as it lay, 
 Right at the foot of that moist precipice, 
 A stranded ship, with keel upturned, that rests 
 Fearless of winds and waves." 
 
 From this point, a fine view of the upper part of Borrowdale is obtained, with the 
 village of Rosthwaite and Castle Crag on the right ; Eagle Crag and Glaramara in front ; 
 and Scawfell Pikes in the extreme distance. The Bowder Stone is situated about a 
 mile from the Fall of Lodore (so admirably described in some nursery rhymes, written 
 for the amusement of his children by the Poet Southey). This enormous mass has, in 
 all probability, been detached from the rock above by some great convulsion of nature ; 
 but that it should have fallen into its present remarkable position is still more surprising. 
 The waterfall of Lodore descends through a chasm between the two perpendicular rocks 
 of Gowdar Crag, upon the left, and Shepherd's Crag on the right. These cliifs are 
 finely wooded with oak, ash, and birch-trees, which fantastically impend from rocks on 
 which vegetation would seem almost impossible. At Lodore, in still weather, there is 
 an extremely fine echo. About a mile from the Cataract is the village of Grange, where 
 a bridge crosses the River Derwent The descent of water is about one hundred and 
 fifty feet There is a deep cleft in the face of Wallow Crag, which bears the name of 
 the Lady's Rake;* through which the unhappy Countess of Derwent Water is said 
 to have escaped up the ravine when intelligence of her husband's arrest reached her. 
 Mr. Coleridge, the poet, named one of his sons after the River Derwent. 
 
 ' " Rake" is a designation applied to openings of this kind in the rocks. 
 
DERWENT WATER. 
 
 This scene is taken from the Lord's Island, looking up the Lake into Borrowdale. 
 The selection of this point of view has afforded the artist an opportunity of including 
 every feature of interest around the Lake, excepting the single one to the northward 
 of Skiddaw. The mild yet genial glow of an autumn afternoon has been chosen as 
 the fitting medium through which to convey this unsurpassed aggregation of lake, 
 rock, wood, slope, and island. 
 
 _^,This Lake is upwards of three miles in length, and a mile and a half in its greatest 
 breadth. It is diversified by richly-wooded islands, among which are Lord's Island, 
 St. Herbert's Island, Vicar's Island, Rampsholme, Tripelholm, and Longholms. Lord's 
 Island was formerly the stronghold of the RadclifFes, Earls of Derwent Water, whose 
 possessions were forfeited by the complicity of the family with the rebellion of 1715. 
 There is on this Lake what is denominated a floating island, which usually makes its 
 appearance once in a dozen years. This phenomenon has been variously accounted 
 for. By some scientific tourists the buoyancy of the island is ascribed to an accumulated 
 mass of decaying vegetable matter, by which it is surrounded, and the gases which are 
 generated within such a body are sufficient to bear it to the surface. In 1842, on 
 piercing the mass with a boat-hook, carburetted hydrogen and azote are said to have 
 issued forth in great abundance. May not the decrease of the waters of the Lake at 
 particular seasons afford a simpler solution of the anomaly? 
 
 Lakes of much greater length generally extend too far from mountain scenery; 
 but Derwent Water, which is nearly of an oval form, expands within an amphitheatre 
 of mountains, and visitors are at a loss which to admire most, the broken rocky heights 
 of Borrowdale on the one hand, or the smooth-flowing lines of Newlands on the other ; 
 whilst the majestic Skiddaw closes up the view in the north. The islands are of a 
 proportionate size, and are disposed at more equal distances than those of the other 
 Lakes. Lord's Island contains about six acres and a half, and is near the shore. 
 Vicar's Island comprises about six acres, which are beautifully laid out. It was called 
 for some years Pocklington's Isle, after its owner. St. Herbert's Isle, nearer the middle 
 of the Lake, is said to have been the residence of the holy man from whom it derives 
 its name, and who, according to the Venerable Bede, was contemporary with St. 
 Cuthbert, and died a.d. 687. Some remains of St. Herbert's cell are said still to exist. 
 The precipices seldom overhang the water, but are ai-ranged at some distance, and the 
 shores swell with woody eminences, or sink into green pastoral margins. 
 
 Among the peculiarities of Derwent Water is what is called the Bottom Wind, 
 an agitation of the water when no wind can be felt on its surface, which is ascribed 
 to some subterranean convulsion, possibly not wholly unconnected with the occasional 
 appearance of the Floating Island. The surface of Derwent Lake sometimes rises seven 
 or eight feet, when the meadows between it and Bassenthwaite are overflowed. The 
 fish of this Lake are trout, pike, perch, and eels. The water is so transparent that 
 pebbles may be clearly seen some thirty feet below the surface. 
 
 Among the many poets who have written of Derwent Water, Rogers has made St. 
 Herbert's Isle the scene of one of the episodes of the " Pleasures of Memory." Words- 
 worth has also described St. Cuthbert's Hei-mitage. 
 

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THE DRUIDICAL CIRCLE NEAR KESWICK. 
 
 These interesting relics of antiquity are situated about a mile and three quarters from 
 Keswick (to the left of a portion of Helvellyn), on the summit of a solitary hill, in a 
 field on the right of the road. The picture is taken from the north side, and commands 
 a view of several of the highest mountains of Cumberland. The Old Circle is appropriately 
 depicted under the ruddy hght of a setting sun. The rude stones look as if they were 
 preternaturaliy illuminated from within; and the bright gleaming light irradiates the 
 middle distance and mountains' sides in a remarkable manner. The play of light and 
 shade, as also the transparency of the atmosphere, of this scene, have been touched in 
 with the pencil of a magician ; the canvas is perfectly luminous. The water is an incident 
 of the day — the remains of a recent shower. The clouds in the distance show that a 
 storm has just passed over; the crescent moon sails in a watery sky. Southey has 
 described this site as the most commanding which could be selected in this part of the 
 country without climbing a mountain. Latrigg and the huge side of Skiddaw are on 
 the north ; to the east is the open country in the direction of Penrith. On the south-east 
 is the range of Helvellyn, from its termination at Wanthwaite Crags to its loftiest sum- 
 mits, and to Dunmaile Raise. The heights above Loathes Water, with the Borrowdale 
 mountains, complete the panorama. 
 
 The area of the circle is three hundred and thirty-six feet in circumference, and one 
 hundred and fourteen in diameter. The stones, which are of granite, are thirty-eight 
 in number, and are from three to eight feet high. Gray, in his letter to Doctor Warton, 
 estimates the number at fifty, and some of the guide-books at forty-eight.* On the 
 eastern side of the Druids' Temple, as it is called, there is a small enclosure formed 
 within the circle by ten stones, making an oblong square seven paces in length and three 
 in width, which Mr. Pennant supposes to have been allotted to the priests, as a sort of 
 sanctum sanctorum, in which they were separated from the prqfanum vulgus, and where 
 they performed their rites and divinations, and sat in council to decide controversial 
 points, or for the trial of criminals. Within a short distance from these remains is the 
 Vale of St. John, a narrow dell, hemmed in by mountains, in the widest part of which 
 is a massive pile of rocks, so nearly resembling a castle in appearance that it bears the 
 name of the Castle Rocks of St. John. This locality is the scene of Sir Walter Scott's 
 " Bridal of Triermain." The Castle Rocks, which are believed to be antediluvian, are 
 thus alluded to by Scott : — 
 
 " Paled in by many a lofty hill, 
 The narrow dale lay smooth and still ; 
 And down its verdant bosom led, 
 A winding brooklet found its bed. 
 But midmost of the vale, a mound 
 Arose, with airy turrets crowned, 
 Buttress and ramparts' circling bound, 
 
 And mighty keep and tower ; 
 Seemed some primeval giant's hand 
 The castle's massive walls had planned, 
 
 A ponderous bulwark to withstand 
 
 Ambitious Nimrod's power. 
 Eocks upon rocks incumbent hung. 
 And torrents down the valley flung ; 
 Now diving deep from human ken. 
 And raving down their darksome glen ; 
 The monarch judged this descent wild. 
 With such romantic ruin piled. 
 Was a theatre, by nature's hand, 
 For feat of high achievement planned." 
 
 ' Mr. Black's " Picturesque Guide to the Lakes" (an excellent vade-mecum for the tourist), still gives 
 the number of stones as forty-eight ; but we are of opinion that his intelligent editor would find no 
 slight difficulty in making out his tale. 
 
BASSENTHWAITE LAKE, VALE, AND VILLAGE. 
 
 This view is taken from a slight rise behind the village. On the left side of the picture 
 is included a portion of Skiddaw. The mountains in the distance bound the western side 
 of the Lake, which is four miles in length, three quarters in breadth, and in some places 
 seventy feet in depth. Few landscapes combine objects which are more picturesque 
 than this. The spectator is supposed to look down upon the village. The dark forms 
 of the fir-trees, standing up in the fore-ground, may be taken as a measure of the depth 
 and distance below. There is a beautiful play of outline blended tliroughout the whole. 
 Colour and shade lend their aid to render, with perfect truth, what outline alone nmst 
 have failed to effect Space and breadth have been given to a marvellous degree. The 
 Lake of Bassenthwaite is four miles north of Derwent Water. The Village of Bassen- 
 thwaite is situated at the foot of Whinlatter, which the tourist leaves on his left, and 
 passing through the hamlet of Thornthwaite by the base of the mountains, entitled the 
 Lord's Seat and Barf, reaches the margin of the Lake. From the top of the Haws there 
 is a magnificent view of Bassenthwaite and the Vales of Embleton and Isell. In his 
 « Diary of an Excursion along the Banks of the Ulleswater," Mr. Wordsworth remarks 
 that Bassenthwaite Mere is familiarly called Broad Water, whilst on some of the old 
 maps that name is given to Brothers' Water. A considerable portion of the Vale of 
 Bassenthwaite may be seen from Helvellyn. Mr. Wordsworth's admonition to one ot 
 his visitors, who coveted a cottage which they saw peeping from a beautiful natural 
 enclosure in this neighbourhood, is worthy of his genius: — 
 
 " Well mayst thou halt, and gaze with bright'ning eye ! 
 The lovely cottage in the guardian nook 
 Has stirred thee deeply ; with its own dear brook, 
 Its own small pasture, almost its own sky ! 
 But covet not the abode ; forbear to sigh, 
 As many do, rejoicing while they look ; 
 Intruders who would tear from Nature's book 
 This precious leaf with harsh impiety. 
 Think what the home must be if it were thime— 
 Even thine, though few thy wants ! Roof, window, door, 
 The very fiow'rs, are sacred to the Poor, 
 The roses on the porch which they entwine : 
 Yes, all that now enchants thee, from the day 
 On which it should be touched would melt away ! " 
 
 The cottages scattered over the Lake District are to be found in the valleys, under 
 the hills, and on the rocks, as well as in villages, and even to this day in the more retired 
 dale, without any extension of more assuming buildings : — 
 
 " Clustered like stars some few ; but single most, 
 And lurking dimly in their shy retreats, 
 Or glancing on each other cheerful looks, 
 Like separated stars with clouds between." ' 
 
 ' Wordsworth. 
 
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THE VALE OF KESWICK, BASSENTHWAITE LAKE, 
 AND THE RIVER GRETA. 
 
 This view is taken from a point a short distance from the town of Keswick ; Derweiit 
 Water and Bassenthwaite Lake being in tlie middle distance. 
 
 The artist has thrown a golden halo over this city of the poets : the god of day 
 dazzles the spectator with his beams, and enriches the landscape with a dreamy grandeur. 
 The ordinary phlegmatic observer may exclaim, — "I never saw Keswick sol" but what 
 would be the response of Southey, of Coleridge, or of Wordsworth ? They would recog- 
 nise poetry and truth in this landscape. The town contains about 2500 inhabitants. 
 The streets are narrow ; and the houses are built of the stone of the district. Gray must 
 have seen the landscape as here depicted, as he declares that on leaving Keswick, when 
 he turned round to contemplate the scenery behind him, he was so charmed "that he 
 had almost a mind to go back again." 
 
 Beautiful as is the situation of Keswick, it owes its chief celebrity to the poet 
 Southey, who « passed the whole mid stage of life," as he has himself told us, at Greta 
 Hall, where he died. The house, which is named after the river Greta, and is approached 
 bj^ a narrow avenue of trees, is not remarkable for either picturesqueness or beauty of 
 architecture. It owes all its interest to associations which are connected with the poet 
 and his writings. Keswick is usually made the head-quarters of tourists, both on account 
 ot its being provided with good accommodation for the traveller of every description, 
 and because it is within a few hours' reach of many highly interesting scenes. Before 
 setting out on his hunt after the picturesque, the excursionist will do well to visit the 
 two geological museums which have been formed in the town ; and, above all, to inspect 
 the curious model of the Lake District, which has been constructed by M. Flintoff. It 
 is a most accurate and ingenious work. Its horizontal and vertical scale is three inches 
 to the mile: its length, from Sebergham to Rampside, fifty-one miles, or twelve feet 
 nine inches ; its breadth, from Sheep to Egremont, thirty-seven miles, or nine feet three 
 inches; and its circumference, exclusive of sea, one hundred and seventy-six miles. 
 The coast is shown two-fifths of the distance, including the bays of Morecombe, Duddon, 
 and Ravenglass. The entire chain of mountains of the Lake District are presented in 
 three principal groups ; the Scawfell, Helvellyn, and Skiddaw group, with the numerous 
 valleys, variegated by sixteen large lakes. On the uplands are seen fifty-two smaller 
 ones — tarns, or minor deposits ; whilst the towns and villages of the district are faithfully 
 pourtrayed. A careful study of this model will be found to be an useful preparation for 
 the view-hunter. 
 
 About a mile from Keswick, which is considered the capital of the Lake District, 
 its glorious vale at once bursts upon the eye. From Castle Crag there is a bird's-eye 
 view of a circuit of twenty miles, including the Lakes of Derwent Water and Bassen- 
 thwaite, with the river Greta meandering between them, and the town of Keswick 
 and the Church of Crossthwaite in the centre. This extensive plain is surrounded by 
 stupendous mountains. Keswick is said to have become a market-town so far back as 
 1001, and was famous for its smelting-houses, hammer-works, and forge-works. A 
 celebrated physician was wont to declare that no medical man could subsist by his 
 ]5rofessional practice at Keswick, the air of the neighbourhood being extremely salubrious; 
 but it supports more than one, nevertheless. 
 
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SKIDDAW. 
 
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 This view of Skiddaw is from the south, and presents the mountain under its winter 
 covering. The play of liglit is skilfully depicted, and the contrast of colour is no less 
 true than striking. Skiddaw is the fourth English mountain in height, being 3022 
 feet above the level of the sea, and 2911 feet above Derwent Water. To the highest 
 point of the mountain from Keswick is six miles, and its summit is so accessible that 
 tourists may reach it on horseback. The usual approach to Skiddaw is by the Penrith 
 road for about half a mile, chiefly along the banks of the Greta, to the toll-bar. After 
 the bridge is crossed, the road ascends somewhat steeply, and beyond Greta Bank skirts 
 Latrigg, at a considerable elevation. Having accomplished the first part of the road, 
 for about a third of the way the ascent becomes comparatively easy, and passing over 
 a barren moor, called Skiddaw Forest, to the foot of the Lowman, the tourist arrives 
 at a fine spring of water. Beyond the first and second summits, or "men," there is 
 a good beaten track to the third man, which is the highest point that can be seen from 
 the valley. The view from Skiddaw on a clear day is most magnificent. On the 
 right of the third man is a noble assemblage of mountains. In a south-western direction 
 may be seen the chain from Coniston to Ennerdale, amongst which Scawfell is the most 
 conspicuous; having on its left Great End, Hanging Knott, Bowfell, and the fells of 
 Coniston ; and on the right, Lingmell Crags, Great Gable, Kirk Fell, Blacksail, the 
 Pillar, the Steeple, and the Haycock, with Yewbarrow and part of the Screes through 
 Blacksail. Blackcomb may be seen through an opening between the Gable and Kirk 
 Fell. To the north of the Ennerdale mountains are those of Buttermere ; and High 
 Crag, High Stile, and Red Pike, are seen over Cat Bells, Robinson, and Hindscarth. 
 Still further to the north, rising from the Vale of Newlands, or Rawling End, are 
 Causey Pike, Scar Crag Top, 111 Crags, Grasmere, and Grisedale Pike. On the right 
 of Grisedale Pike and Hobcurler Crag is Low Fell, over which, on a favourable day, 
 may be observed the northern part of the Isle of Man, and upon rare occasions, the 
 Irish coast : the town and castle of Cockermouth are visible over the foot of Bassen- 
 thwaite, with Workington at the outlet of the Derwent on its left, as well as all the 
 sea-coast from St. Bees' Head, by Solway Frith, to Rickcliff Marsh. Over the northern 
 end of Skiddaw the Vale of the Eden may be seen, and on some occasions CarUsle may 
 be discerned ; eastward, Penrith and its beacon are in sight, with Grass Fell in the 
 distance ; and far away to the south-east, over the Westmoreland Fells, Ingleborough, 
 Saddeback, Helvellyn, and a part of the Lake of Windermere, are also seen occasionally 
 from Skiddaw. The descent is sometimes made into the valley of Bassenthwaite. 
 
 Skiddaw, geologically, is composed of the lowest slaty rocks, resting on granite. 
 The base of these slates is metamorphic. The outline of the mountain is faithfully 
 depicted; the smooth slopes of the slaty rocks are shown with their winter covering 
 of snow. The intellectual tourist may study some of the general laws which govern 
 the universe dujing an ascent of this mountain. A thermometer will exhibit a difference 
 of temperature betwixt the plain and summit of some nine or ten degrees Fahrenheit ; 
 and the mercury in a barometer will descend rather more than three inches : that is 
 to say, one-tenth of the whole atmosphere will have been passed through. Skiddaw 
 is frequently "capped" with clouds; and sudden mists, at times, envelope the upper 
 part of the mountain. It isj therefore, not safe to venture on the ascent without a guide. 
 
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